How to Register a Company With CIPC in South Africa: Cost, Documents and Timeline

Registering a company in South Africa is cheaper and faster than most people expect. A private company costs R125, or R175 if you reserve a name first, and with your documents in order it can be done online the same day on BizPortal.

You'll need your South African ID, each director's details and a physical address. Fees are from CIPC's own fee schedule, checked October 2026. For more money and tax guides, see our South Africa hub.

What you need before you start

Have these ready and the whole thing takes under half an hour:

• Your South African ID (green bar-coded or smart ID) if you're a resident. Non-residents, refugees and asylum seekers use a certified copy of a passport or other prescribed documentation instead.
• Each director's full legal name, ID or passport number and nationality, exactly as on their ID, not a nickname or shortened version.
• A physical registered address for the company. A post box alone won't do; CIPC needs a street address it can use to serve legal notices.
• Up to four proposed company names, in order of preference, if you want a trading name. You can skip this entirely and let CIPC register the company under its own registration number instead.
• A bank card or EFT to pay the fee straight away. Most of the fast options only move once payment clears.

How to register a company on BizPortal, step by step

BizPortal (bizportal.gov.za) is one of CIPC's own registration channels, alongside e-Services, the CIPC mobile app, Self Service Terminals and participating banks.

1. Create an account using your South African ID number.
2. Choose "Register a Company" and select a private company (Pty) Ltd, which is what almost every small business and side hustle registers as.
3. Reserve a name or skip it. Reserving a name costs R50 and CIPC checks it isn't already taken or too similar to an existing one. Skipping it means your company is simply known by its registration number until you change the name later.
4. Enter the details of everyone who'll be a director: full names, ID numbers and contact details.
5. Give the company's registered address. This is where CIPC and SARS correspondence goes.
6. Pay online. R125 for a standard registration without a name, R175 with a reserved name, or R425 if you want a customised Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) instead of CIPC's standard one.
7. Receive your registration documents. Once CIPC processes the payment, you get your company registration number and documents by email. On BizPortal, that's immediate if everything checks out, according to CIPC's published turnaround times.

No South African ID? Use e-Services instead

BizPortal's identity check runs against Home Affairs records, so it only works for South African ID holders. If you're a foreign national, a refugee or asylum seeker, or you need a custom MOI, public company, state-owned company or incorporated company structure, register through CIPC e-Services instead and submit a certified copy of your passport (or your prescribed refugee/asylum documentation) in place of an ID. CIPC's published turnaround for that route is one working day, against five working days for the standard and customised MOI company types filed the same way.

CIPC company registration fees in full (October 2026)

These are CIPC's own charges, and no accountant, agent or "registration service" needs to add anything to get your company registered. If a provider quotes you far more than R175 just to file the registration, ask what the extra covers (a custom MOI, a company secretary, help with tax registration) before you pay.

How long does it take?

Per CIPC's published service turnaround times:

• BizPortal, the mobile app, Self Service Terminals and banks: immediate, as soon as payment clears, provided your documents and name are in order.
• CIPC e-Services: one working day for a standard company registration.
• Name reservation: one working day.
• Customised MOI company types (public, state-owned, incorporated companies) filed via e-Services: five working days.

The one thing that usually slows this down is a rejected name. If your first, second and third choices are all taken or too close to an existing company, CIPC sends the application back and you resubmit, which means waiting all over again. That's the main reason to register without a name and rename later, once you've checked availability yourself.

Tax registration happens automatically

You don't need a separate trip to SARS for a company income tax number. According to SARS's guidance on corporate income tax, a company registered through CIPC is automatically registered with SARS for income tax, through a direct link between the two systems. If you hire staff, you still need to register separately for PAYE and UIF. And once the company pays you a salary or dividends, you file your own personal return. Our SARS eFiling guide shows how, and our South Africa income tax calculator helps you decide how much to pay yourself.

Common mistakes after registering

• Don't pay a markup you don't need to. The CIPC fee for a standard registration is R125–R175. Plenty of private "company registration" sites exist purely to resell this basic filing at several times the price.
• A post box address gets queried. Use a real street address you can be reached at, even if it's a home address to start with.
• Annual returns aren't optional. Once your company is registered, you must file an annual return (and, where it applies, a beneficial ownership declaration) with CIPC every year, even if the company never traded. Miss it for long enough and CIPC suspends the company, then deregisters it, and directors can still be held personally responsible for what happened while it was trading.
• A CIPC certificate alone doesn't let you open a business bank account or trade with some clients. Most banks also want proof of address and ID for directors, and some tender processes want a B-BBEE affidavit (not required at all if your turnover is under R10 million) or CSD registration. Budget time for these as separate steps, not part of the CIPC process itself.

Running a small shop rather than a formal company? Not every business needs this step. Sole traders, including most spaza shops, register for tax directly with SARS and skip CIPC completely. Our guide on starting a spaza shop in South Africa covers that route, plus the municipal and health registrations a shop needs instead.

Once the company is earning, put some of what you pay yourself to work. Our guide to the best Tax-Free Savings Accounts in South Africa is a good place to start with your personal savings, separate from the business. For more on getting a small business or side hustle off the ground, browse our business plans guides.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to register a company with CIPC?

R125 if you register without reserving a name first, or R175 if you reserve a name (R50) and then register (R125). A customised Memorandum of Incorporation costs R425 instead of R125. These are CIPC's own fees, with no third-party markup.

How long does CIPC company registration take?

If you use BizPortal, the mobile app, a Self Service Terminal or a bank, and your documents and chosen name are all in order, registration is immediate once payment clears. Through CIPC e-Services, a standard private company takes about one working day.

Can I register a company with CIPC if I don't have a South African ID?

Yes, but not through BizPortal, which checks your identity against Home Affairs records. Foreign nationals, refugees and asylum seekers register through CIPC e-Services using a certified copy of a passport or other prescribed documentation instead of an ID.

Do I need to reserve a company name before registering?

No. You can register without a name and CIPC will use your company's registration number as its name until you change it. Reserving a name costs R50 and takes about one working day, and it protects your choice from being taken by someone else while you finish registering.

Does CIPC registration also register my company for tax with SARS?

Yes. A company registered through CIPC is automatically registered with SARS for income tax, through a direct link between the two systems, according to SARS's own guidance. You still need to register separately for PAYE and UIF once you take on staff. That's separate from your own personal tax return as a director, which has its own deadline every year. See what happens if you miss SARS's filing deadline if you're not sure where you stand.

What happens if I don't file annual returns after registering my company?

CIPC suspends the company from doing business if you fall behind on annual returns or beneficial ownership declarations, and can eventually deregister it entirely, which ends its legal existence. Directors can still be held personally liable for actions taken while the company was trading, so it's worth filing even for a dormant company.