New shares are not fully on the books until CAC has been told who holds them. That notice has its own name, its own form and its own deadline.
When a return of allotment applies
A return of allotment applies whenever a company issues new shares to anyone, existing shareholders or new investors. The filing records who received shares and how many.
This is a different event from increasing your authorised share capital, though the two often happen together. You can allot shares that already fit inside your existing share capital without touching the ceiling at all.
The form CAC uses for it
CAC uses Form CAC 5 for this filing. It sets out the shareholders receiving new shares and the number allotted to each.
Keep the board resolution authorising the allotment alongside this form. It is the underlying decision that the return of allotment reports to CAC.
Double-check the names and share numbers on the form against your own records before you submit. A mismatch here can get this kind of filing queried and sent back for correction.
The filing deadline from the date of allotment
File the return within one month of the allotment. The date that starts the clock is the date the shares were actually allotted, which is not always the same day the paperwork is signed.
Treat the allotment date as the one to diarise, not the date you get round to preparing the form. A gap of a few weeks between the two is common and easy to lose track of.
A company that allots shares in batches, rather than all at once, may need to think about each batch separately against this deadline, rather than waiting to file one combined return at the end.
How this connects to a share capital increase
A share capital increase raises the ceiling on how many shares a company can issue. Filling that new capacity with actual shares is a separate step, and that step is what triggers a return of allotment.
Cost of increasing your company's share capital covers the fee, notice deadline and paid-up rule for the increase itself. Read that first if you have not yet passed the resolution to raise your share capital.
Keeping the share register aligned with CAC
Your company's own register of members should match what CAC holds on file. A return of allotment filed late, or not at all, is a common reason the two drift apart.
Update your internal register the same day you file with CAC, rather than treating the two as separate tasks on separate timelines. A share register that already matches CAC's record saves time at your next annual return.
You can start a CAC company registration if you have not yet incorporated. The CAC registration hub links the rest of this series on shares and post-incorporation changes.