If you haven’t registered your company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yet, make sure to read this step-by-step guide first before doing any of the steps listed below. All of the following steps require a Certificate of Incorporation from the SEC, which you will only get after you’ve completed the registration process with them.
If you already have your Certificate of Incorporation, then congratulations! You’re one step closer to setting up your brand new business. While the SEC now recognizes your startup as a full-fledged company, you will need to register your business with other government agencies to ensure that you can operate properly, you can process transactions legally, and that you treat your employees fairly.
In this article, we’ll list everything you have to do to register your company after incorporating with the SEC.
1. Obtain Barangay Clearance from the Barangay Office
Time: At most 2 days
Fees: Varies per barangay, minimum of Php1,000
The first local government unit (LGU) you’ll need to visit after the SEC is the barangay office covering your business address, as you will need to get clearance to operate your company out of its location. When applying for barangay clearance, you will need to submit the following documents:
- Certificate of Incorporation from the SEC
- Proof that you own or are leasing the office space, such as a Land Title or a Lease Agreement
- Other additional requirements based on your industry
With these documents, go to the barangay hall where your principal office is located and fill out an application form. After submitting this form and the above documents, you will be asked to pay a barangay clearance fee. This fee varies per barangay, and it can be a fixed fee dictated by the barangay or a customized fee depending on your office space. The process normally does not take more than two days to complete.
2. Get a Business Permit from the City Hall
Time: Varies per city, usually takes several weeks
Fees: Varies per city, may range from Php5,000 to Php25,000
After getting the barangay clearance for your business, you’ll need to go to the applicable city hall or mayor’s office of your company’s principal address to get a business permit. The requirements for this step are:
- Certificate of Incorporation from the SEC
- Proof that you own or are leasing the office space, such as a Land Title or a Lease Agreement
- Barangay Clearance
- Community Tax Certificate
- Other additional requirements as dictated by the LGU, such as photos of the office location or comprehensive general liability insurance
- Other additional requirements based on your industry
After completing a form and submitting all the required documents, you will have to go to specific officers in the city hall to get other necessary permits that deem that your office is safe to operate. These permits are needed to get the business permit, which may include:
- Locational clearance
- Electrical inspection permit
- Sanitary permit
- Fire safety inspection permit
Each of the permits above, as well as the business permit itself, has a certain fee attached to them, which varies per city. Once you’ve submitted all the documents and gotten all the permits, you will receive your business permit after a couple of weeks.
3. Register Your Business with the BIR
Time: A few weeks
Fees: Minimum total of Php2,000 for the annual registration fee, fee for registering books of accounts, application fee for authority to print official receipts, and printing fee for official receipts
After receiving your Business Permit, or if you’ve already received a document claiming that your Business Permit is already being processed (i.e., you don’t have any pending submissions or requirements), then you can move on to the next step of registering your business with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). This will give your business the means to pay the taxes required by law.
Proceed to the Revenue District Office (RDO) that covers your business address, which you can search for in this directory from the BIR. You will need to submit the following documents:
- Certificate of Incorporation from the SEC
- Proof that you own or are leasing the office space, such as a Land Title or a Lease Agreement
- Barangay Clearance
- Business Permit, or proof that your Business Permit is being processed
- BIR Form 1903
- BIR Form 1906
- Other documents as dictated by the RDO
Once you submit the above documents and pay all the necessary fees, the BIR will release your Certificate of Registration within a few weeks. Some RDOs will require you to attend a seminar detailing your tax responsibilities as a business owner before they release your certificate.
4. Register Your Business with the SSS
Time: A few days
Fees: None
There are three agencies you’ll need to register with in order to cover the rights given to your employees, and how much you’ll be dealing with all three of them will depend on your employee structure. First up is the Social Security System (SSS), the country’s social insurance program covering employees of private companies.
To register with the SSS, you will need to submit the following documents to the SSS office closest to your principal address. All of the forms from the SSS will need to be signed by the company’s president or an authorized corporate officer:
- Certificate of Incorporation from the SEC
- Employer Registration Form (Form R-1)
- Employment Report Form (Form R-1A)
- Specimen Signature Card (Form L-501)
- Confirmation Letter for Form L-501
Once your registration has been processed, which will take a couple of days, you will receive an SSS Registration Certificate, which you will need for the next steps.
5. Register Your Business with PhilHealth
Time: A few days
Fees: None
The next agency you’ll have to visit is the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., or PhilHealth. This agency provides health insurance for Filipinos, and is another mandatory right for company employees.
These are the documents you’ll need to submit to the nearest PhilHealth office of your principal address. Note that just like with the SSS, all of the PhilHealth forms here will need to be signed by the company’s president or an authorized corporate officer:
- Certificate of Incorporation from the SEC
- Certificate of Registration from the SSS
- Employer Data Record (Form ER-1)
- Report of Employee Members (Form ER-2)
- PhilHealth Member Registration Form (PMRF)
- PhilHealth Online Access Form (POAF Form No. 001)
After submitting the documents, your registration will be processed after a couple of days. You will then receive your company’s PhilHealth Registration Certificate.
6. Register Your Business with PAG-IBIG
Time: A few days
Fees: None
The last agency you’ll have to register your company with is the Home Development Mutual Fund, or what’s more commonly known as the PAG-IBIG Fund. This fund allows employees to avail of various loans, such as housing loans and calamity loans.
The documents you’ll need to prepare for PAG-IBIG registration are:
- Certificate of Incorporation from the SEC
- Certificate of Registration from the SSS
- Employer’s Data Form
- Specimen Signature Form
- Member’s Data Form
- Membership Savings Remittance Form
The PAG-IBIG forms should be signed by your company’s president or an authorized corporate officer. Submit these documents to the PAG-IBIG office closest to your company’s principal address, and you will receive your PAG-IBIG Registration Certificate after a few days.
Once you’ve accomplished all six of these steps, you’re now ready to do business as a fully registered corporation! Congratulations!
We hope this article was helpful. If you have any further questions, click here to chat with UNA, and check out the other articles of Unawa Explainer for more information on company incorporation.