A letter of good standing is a short document that answers one question: is this company current with CAC. Tender boards ask for it more often than most new founders expect.
Small as it looks, it can hold up a bid if you leave it to the last few days. A request that stalls on an old filing rarely clears in time once a deadline is close.
What a letter of good standing confirms
The letter states that a company is compliant on CAC's register as at the date it is issued. That mainly means its filings, its annual returns among them, are up to date.
It says nothing about the company's finances, its reputation in its industry, or how it treats customers. Do not read more into it than CAC actually confirms.
A tender board that asks for this letter is checking one narrow thing: that CAC has no open compliance issue against the company. It is not a credit check or a character reference, and it says nothing about whether the company can actually deliver on the contract it is bidding for.
The fee for a private company
CAC charges ₦10,000 for a private company's letter of good standing.
Budget this in alongside any other documents a tender or a lender is asking for at the same time, since these requests often arrive together rather than one at a time.
The higher fee for a public company
A public company pays more for the same letter. Confirm which category your company falls into before you request one, particularly if it changed structure since it was first registered.
The same gap shows up across several CAC fees, not just this one. See private vs public company registration for the wider pattern.
Why CAC can refuse to issue one
Up-to-date annual returns and PSC information is a common reason a request stalls. If a filing is missing or a penalty is unpaid, CAC will normally expect that cleared before it issues a fresh letter.
This is worth checking well before a tender deadline, not the week it closes. Clearing an old filing can take longer than requesting the letter itself, especially if it covers more than one missed year of returns.
Requesting one once your record is current
Once your filings are current, request the letter through the same portal you use for other post-incorporation matters. Keep a copy once it is issued, since it typically has a limited shelf life for the purpose you requested it for.
If what you actually need is a fuller picture of the company's current details rather than a compliance confirmation, a status report may be the better fit. You can start a CAC company registration first if you have not yet registered, before either document becomes relevant.