BizPortal is CIPC's simplified online platform for registering a company and handling routine company filings. Its main advantage is bundling — a single registration can also produce your income tax number, UIF registration, a B-BBEE affidavit and a business bank account referral, rather than requiring separate applications. It handles standard registrations and common changes well, and it is not the right tool for anything non-standard.
For a straightforward single-director company it is genuinely good. The mistakes people make with it are mistakes of scope, not of usability.
What you can do on it
Register a company, including reserving a name, and receive the registration documents.
File annual returns and beneficial ownership.
Change directors, the registered address and other company details.
Obtain a B-BBEE affidavit, which for an Exempted Micro Enterprise is free and automatically confers Level 4 at minimum. See EME or QSE.
Order company documents — the registration certificate, disclosure certificates.
Check your company's status, directors and compliance position.
Register as an employer for UIF, and access a domestic employer registration.
Apply for a business bank account through partner banks.
Access the SARS income tax number issued on registration.
The bundling is the real value. Registering a company, getting the tax number, obtaining the B-BBEE affidavit and starting a bank account in one flow saves genuine time compared with four separate processes.
BizPortal vs CIPC e-Services
Two different platforms, both CIPC, serving different purposes.
| BizPortal | CIPC e-Services | |
|---|---|---|
| Designed for | Business owners | Business owners and practitioners |
| Interface | Simplified, guided | The full transactional system |
| Range of filings | Common transactions | The complete set, including complex ones |
| Custom MOI | Not the right tool | Yes |
| Name changes, MOI amendments | Limited | Yes |
| Reinstatements, complex applications | No | Yes |
Start on BizPortal. Move to e-Services when the transaction is not a standard one.
What BizPortal will not do for you
This is where the trouble starts, because the platform completes a registration and stops — and people assume that means they are set up.
It does not adopt a custom MOI. A BizPortal registration uses the standard MOI. For a single-shareholder company that is fine. For two or more shareholders it is a real gap, because the standard MOI has no deadlock mechanism and no meaningful share transfer restrictions. See what is an MOI and do you need a custom one.
It does not appoint your SARS registered representative. An income tax number is issued, but until the registered representative is appointed you cannot properly transact on eFiling. This is the single most common post-registration blockage, and it can take weeks to resolve. See what is a SARS registered representative.
It does not register you for VAT or PAYE. Both are separate SARS registrations with their own requirements and thresholds.
It does not tell you whether a company is the right structure, or whether you are better off as a sole proprietor at your profit level. See sole proprietor vs (Pty) Ltd.
It does not set your financial year end thoughtfully. A date gets recorded. Whether it suits your business, your seasonality or your provisional tax cycle is not a question the platform asks.
It does not warn you about your anniversary date, or that annual returns will fall due in a month that has nothing to do with your year end. See what is your company's anniversary date.
It does not maintain your statutory records. No securities register, no resolutions, no minute book. See what statutory records must a company keep.
It does not handle reinstatements, name changes, MOI amendments or anything unusual.
The post-registration checklist BizPortal does not give you
Work through this the week you register.
1. Appoint the SARS registered representative. Before anything else, because everything on eFiling depends on it.
2. Confirm the income tax number is active and linked.
3. Open the bank account, if you did not do it through the platform.
4. Register for VAT if you are over the threshold or choosing to register voluntarily.
5. Register for PAYE, UIF and SDL if you have or will have employees.
6. Set up the securities register and issue share certificates, even for a single shareholder.
7. File beneficial ownership, and diarise the anniversary month.
8. Register for COIDA if you have employees.
9. Register on CSD if you will tender.
10. Decide on accounting software and a bookkeeping process before transactions accumulate. Reconstructing six months of records later costs several times what doing it properly costs.
11. Confirm the registered address is somewhere you will actually receive post for the next several years.
When to use it and when not to
Use BizPortal for:
A single-shareholder, single-director company with a standard MOI
Annual returns and beneficial ownership
Straightforward director and address changes
B-BBEE affidavits
Ordering company documents and checking status
Do not rely on it for:
Two or more shareholders, where the MOI actually matters
Anything with an investor, unequal shareholdings or a 50/50 split
Name changes, MOI amendments, reinstatements
Deciding your structure, year end or tax registrations
Anything where a mistake is expensive to reverse
The honest position: BizPortal has made registering a company genuinely easy, and that is a good thing. It has not made setting up a business correctly easy, because most of what matters — structure, MOI, tax registrations, year end, records — happens outside the platform and the platform does not tell you that.
Frequently asked questions
What is BizPortal? CIPC's simplified online platform for registering companies and handling routine filings. It bundles company registration with an income tax number, UIF registration, a B-BBEE affidavit and a business bank account referral in a single flow.
What can you do on BizPortal? Register a company, reserve a name, file annual returns and beneficial ownership, change directors and the registered address, obtain a B-BBEE affidavit, order company documents, check company status, register for UIF and apply for a business bank account.
What is the difference between BizPortal and CIPC e-Services? BizPortal is a simplified interface for common transactions aimed at business owners. CIPC e-Services is the full transactional system covering everything, including custom MOIs, name changes, MOI amendments and reinstatements.
Can I register a company with a custom MOI on BizPortal? No. A BizPortal registration uses the standard MOI. Where there is more than one shareholder, an investor, or a 50/50 split, a custom MOI matters and the registration should be done accordingly.
Does BizPortal register me for tax? It produces an income tax number for the company, but it does not appoint your SARS registered representative and does not register you for VAT or PAYE. Those are separate SARS processes, and without the registered representative you cannot properly transact on eFiling.
Is BizPortal free? Registration and filings carry CIPC fees, though some services such as the B-BBEE affidavit for an Exempted Micro Enterprise are free. Confirm current fees on the platform before transacting.
Do I still need an accountant if I use BizPortal? The platform handles the CIPC filing. It does not advise on whether a company is the right structure, set a sensible year end, appoint your registered representative, handle VAT and PAYE registration, or maintain statutory records — which is where most of the cost of getting it wrong sits.
The registration is the easy part
BizPortal will give you a company in days. What it will not give you is a registered representative at SARS, a securities register, a considered year end, or any warning about the anniversary month your annual returns will fall in.
Smartbook registers companies with the structure and MOI the business actually needs, appoints the SARS registered representative, and sets up the statutory records and compliance calendar from day one.
Last reviewed: 28 July 2026. Written by the Smartbook team — SAIPA and SAICA accredited, SARS registered tax practitioners. BizPortal's available services and fees change from time to time — confirm current functionality at bizportal.gov.za. General guidance, not advice on your circumstances.
Primary sources: BizPortal · CIPC · CIPC e-Services · SARS