A CAC annual return is mostly paperwork you already have, gathered in one place. The trick is gathering the right year's version of it.
The particulars Form CAC 19 asks for
The return is completed on Form CAC 19. It asks for the company's registered particulars: its directors, its shareholders and their holdings, its issued share capital, and its registered address.
None of this is unusual information. What catches people out is timing. The form wants these details as they stood for the year being filed, not necessarily today.
Director and shareholder details, as they stood that year
Pull the board and shareholder list for the specific year first, before touching the form. If a director joined or left partway through that year, note the exact date.
The same goes for shareholders. A share transfer partway through the year still needs to be reflected correctly for that year's return, not folded into today's register. Keep the transfer date and the names on both sides of it, since the form separates who held shares when.
Significant-control details, if they changed
CAMA also expects persons with significant control to be disclosed in every annual return. If that changed during the year, the change should already have reached CAC within one month of receiving the information of the company being told.
Gather that paper trail alongside the director and shareholder details, rather than leaving it for later. Keep a dated letter or board resolution recording the change, so the paper trail is ready if CAC asks for it.
Why companies with no AGM still gather the same details
Small companies and companies with a single shareholder skip the AGM, but not the paperwork. The return at least once in every year regardless, so the same director, shareholder and share capital details apply.
A dormant company is no different. Active and dormant companies alike owe the same return, gathered the same way, whether or not the company traded that year.
What to ask an accountant before you file
Whether your company's accounts need auditing, and whether a smaller company can rely on a simpler statement instead, depends on rules this article cannot confirm for every case. Ask an accountant before you assume either way, rather than copying what another company did.
What is confirmed is the governance side: directors, shareholders, share capital and address, gathered for the correct year, filed on Form CAC 19.
Once your details are gathered, see how to file your CAC annual return online for the filing steps. If you are weighing this against your company's tax obligations, our comparison of the annual return, audited accounts and tax returns untangles the three. You can then start your CAC annual return once everything is in hand, and the CAC annual return cost guide covers what it will cost.