Registration

The national or local law defines if your association or institution needs to be registered.

Where can you find this information?

·    Ask already existing institutions that are comparable to yours (non-profit, for profit, n° of employees, field of activity, etc.)

·    "International Center for Not-for-Profit Law" : the Web site contains an extensive database of laws valid for non-profits. The database is searchable per country and language.

·    National or local Internet sites of your registration authorities or legal information web sites

·    Business support organisations (chambers, employer federations, business set-up agencies, etc.)

·    Lawyers: maybe your family or friends know a person that can inform you about registration requirements and applicable law. You should be careful when asking for advice with lawyers, always inform in advance about the terms and conditions. Some might give you quite extensive advice and information for free others will charge you immediately after a first informal enquiry.

What is the difference between non-profit and for profit organisation?

While both non-profit and for profit organisations will aim to have a surplus of income over expenses, non-profit institutions do not have the intention to make profit. They operate for the benefit of their members or their “target group”.

This means neither the management nor the “owners” will get a share of profit. The surplus (more income than expense) of the non-profit organisation will either be distributed to the benefit of all of its members, donated for charity reasons or retainedt as a “development contribution”. The latter will allow the institution to grow in a sustainable way and to develop further activities. Donors are often only willing to give money to non-profit organisations in order to be sure that the money they donate is not creating individual wealth of managers or owners.

Both non-profit and for profit institutions and associations usually have the status of legal entities. This means that the organisation/institution itself has certain rights and responsibilities. The personal liabilities of the management and owners may be limited. The degree of limitation varies strongly depending on the legal form of the institution and the applicable regulatory framework.

Note 9 Legal Status

The legal status given to your institution will have consequences. The most important are:

Typical process of registering or incorporating your institution

The process will depend on the regulations you will have to comply with. The following steps will be necessary to register your organisation.

Name

Check whether the name you want to use for your institution does already exist and if you are allowed to use it. Also check any abbreviation you might want to use. This kind of information might be found in the official business registry or any reliable business directories in your country.

For example, you found in the business directory that the abbreviation you want to use for your supply chain professional support institution is already used by the local waste disposal company. You decide to find another abbreviation as you would not like your future clients to think of waste disposal when hearing the name of your institution.

Registration Documents

Prepare the necessary documents for registration, including data about the organisation, its start capital, its founders and its purpose.

Employer Registration

Check if you need to register as an employer (this mostly applies if you consider employing staff for more than a certain number of hours per week)

Tax Registration