Availability Code is a special number that will be given to you to complete your business name registration in Nigeria with the Corporate Affairs Commission’s website.
We are just going to create an account on CAC’s official website to kickstart your business name registration
Just follow the steps below:
- Go to http://www.services.cac.gov.ng/signup to create an account
- Fill in the necessary details and make sure you use your legal name as it appears on your National I.D card or any Nigeria’s government-issued card.
- After filling your details, click on the ‘Register‘ button
Immediately, a verification link will be sent to your email address as you have earlier filled in, verify and login to your dashboard.
How can I reserve my business name with CAC?
The steps below answers:
- Login to your verified account or go to http://www.services.cac.gov.ng/login or http://www.services.cac.gov.ng/dashboard
- You will see ‘Reserve a Name‘ in bold text, under it you will see a call-to-action link ‘here‘, click on it.
- After clicking on that, you are going to be directed to a new page where you will reserve your business name.
But, note these steps in ‘Reserve a Name’ page:
- Name & Type: Choose ‘Business Name‘ and enter the business name you wish to Register. Here, you will have to provide two names if in case one is taken, the other might be ready for you.
i.e, you can choose like: (1) MyCompany Global Ventures (2) MyCompany Global Resources - Objective: Under ‘Reason for Availability Search‘, choose ‘New Incorporation‘ and choose your business category under ‘Nature of Business‘.
But you may be asking…
What to Choose Under “Nature of Business”?
If you’re running a restaurant business, simply click on the drop-down and choose a very suitable category of the business there.
But, if you are going to run more than one business like selling clothes, running a private school, selling cars, wines, running a digital marketing firm, the printing of recharge cards, etc… I will advise you to choose ‘General Contracts’ under the nature of the business.
And this is exactly what I did because General Contracts indicate every business you may be engaged in.
Choosing ‘General Contracts’ during business name registration means that you are going to be running more than one business under a single registered business name. And this will save you from wasting money on registering another business name in the future.
- Presenter Details: Here, you are going to input your details again including your means of identification either through National I.D card, PVC, Birth Certificate, Driver’s Licence.
- Preview: You will be giving an opportunity to confirm all your details including your chosen business name, address, names, email, phone number, etc.
If the details are correct, click on the ‘Proceed to Payment’ button. - Payment: You will have to pay for the name reservation with your ATM card.
How much is Business Name Reservation with Nigeria’s CAC
Note, this costs N500 apart from the transaction fees. N600 was debited from my client’s though while N661.44 was deducted from my debit card.
After payment, a receipt of your payment will be sent to you.
Since you have paid the N500 for the business name reservation and your payment has been confirmed, the next thing is to confirm if your business name is approved by CAC for registration