# General Business Category > Entrepreneurship and Business Management Forum > [Article] Registering a company

## Dastan Kieton

The new companies act which came into effect on 1 May 2011 marked a new era in company registration as CC (close corporations) can no longer be registered. If you have a close corporation you can continue to trade there is however a grace period in which you will then have to convert your close corporation into a PTY (Private company), and the sooner the better as there will be costly charges involved if the CC is not Converted within 3 years from when the New Companies Act came into effect.

When you register a company you will have to choose which form to take each entity has different requirements that need to be fulfilled. 
Here is a list of entities available when you register a company:

Non- Profit Company
This is a company that is formed in the interest of public benefit, a social, cultural or communal group. The income and profit of the Non- Profit company is not divided among the directors and shareholders. 

Profit companies
Profit companies have shares that can be transferred where profits are distributed. 

_Personal liability Companies_ , also known as Sole proprietor
Directors of the company are liable for any debt for their period that they were the director. The company name ends with the word incorporated, Ie ABC inc.

_State- Owned companies_
A company owned by the municipality is a state-owned company. Name ends in SOE Ltd, ie ABC SOE Ltd.

_Public Companies_
Public companies have shares listed on the JSE and are governed by directors and shareholders. To register a company as a public company you only need 1 member for incorporation. The company name will end in limited or Ltd, ie ABC Ltd.

_Private Company_
Similar to the CC's , must have 1 director minimum and 1 shareholder minimum.  Name of company ends in (Pty) Ltd, ie ABC (Pty) Ltd.

To register a company the following documents need to lodged, Memorandum of Incorporation and Notice of Incorporation. You will also have to provide the following documents to register a company Certified ID copies of all directors and a Reserved name.

To register your company you do not have to reserve a name your company can be registered as a number however if you do want a specific company name note the following.
Your company name will need to be approved by CIPC (Companies Intellectual Property Commission) if approved you will be issued a name reservation certificate. Your company name can can have symbols in and be in any language.

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SamanthaLeigh (04-Jan-14), Vusie (31-Oct-12)

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