[Update January 2009 - By far the easiest way to register a business is actually by doing it manually. The SSM website has changed, is not very user friendly and takes up to 1 week to process.
Going to SSM and registering yourself will take no more than 2 hours.]
[Update August 2008: Additionally, you can download all the steps I have listed below in an easy to read .pdf file that I took the time to create. And yes, it's FREE! Click here.]
Here are all the steps required to register your business as a sole proprietor in Malaysia. And the best thing about it is it’s online!
Bookmark this post, tell all your friends and family and forward everyone you know this link. Now no one can use the excuse, ‘I don’t know how to register a business, so I won’t start one’ anymore!
Step 1 – Warning
Use Internet Explorer, as there’s a problem with Mozilla in the later stages of the application process and you won’t be able to use some important sections of the e – gov pages.
Although the government sites claim to be available 24 hours a day, I found that the payment pages didn’t work on the weekend and also outside of business hours. Whether or not the system was down for maintenance, I don’t know, but it won’t tell you that the site is down, it’ll just refuse to accept payment.
So I would suggest registering your business name on weekdays and during working hours.
Also, please be prepared to click through ALOT of links, as the process flow of the government portal SUCKS. Just be calm, be Zen and everything should go smoothly for you if you follow my instructions. (Now if only I had some instructions to follow)
Alternatively, you could do all this manually at The Mall opposite PWTC, but I refuse to.
Step 2 – Create an account with ‘mygovernment’
Go to the registration page for the ‘mygovernment’ web page and select your category. Mine was ‘Malaysian citizen’.
The next page will ask for your details, such as age, sex, IC number, address etc. Fill in all the details on the page.
Apparently, if you’re not sure what sex you are, you may select the option ‘doubt’. If you don’t believe me try signing up and clicking the ‘gender’ tab.
Be warned that there are bugs in the form, such as when I tried to check if my user name was available. It gave me the following page. I suggest just choose a user name and fill in the rest of the details first. When you click next, it’ll tell you if the name is being used or not anyway.
Once all the details are filled, you will get to the ‘registration successful’ page. You now have to wait for them to send a confirmation e-mail to your registered e-mail address, saying that you have been added to the system.
It didn’t take too long for me, about a half hour… but I’m sure times will vary, just be patient.
Once the e-mail arrives, congratulations! You’re now registered with ‘mygovernment’.
Step 3 – Become Frustrated
OK, at this point, you’ve registered with the ‘mygovernment’ website. However, you will need to register an account on ANOTHER government body site, called ‘Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia’ or ‘Companies Commission of Malaysia’.
I don’t know why they have to complicate things like this, but hey, that’s how things work in Malaysia.
After a lot of digging through on my own and to cut a long story short, the next step is to register with SSM. (Click the link)
At the bottom of the page, select ‘ROB‘ and click ‘open form‘. The next page it opens is the personal information that you input when you registered with ‘mygovernment’ in step 2. Make sure it’s correct and click ‘finish‘.
Once it saves, it will take you back to the original page (shown above). Click ‘submit‘ to continue.
Unfortunately, nothing in life is free. The next page will ask for payment.
It’s a RM5 subscription fee (yearly i think). I used my credit card to pay. Just enter your credit card details and click ‘pay‘. The box labeled ‘security code‘ is the 3 digit number on the back of your credit card, or sometimes referred to as a CVS number.
You will then be issued an online receipt. Print out a copy and keep this aside in case of future needs.
You will need to renew your SSM membership one year from the day you joined, in case you want to sign up any more business names.
Click ‘close‘ to proceed to the next step.
Step 4 – Application of business name approval (ROB)
OK now you have to apply for your business name to be approved. This step is because there are certain business names that you can’t use due to certain words being gazetted. Please see the gazetted (ie prohibited) words and the registration guide for a business name. For example, naming a restaurant King of Kings would probably not be allowed.
Firstly, go to the SSM- Application For Business Name Approval (ROB) and scroll to the bottom of the page. You may have to login again.
Click ‘Open Form‘ and fill in all the details of your business.
At this point it’ll be good to point out that they can refuse your business name if it is misleading to the nature of your business. So don’t go applying for business names like ‘Make Money for Free Enterprise’ or something like that. It’ll just get refused.
I was refused the business name ‘Inside the Box’ several times until I got fed up and chose the name ‘Inside the Box Web Services’. The previous name was refused several times due to a ‘misleading nature’ of the business name as deemed by SSM.
Once all the information is filled in, click ‘finish‘ and it will take you back to the main page again. Scroll to the bottom and click ‘submit‘ it will ask you if you are sure. Click ‘yes‘.
Print out a copy of the transaction and then you’ll have to wait for them to approve the use of your chosen business name. Once they do they will send you an e-mail, after you get approval proceed to step 5 below.
Step 5- Online Registration of Business (ROB)
Now that you’ve completed all the frustrating steps above, you can now register your business using your approved business name.
First, go to the link SSM – Online Registration of Business (ROB) and login again if they ask you to.
Scroll to the bottom of the page where it says ‘step 1‘ and click ‘open form A‘.
Page 1
Page 2Fill in all the details that you see. (Page 1 is just details about yourself. Page 2 asks you to select your business type and verify your details.)
The very first line, ‘Name approval No.’ is the reference number of your ROB name approval from step 4 above. It will be in the subject heading of the e-mail you will receive from SSM approving the use of your business name.
Click ‘Verify Name Approval No.‘ and it will automatically fill in the box labelled ‘business name‘ if the name was approved.
click ‘next‘ when you’re done and proceed to page 2.
On page 2, click the link ‘object code table‘ and type in the type of business you will be operating. So I typed in ‘Internet‘ and it gave me 2 choices, internet cafe or internet services. I chose internet services.
After verifying the details, click ‘finish‘ and it will bring you back to the original screen. Scroll down and click ‘Open form branch info (new form)‘ under ‘step 2‘.
Fill in all the details that you see and click ‘finish‘ again.
Be warned that the system is not the most stable in the world. You may have to re-save or re-finish Form A before it lets you move on to the next form. If on the main page there is a red * next to the form buttons, it means you have to go back to the form and re-submit some data or there was an error in your submission.
Next select ‘Open Form Branch Info (New Form)‘. Fill in the details about your branch location. Click ‘Finish‘ when done.
Next click ‘print form A and Branch info‘ and print yourself a copy of your forms.
Click the ‘back’ button on your browser to go back to the main screen when you’re done printing.
Scroll down to ‘step 3′ and click the small link of the number 1 that you see under the sentence ‘please fill in all the required information’.
Why is this step so weird? I don’t know, that’s how I had to do it.
Now although it looks like there are more steps to complete (ie step 4 and step 5) after much frustration and through calling SSM, I found out that unless you have a business partner, you don’t have to upload any supporting documents.
So click ‘submit‘ and proceed to payment.
It will cost you RM60 for each year that you register as well as RM5 for each branch of your business that you register. Again I am going to pay with my credit card. Select the payment method that you wish and click ‘pay‘.
Fill in the details and click ‘pay’ again. Print yourself a copy of your receipt and you’re done!
They will e-mail you a copy of your business details in .pdf format. Print one to file away.
The email will also instruct you (in Malay again) to print out one copy and keep it on display at your place of business (which for me is the wall attached to my room).
It will take 24 hours to process your documents. If you can find your business name at SSM Registration and Business Search application, then:
Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of your very own business (well business name anyway.)
Now go make some money you BUM!
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Thanks for the useful info. Would you know if one is able to renew their companies online instead of having to run to the Post Office or ROB
sure, if you want to renew your business (i’m assuming it’s a sole proprietor right?) online you can go to http://www.gov.my/SSMROB/OnlineLicenceRenewal/Instruction.aspx?ServiceID=3863
Just fill in the form at the bottom of the screen and pay the fees online.
you’ll need to have a ‘mygovernment’ user ID first of course.
Thanks Xanydude. Great work!!
Thank you for the detail information. It may be useful for me in the future. Thanks, dude. Great post. Bookmarked.
Does owning this type of business allow someone to reside/live in Malaysia. I am in America/American.
David: owning a sole proprietorship does not automatically allow people to live and work in Malaysia.
If you are interested, search for ‘My second home Malaysia’ in Google and have a look at it.
To have a business here I’m guessing you’ll need to at least be incorporated (Sdn Bhd).
Do you know if i want to close down my business, can i do it online too?
I believe you can deregister your business online as well. Although I’m not exactly sure.
You can always email enquiry@ssm.com.my and ask them.
I cannot check the check box of ROB. Why?
There might be 2 reasons.
1) you are not using Internet explorer. I found that there are problems when you use FireFox. Try using Internet Explorer instead.
2) You might not have finished filling in all the details in one of the forms. If you see a number next to any of the steps, click the number, it will bring you back to the form to fill in the missing data.
If this doesn’t work, try emailing the http://www.gov.my website.
hope this helps.
Thanks for the info. I have tried it and it works. Please bare in mind that If you do not have any branches, ignore opening the form for step 2. just go ahead and print out Form A in step 2. When you are done. click on the red 1 on step 3 and fill up whatever missing there and click finish. If everything goes well, the red 1 will become blue in the home screen. You are ready to sumit your form from there. Good Luck!
Hi KC: Yeah, I made that very mistake when I signed up myself the first time! haha…
But I can’t believe that the sign up process is so complicated… having to use Firefox instead of IE etc…
I think the government should do something to fix up their site to be more user friendly… Thanks for sharing your comment and I’m glad you found the tutorial useful!
very helpful guide. thanks!
is it necessary to fill up branch column?
yewkhuay: Thanks for dropping by. You don’t need to fill up the branch section unless you have a branch. For e.g. if you only run one shop or you work from home, then you don’t need to fill in the branch section.
Hope that helps!
I filled up n using same address , now ssm query my status and ask me to go to the office to clarify . is there any way to remove the branch without go to the office?
The best is to just keep emailing and calling them. If you’ve already paid for the ‘branch’ then it’s best you just leave it as they won’t refund you the money…
When your branch details are about to expire in a years time, just don’t renew it, it’ll be fine since you don’t actually have a branch.
but they on it under query n never email me the certificate..
OK here is what I suggest, if they have it under query, but you haven’t paid for it yet, then just restart the whole process and do it again…
BUT, if you’ve already processed payment, keep calling them and telling them you don’t have a branch and you made a mistake… if you call them enough, they’ll eventually give you an answer, refund you your payment and ask you to do the whole process again without adding a branch.
If they don’t let you do that, you’ll have to head over to SSM and see them in person, there’s no way around it.
It can be qiute frustrating working with them (and most of the other goverment bodies we have) so you’re going to have to be patient… good luck buddy!
Need to ask that, stand alone and join partnership. What is the advantage and disadvantage..??
In column ” Address of Principal Place of Business” If i don’t have shop lot address, can i put my home address..??
Thanks for reply.
Hi Vivian, a sole proprietor (stand alone) and partnership are essentially the same type of business but just one by yourself and ther other with multiple people.
The main advantage of being by yourself is that you can make decisions easier, the main disadvantage is that you won’t have as much help as a partnership and will have to do alot of things yourself.
With a partnership, you’ll have to deal with more than one person trying to make a decision and that’s fine if both agree, but what if one wants one way and the other wants another way?
As for your address, you can put your home address, I did that at first but I now use a virtual address. Search ‘virtual address’ on my site and you’ll see what I mean.
Thx for dropping by!
Need Help!
I’m registering ROB for partnership. I filled up Step 1, skipped step 2 as I do not have a branch, filled up step 3. But I can’t upload document because the button is disabled. I do not know what is wrong, I did completed the forms and press finish. There is no red asterisks saying it is not complete.
Please help.. This has been dragging on for days!
Are u using Mozilla firefox or Internet explorer? You need to use internet explorer as mozilla has problems with the page.
You must always click ‘finish’ on each of the steps that you fill in or it won’t save into the system.
For a partnership, you need to make sure you select ‘partnership’ in the form. Both you and you business partner must have a mygov account.
It will then ask you to notify each of them and an email will be sent to all of them. They will need to access their emails, click the link sent to them and ‘approve’ that they are in the partnership.
If I’m not mistaken they don’t actually need you to upload a document (I’m not exactly sure why)…
worse comes to worse, call SSM for step by step details.. that’s what I did =)
I did call them. You know what they said? System jammed. Heesh… ya, till now can’t proceed because of the upload document thing. And even the submit button is disabled!
Yeah I know… not going too much into what I think about our government and some of their departments, all I can say is… I think it’s probably best if you go there and get everything done in one day.
They ‘try’ to make an online version of their process, but it feels half done…
You’ll have to brush up ur malay though as they only speak malay there and some business terms they use not everyone will know of them.
Good luck and let me know how it goes!
Called them up, they advised us to try again via online instead of going to the office. I followed the step that you gave, I skipped the branch and the upload document part. Have both partners approve the transaction and voila!
The system is really very very not stable at all. But I’m glad it went through and it’s approved. Though, I only get one document which is the license.. Shoudn’t I get another document to state the owner of the business? How am I going to open a bank account without the document to say, I’m the owner?
Hi JT: Congrats on becoming a business owner! As for the business ino, this is not going to make you any more happier with them… but, you have to PAY for it.
You know the link on their site which says, ‘to check if your business has been registered, please click this link after 24 hours’?
And it brings you to ANOTHER site, which says ‘ezi purchase’ or ‘search ROB/ROC’…
Well you have to search for your business under ‘ROB’… then when it comes up, you have to ‘purchase’ your business information from that site.
It’ll cost you RM10 if I remember correctly.
Good luck!
p.s. tell your friends about my site if you could… would really appreciate it.
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I can’t open “the gazetted (ie prohibited) words” please assist.
the Malaysian government’s site has moved to http://www.malaysia.gov.my/ so alot of the links above won’t be working.
Try heading to their site to find the documents you were looking for while I edit and update all the links in my post.
Thx, William.
i registered for 3 years, it cost me RM162. shouldnt it be like RM180 if a year, is RM60?
no branch or whatsoever.
Just like most things in Malaysia, they give discount if you buy in bulk… even SSM.
Is it posible to register a business first before deciding on what business i will be running?
(no business nature and address).
this is the most useful article I’ve read so far about SSM. Thanks so much. One question though, I’m planning to start an online business, but do I have to have an office address?
can you update all the links? because the gov website change domain name d…. I really want to know where can I renew my business license. please guiding me. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing the tips, it was a pain when I try to figure it out initially without your guide.
Your effort is greatly appreciated.
Good guide bro. Thanks
i have a question.
recently i attended an interview at a famous tobacco company at TPM. i signed a pre contract. It’s a contract based job (IT Support).
few days later the boss who hired me, asked me to register my name for a business. i’m not sure about this part. why would i have to register a business?? he just said he wants a business under my name so he can do transactions between me and the company.
I’m going to SSM at the Mall tomorrow. will i suffer any side effects from this registration? i’m quite worried because this is my first job and very new to register business things.
Well if you register a business, you will be directly liable for anything that happens directly to that business.
This can include lawsuits, debts and tax etc.
I don’t see why you need to register a business to do ‘transactions’ between the company and yourself. If they want to do transactions, why can’t they do it to your personal name?
Registering the business under yourself is no problem, you just have to be careful how you use the business name.
You might want to call your HR department to double check with them why your boss is asking you to register a business.
Hope this helps!
that’s why i’m so confused now.
but the company is a big one and they even showed me the place i’m going to work.
really confused now. supposed to be registering tomorrow.
and also, he said i’m going to work as a vendor. that means for 6 months (contract) he will be the owner and i’m the vendor. he’ll the pay the money as per the contract. he gave an example during the interview using my name as the vendor and his company as the base.
i couldn’t understand at that time.
Wow, that’s quite strange… well I can’t really help out any more in that case.
You’ll just have to ask him to explain why he needs to do it that way?
Contacting your HR department would be a good idea, if there is an HR department. Maybe contact SSM for more information to see if this is even legal?
Hi there, great site and well detailed article!
I tried clicking on the link: http://www.gov.my/SSMROB/SSMUserRegistration/Instruction.aspx?ServiceID=3868 but get a Page Cant Be Displayed error on IE and Mozilla.
Does anyone else have this problem too? Have they changed their process?
Hi Ravedev… unfortunately they’ve completely changed their system (and moved domain too!)
Not sure why our government wastes money like this, but hey, what can we do about it?
I’ve found your best bet is to go directly to SSM and register with them. Takes only 1 hour to do and you are allowed to choose any name for your business, as long as it has 2 words in it…
Hope that helps!
hey thanks for the advice, found my way around the website after an hour or so and sent a name for registration – keeping my fingers crossed.
I gotta agree with you, they have made it as confusing and difficult as possible when it could have been simplified.
Keep up the fantastic work here bro, your guides are like goldmines! Cheers.
Hi there!
This is really a great information for a fresh gal like me. Really appreciate the information which i have been struggling for long time.
However, can anyone tell me what do after register at http://www.malaysia.gov.my/ and now they have individual and business to choose from. There is no SSM register since i have choose Individual.
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I cant Believe I actually GOOGLE FOR “guide to online register business SSM”! when online registration supposedly to be idiot proof and easy to follow. Google bring me to your side & Wow something like this really exist!
I have been digging around the SSM website, cracking my head how to proceed. I thought It shouldnt be THAT complicated… so I woudlnt dare to proceed (when about payment of course) but i was wrong.. it ISSSS THAT COMPLICATED~ urgh
I think they should Link their website to your guide … that will help a lot. But after browsing through your guide… I think I will prefer to just go to the office directly.. There is just too much process, bugs & uncertainty ….
Hi Clive, yup I suggest going there directly… their online system is very complicated and takes much longer than you expect.
I was at SSM myself yesterday renewing my business registration because to do it online you need to renew 30 days before expiration.
Good luck with registering at SSM, remember not to talk to the people asking you to register outside, they’re charge you a service fee…
Let us know how it goes once you’ve register
-William
If you are in Penang-just take a slow drive to Seberang Jaya. Relax- enjoy a nice breakfast, then casually walk up to the SSM get the forms fill it out, Pay the appropriate fees and if no issues, become a new biz owner( sole prop). Do not waste your mental energy on their web based services. There are some things we cannot change. Save your energy to doing well in your Biz. By the way if you have time take a detour to Butterworth – great places for Lunch. Be Happy have a nice day.
Mate, this is the best guide ever, I wasted so much time calling/searching for info until I found your guide, you should be an advisor for the government.
Haha thanks James!
I must admit that the guide is quite outdated, in fact the site that I used when I first registered my business online doesnt even exist anymore!
The easiest way with the least amount of stress still has to be going down to SSM and getting it done manually. Total time taken? Probably 1 hour…