Register a Company in Ireland

Registering a company in Ireland means incorporating a legal entity with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) under the Companies Act 2014. The most common structure is a private company limited by shares (LTD), which replaced the previous "Ltd" designation under the 2014 Act. The Companies Act 2014 introduced a simplified single-director company structure. A private company limited by shares (LTD) can now be formed with just one director (previously two were required), though a company secretary must also be appointed. The director and secretary cannot be the same person. The registration process requires filing a Form A1 with the CRO, which includes the company name, registered office address, details of directors and secretary, share structure, and a constitution. Ireland requires companies to adopt a constitution that includes a memorandum and articles of association.

To register a private company limited by shares (LTD) with the CRO, you need: • A company name that is not identical or too similar to an existing registered name (name approval can be checked through the CRO) • At least one director who is a natural person (at least one director must be resident in the EEA, or the company must hold a Section 137 bond) • A company secretary (cannot be the same person as a sole director) • A registered office address in Ireland • Details of shareholders and share allocations • A company constitution (memorandum and articles of association) • PPS numbers for Irish-resident directors (or equivalent tax identification for non-residents) • A CRO number is assigned upon successful registration For Australian groups establishing Irish subsidiaries, the EEA residency requirement for directors is a key consideration. If no director is EEA-resident, the company must obtain a Section 137 bond (approximately €2,000 per year) or apply for an exemption.

The CRO charges a registration fee of €50 for online company incorporation. Paper applications cost €100. Name approval, if applied for separately, costs €20. Your first entity on EntityFlo is free — no credit card, no lock-in. Paid plans scale with your portfolio: Foundation at $199/mo AUD (up to 25 entities), Control at $389/mo (26–50 entities), Corporate at $599/mo (51–100 entities), and Enterprise for groups managing 100+ entities with custom pricing. There are no per-jurisdiction surcharges. For groups with entities across Ireland and other jurisdictions — particularly common for corporate structures with both Australian and Irish entities for tax or operational reasons — EntityFlo provides unified governance visibility. CRO annual returns sit alongside ASIC annual reviews and Companies House confirmation statements in the same compliance dashboard.

Irish companies have several ongoing compliance obligations: • Annual return: Must be filed with the CRO within 56 days of the annual return date (the anniversary of incorporation, or a date set by the company). The filing fee is €20 online. Late filing incurs penalties and can result in loss of the company's audit exemption. • Beneficial ownership register: Irish companies must maintain an internal register of beneficial owners and file beneficial ownership information with the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership (RBO). Changes must be notified within 14 days. • Director changes: Appointments, resignations, and changes to director details must be filed with the CRO using Form B10. • Registered office changes: Changes must be notified using Form B2. • Annual accounts: Companies must file annual accounts with the CRO, attached to the annual return. EntityFlo tracks all Irish compliance obligations automatically, applying CRO-specific rules for deadlines, forms, and filing requirements. The compliance engine scores each entity against its jurisdiction-specific requirements.

Ireland is a common jurisdiction for international corporate structures due to its EU membership, competitive corporate tax rate, and extensive treaty network. Many Australian and US-headquartered groups have Irish entities for European operations, intellectual property holding, or treasury functions. Managing an Irish entity within a broader corporate group requires tracking CRO obligations alongside ASIC filings, Companies House requirements, and state-level US compliance. Without a centralised system, governance teams end up maintaining separate spreadsheets, calendars, and filing records for each jurisdiction. EntityFlo consolidates all of this. Irish entities appear in the same register as Australian, UK, US, NZ, and Canadian entities. Ownership chains that flow through Ireland are mapped in the structure chart. Compliance scores reflect jurisdiction-specific requirements. And the governance team has one dashboard showing every entity, every deadline, and every outstanding obligation across the entire group. For groups subject to the EU's Anti-Money Laundering Directives, EntityFlo's beneficial ownership mapping provides the transparency required by Irish RBO obligations and broader EU regulatory expectations.