Registering your company in Zimbabwe gives you a couple of options. However, they are two different types of company structures you will probably get to choose from, a Private Limited Company (PLC) or Private Business Corporation (PBC).

What is a Company?

The Companies Act definition states, “A company is a company incorporated under the current Act (Companies and Other Business Entities Act, Chapter 24:31), or a repealed law.” This definition doesn’t really tell us out what a company is.

In general, you can think of a company virtually as a legal person. It’s a legal entity representing one or more people joined together to achieve specific objectives.

What is a PBC?

A corporation is a company, large or groups, authorized by law to act as a single entity. Therefore, a Private Business Corporation (PBC) is a company. Below are some notable qualities of a PBC.

• Meant for small to medium enterprises (SMEs)
• Cheaper to register than a PLC
• Can have a minimum of one member and a maximum of twenty members.
• Ideal choice if you wish to start your company alone or as a sole trader.
• Only natural persons in their own right can be members.
• Each member contributes to the PBC’s assets, cash or kind towards its formation.
• Members shall also be responsible for all administrative duties otherwise taken by directors and secretary in the case of a PLC.
• On registration, the PBC is issued a Certificate of Incorporation.
• Member liability is limited to their contributions in the PBC and personal assets are protected.
• Requires a certified Accounting Officer to whom the PBC will submit annual financial statements. His or her duties will include reviewing these financial statements.
• Requires annual form submission declaring continuance of operation to the registrar of companies
• Regular changes can be made in regards to the members or members interests, accounting officer, business address or business name.
• You can convert to a Private Limited Company (PLC) at any time.

What is a PLC?

Limited companies are corporate structures whereby the liability of shareholders is limited to the capital they originally invested. They are treated as separate legal entities from their owners. Let’s go through some of the notable qualities of a PLC.

• Can accommodate both small, medium and large enterprises but its better suited for medium and large.
• More expensive to register than a PBC.
• Can have one to fifty members (shareholders).
• On formation, total number of shares in the company should be highlighted.
• On formation, each subscriber should take at-least one share.
• Shareholder can be a natural person, company, association, any corporate body, a partnership or a minor.
• Requires the submission or memorandum and articles of association.
• Offers limited liability to its members (shareholders)
• Issued with a Certificate of Incorporation, registered CR5, CR6 and Memorandum and Articles of association on registration.
• Shareholders may, or may not be the same as the directors and secretary.
• Shareholder act as owners, directors and secretary are employees responsible for all administrative duties.
• Can have an Auditor
• Submit a summary report of the company (Annual Returns) every year to the registrar of companies.
• You can change the structure of the company at any time as long as your Annual Returns are up to date.

Conclusion

Hope this article has given you a brief understanding on the differences between a PBC and PLC. Which one should you choose? That’s up to you. How do you see your company, what are your expectations for the future, which industry, or what business are you into? A lot of factors contribute to this decision.

If you want our expect advise, get in touch, or use the Whats App button below. You can register your company with us today.

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When starting a business, getting your company registered as a legal entity is one of the initial key steps that can jump start your big idea. It does not matter which trade you have decided on, could be starting your own retail shop, marketing agency, bakery shop, consultancy services, logistics company and so on, this list is endless. In either case, company registration should be the initial step for your business. Maybe you were already trading without a company, it’s still okay, this might be a good time to start thinking about legally registering your business.

What are the benefits?

You could be asking, “Why should I start thinking about registering a company?”, “What does it benefit me?”, or maybe you are thinking, “Where do I even start?” Frankly speaking, the benefits far outweigh the cost when it comes to registering your business. We will go more in depth explaining these in a different article, but your benefits include:

• Limited liability (separation between your business assets and your personal assets).
• Legal Entity which leads to a trusted brand in the market.
• Proper business structure, from ownership, to what you do and how you operate.
• Access to industry specific licenses
• Access to funding
• Not forgetting your own self-esteem as the business owner(s). You will obviously be more confident approaching potential clients with a registered business entity.

We could go on with this, but for now, let’s answer the question “Where do I start?” Well, this is the focus of this article.

Key steps to register a company in Zimbabwe.

Let’s say you have giving good thought to your business idea, or your currently ongoing business, and you have decided to register your business, here will give you the few steps and information you should know.

The Company’s Office is the office of the Chief Registrar responsible for the registration of Companies and Other Business Entities. Before you begin this process, you might need to decide between a Private Limited Company (PLC) or a Private Business Corporation (PBC), we will discuss the difference between these two in a separate article.

What you will need to register as a Private Limited Company (PLC).

To make this process simple, we have online forms you can fill in by selecting your package here.

Your main business

Your need to have a short description of your business. Think about what service or product you offering, maybe summaries from your business plan.

At least five business names in order of preference

Why five names you may ask? This is because some of the names might be in direct conflict with other registered names. Five gives you a better chance of getting one. Also consider coming up with less common names and avoid digits and initials.

Company Address

Your business will need to have a physical address associated with it. No proof is required here, so you can get an arbitrary address. Do make sure it’s legit just in case proof of address is required in the near future.

Email Address

Any email address will do here, personal or corporate. We encourage you to open one which is solely dedicated for your business. It’s an easy process.

Directors and Secretary

You will need a minimum of two directors and one secretary. The secretary can also be one of the directors.

Subscribers (or initial shareholders)

You will need a minimum of one subscriber. You can think of them as the initial shareholders, or owners of the company. The shareholders could be the same individuals as the directors, or different.

What you will need to register as a Private Business Corporation (PBC).

Requirements 1 through 4 from the above PLC requirements also apply here. So let’s focus on the remaining requirements.

Members

In the case of a PBC, directors, secretary and shareholders don’t apply. A member is any person who has an interest in the business venture and is assumed to have contributed a certain amount, cash or kind in the business assets. A minimum of one member is required to facilitate registration.

Accounting Officer

Any person having either an ACCA, CA or SAAA qualification can be the accounting officer. Private business members are intended to submit their financial statements to this accounting officer.

Note: Each individual has to provide the following information:

• Full name
• Nationality
• ID / Passport Number
• Home address
• Occupation
• Certified copy of qualification (Public Officer only)

That’s it! It’s actually easy to register your company in Zimbabwe and just by providing the information above your business could be registered in 7 days, at most 10 days.

If you are ready to register your company we have created simple to fill in forms right here were you can provide us with all the necessary information to get your business registered and ready to go. Select your package and will get you started.

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