Your company on BRS's not-operating list
What a Kenyan director should do if the company appears on the Registrar's list of companies believed not to be operating, from searching to filing.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Kenya
A director gets a call from a supplier: "Did you know your company is on the BRS list?" She did not. The company trades every day, banks every week and pays its taxes. Yet on the Business Registration Service's website, under a notice about companies the Registrar believes may not be operating, there is its name.
Finding your company on that list is unsettling, but it is a warning, not a closure. This article explains what the list is and the law it cites, how to check it, the filings that often lie behind a listing, what strike-off and restoration involve, and how to get your company's records up to date.
What the list is, and the law behind it
BRS says that, under sections 93A and 894(1) of the Companies Act, the Registrar has formed a reasonable belief that the companies on its published list may not be conducting business or operating. BRS publishes the list as a "BOI Notice" on its website so that directors can check whether their company appears on it. At the time of writing, BRS shows the list as last updated on 21 August 2026, so check the current version rather than relying on an old screenshot.
The sections cited are a clue. Section 93A is the provision BRS's guide on disclosing beneficial ownership information is made under. A company that is trading perfectly well can still look inactive from the Registrar's side if the filings the Registrar expects have not arrived.
Searching by name or number
BRS lets anyone check whether a company is on the list by searching with the company name or registration number. The Registrar's BOI Notice page is where the search sits, and it is the page to check first.
Search by registration number where you can. Names can be similar, and a search by name may show a different company with a close match, or miss yours if it was registered with slightly different spelling. Save a dated screenshot of the result, whether your company is listed or not, and keep it with the company's records.
Why companies end up on it
Start with the filings behind the sections the notice cites, and with the records the Registrar expects from every company.
The beneficial ownership register
BRS's guide says every company must take reasonable steps to identify its beneficial owners, keep a register of beneficial owners, and lodge a copy with the Registrar within 30 days of preparing it, using Form BOF 1 on the BRS platform. A company that has never lodged one has a gap the Registrar can see. Lodging the beneficial ownership register on BOF 1 walks through the form.
Annual returns and other filings
A company that has not filed its annual returns for several years, or has not notified changes to its directors and address, gives the Registrar no sign of life either. Filing BRS annual returns covers that obligation.
Strike-off and restoration
Being on the list is not the same as being struck off, and the aim is to act early. Two BRS forms are worth knowing about:
- CR18 is the company's own application to have its name struck off the register, under section 897. It is for a company that really has stopped trading and wants to close in an orderly way, which closing a company in Kenya explains.
- CR48 is the application for administrative restoration of a company to the register, under section 912. It matters if a company has been struck off and its owners want it back.
A trading company on the list wants neither form. It wants to file what is missing, so that the Registrar's belief that it is not operating no longer holds. If you are unsure where your company stands, take advice from your company secretary or accountant before filing anything.
Getting your accountant to help through Achekam
Bringing a company up to date usually needs someone who can see its records and knows the filings. In Achekam, a business appoints its accounting firm by the firm's Achekam address or firm code, as accountant, auditor, tax practitioner, payroll provider or adviser, with an access level, and the firm accepts or declines. What the firm's people can do in the books depends on that level: bookkeeping access covers the accounting but not the business's users, settings or gateways, and review access is read-only. For help with company filings, an adviser appointment with review access lets the firm see the records it needs without changing them.
Filing to bring the company up to date
Work through the missing filings in order, and keep everything together:
- Search and save the BOI Notice result for your company.
- Identify the beneficial owners, prepare the register, and lodge it on BOF 1 within 30 days of preparing it.
- File any outstanding annual returns and notices of change.
- Search again after the filings are accepted, and save the new result.
- File the evidence: in Achekam, Document Centre is a folder-based store where a business uploads files or whole folders, tags and searches them, and a new version keeps the earlier ones. Keep a "Registrar" folder with the BOI search results, the BOF 1 acknowledgement, annual return confirmations and any correspondence.
If a bank, a customer or a tender committee asks why your company appeared on the list, that folder is your answer: when you found out, what you filed and when the Registrar accepted it.
This week
Search the BOI Notice for your company by registration number, even if nobody has told you it is listed. If it is there, start with the beneficial ownership register; if it is not, check that the register and your annual returns are up to date so it stays that way.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
