Checklist of the Requirements for Company Formation

Get to Know What is Required When Setting up a Company in Ireland

Have a business idea and need to set up a company in Ireland? it is important to know the legal formalities and responsibilities in respect of setting up a company. This useful guide details all the necessary requirements for opening up a company in Ireland so that you prepare yourself with all the relevant information before applying.

Essential Requirements for Company Formation

• Choose a company name

The first thing that comes up to mind when starting a company is the company name. It is important to know that Companies Registration Office (CRO) is very particular when approving company names. Your company name should be unique from any existing company names. The CRO carries out name checks and your application could get rejected if your proposed name appears to be similar enough to the names registered already for other companies.

Our company formation packages include free company name check feature which will ensure that you are on the right track.

• Appoint at least one director

All Irish companies limited by shares are required by law to have at least one director. A company can have multiple directors and it is important that at least one director resides in a European Economic Area (EEA) member country. Where all the directors live outside of the EEA member countries, then it is required to put a non-EEA resident director bond in place before applying for company registration.

We realise that you might need professional assistance in determining whether a bond is needed in the case of your new company. Our team can guide you in this regard based on your circumstances.

• Appoint a company secretary

It is a statutory requirement to appoint a company secretary for your company. If your company has only one director, then a separate company secretary needs to be appointed. If there are multiple directors, one of them can fulfil the responsibilities of a company secretary.

Company secretarial responsibilities can also be outsourced to a body corporate that will ensure your company’s compliance with all the regulations of the CRO and help you to avoid incurring any fines or penalties. Our company secretary service is included as an add-on to the company formation package, so feel free to select one and Fusion Formations will do the rest for you.

• Have a shareholder

It is mandatory to have at least one shareholder at the time of registering a company. Shareholders are the owners of the company. A private company limited by shares can have a maximum of 149 shareholders. In case of most start-up companies, a director can also be a shareholder of the company.

• Decide on the type of company and the share capital

The most common type of company structure is the private company limited by shares. Depending on the type of the business, a company can be registered as a designated activity company, company limited by guarantee, public limited company, to name a few.

It is also necessary to determine the amounts of authorised and issued share capital. Authorised share capital refers to the maximum amount of capital that a company can issue to the shareholders. It is recommended to have 100,000 shares as the authorised capital so that the company has sufficient shares to issue at later stages of growth or future investment.

Issued share capital is the amount of share capital allotted to the shareholders against cash or other consideration. The number of issued shares determines the ownership of the company.

• Choose a registered office address

It is important to choose the registered office address for your business before applying for incorporation. Your company’s registered office address must be a physical address in Ireland where the correspondence from CRO can be received. We provide both the registered office address and virtual office Dublin address services to facilitate you at the time of incorporation and thereafter.

Post-Incorporation Checklist

Once the above elements have been determined, you are all set to open your company. You could either apply online through the Companies Online Registration Environment (CORE) portal or engage a company formations agent like us, so that all is handled with accuracy and professionalism and your application gets approved right away.

After your Irish company is registered with the CRO, you are ready to go ahead with the following:

• Arranging the company seal

A company seal serves as the company’s approval for execution of documents such as share certificates, contracts or company constitution documents.

• Submitting the particulars of the beneficial owners to the Register of Beneficial Owners (RBO)

The company’s beneficial owners are those holding 25% or more of the company’s shares. The particulars of all these beneficial owners are required to be registered on the RBO within 5 months of incorporation. Failure to comply with this requirement can result in imposition of penalties ranging from €5,000 to €500,000.

We help our clients with meeting this statutory obligation and thereby avoiding huge penalties.

• Opening a business bank account

Once you have your incorporation documents in place, opening a bank account will open the doors for you to start trading.

• Registering for tax

Now that you are all set to make money from your newly incorporated business, it is important to get registered with the Revenue. An accountant can help you with better understanding and handling the company tax matters.

• Filing of annual return for the company

Every Irish company is required to file an annual return of the company every year. The first annual return becomes due 6 months after the incorporation date, this the company’s Annual Return Date (ARD). In subsequent years, the annual return becomes due for filing on the anniversary of the first ARD.

Our company secretarial services cover this and much more to help you stay compliant with the statutory requirements.

Ready with all that is needed? Get in touch with our team of company formation experts. We will be happy to answer any queries that you have, from initiation to completion and post-incorporation services.