Filing on iCRP under a CAC agent accreditation
How a firm holding CAC agent accreditation files clients' pre- and post-incorporation documents on the new iCRP, and gathers what each filing needs.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in Nigeria
Many Nigerian accounting firms do their clients' company registrations and changes themselves, under an agent accreditation from the Corporate Affairs Commission. The CAC's new Integrated Company Registration Portal, iCRP, changes how that work is done day to day: how the firm reaches post-incorporation filing, how documents count as authenticated, and how long approvals take.
This article is for the firm that already holds CAC agent accreditation, or is about to, and wants its clients' filings to move smoothly through the new portal. It covers access, what the regulations say about documents filed through an agent's account, approval times, and the client-side work of signatures and documents.
Registering the accreditation number and portal access
CAC's iCRP home page says persons or organisations holding CAC accreditation and certification register their accreditation number and portal account access through the portal's link for agents. Until a firm is a CAC accredited agent with that registration done on iCRP, it files the way any other user does.
CAC's FAQ describes the role broadly: agents are persons or institutions holding the Commission's certification to process and submit pre-incorporation and post-incorporation filings on behalf of individuals and businesses. That breadth is what makes the accreditation useful to an accounting firm: name reservations, incorporations and later changes can all run through the same account. The name stage is covered in reserving a company name on iCRP.
Single sign-on to post-incorporation filing
CAC's iCRP FAQ says agents now reach post-incorporation filing from the iCRP dashboard through single sign-on, without a separate login. In practice, one set of credentials now carries the firm from a new registration to the later filings for the same client. Decide who in the firm holds those credentials, and keep the list short: everything filed through the account is filed in the firm's name. When someone with access leaves the firm, change the credentials the same week, and note the change on the firm's own records so the trail of who could file, and when, stays complete.
Documents filed through the agent's account count as authenticated
Under regulation 3 of the Companies Regulations 2021, documents submitted electronically through the entity's own account on the CAC's portal, or through an agent's account holding CAC accreditation, are deemed duly authenticated. Where physical documents are required, the signatories state their full names, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, the date and their capacities. Regulation 4 requires all documents delivered to the Commission to be in English, or translated and notarised.
The consequence for the firm is significant. A document the firm submits through its account is treated as authenticated, so the firm needs its own evidence that the client actually approved and signed what was filed. That evidence is the firm's protection if a client later disputes a filing.
Manual review and approval times
Not every filing moves at the same speed. CAC's FAQ says business name registrations on the new iCRP are approved by AI and processed at once, while registrations of limited liability companies, incorporated trustees, LLPs and LPs still follow the manual approval review process. Post-incorporation filings are still reviewed manually by Approving Officers after submission. The iCRP FAQ is the place to check these points as the portal develops.
The FAQ adds that a queried application is modified and re-submitted from the dashboard, and that an approved one gives a downloadable certificate and status report. Tell clients what to expect: a business name may be done the same day, while a change of directors waits for an officer's review.
Collecting signatures and documents from clients
Most delays on a filing come from the client, not the portal. Achekam's RFI console lets staff create, send and track requests to clients for documents, answers and confirmations in one place, whichever screen the request was raised from. For a post-incorporation filing, one request can list everything needed: the board resolution, identification for new directors, the updated share register, and the client's confirmation of the details to be filed.
Where the client must sign, staff can prepare a document for e-signature, add signers, approvers and copied recipients in order, and the signer signs from an e-mailed link without an Achekam account. A resolution signed this way gives the firm a dated record of the client's approval before anything is submitted through the agent's account.
Tracking each submission to approval
Keep the trail for each filing in the client's folder in the Document Centre, where staff can upload files and folders, keep versions, tag, archive and restore with a reason, and search.
| Stage | What to keep |
|---|---|
| Client request | The RFI, with the documents returned |
| Client approval | The e-signed resolution or form |
| Submission | Portal confirmation and submission reference |
| Query, if any | The query, the change made and the re-submission |
| Approval | The certificate or status report downloaded from iCRP |
Tag each document with the filing type and date, so a later question from the client, the CAC or a bank can be answered from one search.
A routine for the firm
- Register the accreditation number and portal access on iCRP, and record who holds the credentials.
- For each filing, send one client request listing every document and approval needed.
- Obtain the client's signed approval before submitting.
- Submit, then diary a follow-up for filings that go to manual review.
- Download the certificate or status report on approval and file it with the rest.
Event-driven filings are easy to miss among the annual ones; the full calendar is in company secretarial deadlines for Nigerian clients.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
