Start your (Pty) Ltd properly, stay compliant with CIPC, SARS and Labour, and protect your personal assets — without paying big consulting fees.
By the end you won't just know the theory — you'll have done the work: chosen your structure, built a plan to register, and set up a compliance routine that keeps you and your house out of trouble. Three Parts, 17 action-first modules, one worked company you follow the whole way, and a Founder's Operating File you keep.
Self-paced · lifetime access · mobile-friendly. Educational course — not legal or tax advice.
What you'll be able to do
This is a practical course, not a textbook. By the end you'll be able to:
- Choose and justify the right company structure — and know why (Pty) Ltd fits almost every first-time founder.
- Register your company with CIPC end-to-end — directors, incorporators, beneficial ownership, your MOI and registration number.
- Get tax-ready with SARS — income tax, appointing your Public Officer, the VAT thresholds, and eFiling.
- Become a compliant employer when you hire — PAYE, UIF, SDL and COIDA across all three bodies.
- Run lawful meetings and resolutions that stand up to scrutiny, and keep the statutory registers the Act requires.
- Keep every regulator satisfied and never miss a filing — with a calendar and a register that does the remembering for you.
- Spot the personal-liability traps — reckless trading, hidden self-dealing, unsigned sureties — before you fall into one.
- Carry the director's role with confidence instead of fear.
Three Parts, 17 modules
Every module follows the same rhythm — outcomes → why it matters → essentials → apply it to your company → takeaways → check yourself — and most produce a real artefact you keep.
Part 1 — Foundations
~3–4 hrs · Understand before you leap.
- 1.1 Why form a company? — limited liability and separate legal personality.
- 1.2 Types of companies & choosing yours — profit vs non-profit, the four sub-types, why (Pty) Ltd is default.
- 1.3 The key people — shareholders own, directors run; prescribed officers, secretary, auditor.
- 1.4 The rules of the game — the Companies Act, your MOI, and the regulators.
- 1.5 What it really means to be a director — authority, fiduciary duties (s76), conflicts (s75).
Part 2 — Setting Up
~3–4 hrs · From decision to ready-to-trade.
- 2.1 Plan & decide — structure, name, shareholding split, shareholders' agreement vs MOI.
- 2.2 Register with CIPC — incorporation, beneficial ownership, CoR14.3 + registration number.
- 2.3 Get tax-ready with SARS — income tax, the Public Officer, VAT thresholds, eFiling.
- 2.4 Become an employer — PAYE, SDL, UIF and COIDA, and the monthly EMP201 rhythm.
- 2.5 The rest of the foundation — bank account, licences, B-BBEE affidavit, insurance, registers.
- 2.6 Your Launch Pack — consolidate it all into one "day-one ready" checklist.
Part 3 — Running & Sustaining
~5–7 hrs · Operate, comply, grow.
- 3.1 Govern well — board vs shareholder powers, resolutions, valid meetings, minutes.
- 3.2 Money & tax in operation — provisional tax, VAT, payroll, lawful dividends (s4/s46).
- 3.3 Building your team — hire, manage and exit fairly under the BCEA, LRA and CCMA.
- 3.4 Staying compliant — every regulator, every filing, never a surprise.
- 3.5 Protect yourself & grow — the personal-liability traps and the habits that keep the shield intact.
- 3.6 Your Compliance Operating System — one repeatable monthly routine with an owner per task.
Lerato's Kitchen (Pty) Ltd
Every module follows one running case — Lerato's Kitchen (Pty) Ltd, a first-time Joburg catering founder with 2 staff and ~R900k turnover — actually doing each task, so you see what "done" looks like before you do your own.
You finish with artefacts, not just notes.
Assessment Bank
~80 self-check questions with answers across every module (indicative pass mark 70%).
Capstone — "Found your company on paper"
One linked dossier from Concept & Structure → Launch Plan → Compliance Operating System.
Compliance calendar + master register (CSV)
A ready-to-use monthly/quarterly/yearly calendar and an importable Master Compliance Register.csv so nothing slips.
The handbooks
The Director's Handbook and the Running a Company Handbook as reference companions you'll return to long after the course.
Built to fit around real-world admin.
🖥️ Self-paced
Work through it in your own time; no fixed schedule.
♾️ Lifetime access
Buy once, revisit whenever the law or your business changes.
📱 Mobile-friendly
Read and work on your phone, tablet or laptop.
🛠️ Action-first
Every module ends with an Apply it to your company step that builds your Founder's Operating File.
🇿🇦 Built for South Africa
Grounded in the Companies Act 71 of 2008, with Rands, CIPC, SARS and real local examples.
Add your industry
Tailor the Core with a Sector Pack. Not sure? Which Track Do I Need?
Pick how far you want to go.
Core Course
All 3 Parts, 17 modules, assessment, capstone, calendar + register, handbooks.
Core + one Sector Pack
The Core plus your industry pack (or the Solo overlay).
🛡️ 30-day money-back guarantee. Work through it, do the exercises, and if it isn't right for you, email us within 30 days for a full refund. No risk — that's the whole point of forming a company properly.
Every purchase includes 12 months of the Compliance Membership — annual updates, compliance reminders, new packs, community & support. Renews at R250/yr; cancel anytime, keep your course forever. How it works →
A few honest answers
Do I need a law or accounting background?
No. The whole course is written in plain, founder-to-founder English. We translate the Companies Act so you don't have to — and tell you exactly when a task is comfortably DIY versus when to call a professional.
Is this legal or tax advice?
No — it's an educational course. Rates, thresholds and deadlines change (often at the February Budget) and many key off your financial year-end, so we always point you to verify with CIPC, SARS and the Department of Employment & Labour, and to bring in a professional when the stakes are high.
I haven't registered yet — is it too early?
No, this is the perfect time. Part 1 helps you decide whether and what to start, and Part 2 walks you through registering step by step. Already registered? Part 3 keeps you compliant and out of personal-liability trouble.
How long does it take?
About 11–15 hours of focused work across the three Parts — but it's self-paced, so do one module per sitting and spread it over a week or two of real-world admin.
Do I need a Sector Pack as well?
Not to start. The Core stands on its own. Add a pack when you want the licences and contracts specific to your trade — and the Solo overlay if you're running the company entirely on your own. Use Which Track Do I Need? to choose.