EP19: From Registration to Returns: The Realities of CIPC Compliance

Running a business is hard enough without tripping over compliance. In this episode of The Rev Room, Francois sits down with Tracy to unpack the essentials of CIPC - from annual returns and beneficial ownership to director changes and company name registrations. Whether you’re a startup founder or a seasoned business owner, this conversation cuts through the jargon and gives you the clarity you need to avoid penalties and keep your company above board.

Key Takeaways

1. Annual Returns Are Non-Negotiable – Every business must submit within 30 days of registration anniversary or face penalty fees.
2. Beneficial Ownership Matters – Ultimate owners must be disclosed, and they must be natural persons with control or 5%+ shares.
3. CIPC Is Centralized – From director changes to name updates, everything runs through the same system, secured by OTP verification.

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Transcript

hi there
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let's get into it
welcome to the Rev Room powered by Biz Rev Advisory
Today we are talking about Crpc and what does it mean
welcome Tracy thank you françois
good to be here excellent
so Tracy let's start with the beginning what is CIPC
if I have a business and I own a business
I hear a lot about it what is it okay
CIPC is the Government Regulatory Board
so basically everything that involves companies
or intellectual properties
they are there to make sure everyone's compliant
and adhering to the laws and
doing everything full transparency
so basically
it's the company's Intellectual property Commission
great and we know that they are situated in Pretoria
that's their head office where it all happens
and alright so
when you sort of know it's a government organisation
the next thing I'll ask you is if I own a company
what do I need to do to be compliant
okay well
first of all once your company is registered
which also happens through their website
through the CIPC then you would need to
every year submit your annual return with the CIPC
so that would be 30 days after your registration date
and on top of that
now they also have a beneficial ownership
which requires submission annually
to make sure that
you've told them all about who's in charge
and who's directors and who's shareholders
and with that your financial statements
or a Financial Accountability Supplement
so it's quite a quite a story
it's quite a lot more in the old days
it was very simple
you just submitted your return and and it's all gone
so is there a is
I mean if you do it annually
well when do you do it annually
when would you do it well
if you've submitted
if you've registered your company say in September
then you basically have 30
working days from the date of registration
and if you don't do it within that time
then there is a fee that you would need to pay
on top of the usual costs
so there's a penalty fee
there is a penalty fee so if you're late
so if any of the viewers are receiving
a penalty fee on their accounts
that they they have submitted it late
or their appointed person has submitted it late
that's correct okay
what what happens in the process of changing directors
if a director resigns what happens
uh that would be also done through the same website
through the Crpc all your changes to directorship
or changes to contact details or anything
what might need to be done
or name changes to the company
any changes
really will all go through that one central system okay
and if I want to change the name of my company
how do I get to choose which name I would like
can I use any name no
there is
there is somewhere where you can go in to check
if a name is not taken already
and then there's a process you follow
that will give you a C 0 r
9.4 document which checks other names
that there are no conflicts with similar names
to see on the ones that you've chosen
so you can pick four and then
it will take the first one out of your choices
that is available okay
and then you can apply for the change as it goes
you can alright that's great alright
so a question I have is who is the ultimate owner
ultimately I mean you
you haven't owner of a company
but the form was talk about the ultimate owner okay
well in terms of the beneficial ownership
with your ultimate owners
they are it has to be a natural person
so it can't be a company or a trust or something
it has to be an actual natural person
that would be someone who has controls in the company
who can hire and fire directors and who can
who has either 5% or more shares
directly in the company okay
alright so if a I mean if you
you were you obviously do that all day long
with regard to the secretarial work
and working on Crpc
can any other person do their own Crpc submissions
you can if you go online to the website
you can register and create a profile in your own name
and whatever companies you are director of
will come up under your profile okay
or alternatively you can ask
say a company like bizref
that has people that do this on a regular basis
so you don't need to worry about these things
and you can get on with your
day to day running of your business okay
alright perfect
cause it
things can get complicated as you start running
working on Crpc and if you're running a business
you would want to focus on the good stuff
the better stuff you would
you would and nothing can be done also
which is a good thing
without an OTP number from yourself as a director okay
so should you need something to be done
then you will be asked to get that password
so that any changes can be made
so that no one can just go and make a
change without your approval no in any respect
alright thank you Tracy
that's great thanks for sure spending the time with us
we appreciate it
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