Your Irish company's address service is approaching renewal, your accountant is changing, or mail handling no longer suits your business. Buying a replacement is straightforward; coordinating the move is the part that needs attention. A cancelled subscription, an outstanding envelope and an unchanged public record can leave three different versions of where your company can be reached.
This guide is for an existing company switching registered-office providers, rather than a founder choosing an address for the first time. It concentrates on the practical handover: permission, dates, mail, records and responsibility. Official sources were checked on 19 October 2026. Recommendations and fictional examples are planning aids, not personalised legal advice or promises about a provider's contract.
Identify exactly what is changing
Changing the company's registered office is different from changing where a provider forwards your post. If only your overseas delivery address changes, ask the provider to update that instruction; do not invent a new Irish office move. If the registered office itself changes, section 50 requires notification within 14 days after the date of the change. The company must maintain an office in the State throughout.
Start with the company number and current CRO entry, not just an invoice displaying your trading name. Record the old legal address, proposed replacement, people authorising the move and any linked services. If several group companies share an address, make a separate checklist for each company rather than assuming one instruction covers all of them.
Review the old contract before giving notice
Read the renewal date, notice procedure and termination terms. Ask whether cancellation affects only the address or also scanning, forwarding, bookkeeping or a secretary service. There is no universal commercial notice period in this guide: the answer depends on the agreement and applicable law. Do not assume an unused part-year must be refunded, or that a disputed invoice can safely be ignored.
Request a written explanation of what happens to post received before and after the end date. Ask about collection arrangements, forwarding charges, retention and the contact for urgent correspondence. Agree any overlap explicitly. A sensible transition plan is not evidence that either provider has promised free additional service. Resolve a contract dispute separately from keeping the company's correspondence accessible.
Get the replacement address confirmed and active
Before filing or printing anything, obtain the allocated address and permission to use it for this company. An order confirmation is not necessarily activation. Complete the receiving provider's checks and confirm the company name, number, authorised contacts, notification email and forwarding destination. Test the contact route without sending sensitive customer documents as a test message.
Ask what receipt and forwarding actually cover. Are overseas destinations supported under the agreed terms? How are originals requested? What happens when the named contact is unavailable? Questions about scans, signed-for items or unusual deliveries should be answered before moving, not inferred from the phrase professional address. The existing mail-forwarding guide linked below explores those service questions in more detail.
Use a dated handover plan with one owner
Nominate a director or another appropriately authorised person to coordinate the work. A presenter can assist, but somebody inside the company should know which tasks are complete. Keep the actual change date separate from the date you paid, gave commercial notice or first discussed a move. Do not backdate the change to fit a renewal invoice.
Use a short control sheet like the one below. These are operational checkpoints, not a statutory timetable granting extra days. Record agreed dates and evidence, identify a backup contact, and follow up on a missing confirmation. Arrange the filing promptly rather than treating the notification period as a reason to leave the public record stale.
| Checkpoint | Evidence to keep |
|---|---|
| New service active | Address and permission |
| Office changed | Actual change date |
| B2 handled | Receipt and register check |
| Old service ended | Mail and originals plan |
| Handover closed | Items received or followed up |
Handle Form B2 and any ROA arrangement correctly
CRO identifies Form B2 as the registered-office change notification and says online filing through CORE is free. Confirm who is preparing it, the necessary officer signature and who checks the result. Retain the submission evidence and check the current company address on CORE; a provider's message saying it has been instructed is not a register check.
Where an approved Registered Office Agent arrangement is being used, CRO guidance requires specific company consent and agent details. Ask the receiving provider for the correct instructions. An agent's own address move can update specifically consenting associated companies, but switching between unrelated providers is not automatically covered by that mechanism. StartCompany.ie works with authorised partners; this is not a claim that StartCompany.ie itself is a CRO-approved Registered Office Agent.
Prioritise notices already delivered to the old address
Ask immediately whether any unopened official post, legal papers or unforwarded notifications are waiting. Section 51 permits service at the registered office and treats delivery to the address recorded by the Registrar as delivery to the company even where the office has changed. A forwarding delay therefore deserves attention, not an assumption that the document does not count.
Changing provider does not restart a notice's response period. Preserve the envelope, document, delivery information and forwarding history; ask a qualified adviser to assess any live deadline. Do not substitute the date you opened a scan for a legally relevant date without advice. Buying another address is not a remedy for an existing court, tax or compliance problem.
Reconcile mail and originals, not just notifications
Request a list of items still held, with enough reference information to match them to previous notifications. Distinguish originals awaiting collection, items already forwarded, returned items and anything requiring a response. A notification saying mail received does not prove the company has the original. Equally, a scanned copy does not tell you whether an original has been retained or disposed of under an agreed policy.
For the final transfer, agree the authorised recipient, destination, dispatch method and how receipt will be acknowledged. Track unresolved items until somebody confirms possession or explains what happened. Ask what the old provider will do with later arrivals and when that arrangement ends. Do not describe a proposed forwarding window as guaranteed, or assume an ordinary postal redirection changes the company's legal address.
- Identify every uncollected original and its current custodian.
- Flag correspondence with a potential response deadline separately.
- Record dispatch references and acknowledgement of receipt.
- Agree the process and contact for post arriving after termination.
Review Revenue and other address records separately
Revenue's company-address guidance distinguishes official and business addresses. Its June 2025 manual says the company's official address is its CRO registered office and directs companies to update details through the appropriate online route or their agent. It does not support assuming a B2 submission has completed every Revenue update.
Ask the ROS Administrator or authorised tax agent to check the relevant records and current instructions. Do not replace the actual trading location with a mail-service address simply to make every field identical. Use authorised access rather than sharing a ROS password or digital certificate.
Make a separate list of banks, insurers, licensing bodies, key counterparties and company stationery or website records that may need review. Confirm each recipient's requirements and the correct address type. A registered-office move is not proof of a new trading operation, tax residence or entitlement to a bank account.
Check records custody and any separate secretary appointment
If the outgoing provider holds company registers or minute books, list those records separately from incoming mail. CRO requires notification on Form B3 for the relevant changes in the location of specified registers, which must be maintained in the State. Form B2 does not replace a required Form B3. An address-only order should not be treated as acceptance of record-storage or inspection duties.
If the same supplier also provides the company secretary, ask whether that appointment is continuing. A commercial address cancellation is not the same as properly handling an officer's cessation and replacement. CRO uses Form B10 for officer changes; an LTD with one director must have a separate secretary. Obtain suitable support where several responsibilities are moving together.
Transfer access securely without losing necessary records
A mail handover can expose personal and commercially sensitive information. Confirm recipients through established contact details before sending a bulk export. Use an agreed secure channel, restrict access to people who need it and avoid moving unrelated passport copies or other clients' material. DPC guidance stresses appropriate security, oversight of retained information and access controls.
Arrange access changes only once the necessary material has been received and checked. Ask which records each provider must retain and for how long; do not demand indiscriminate deletion that conflicts with legal obligations. Keep the company's own necessary evidence of instructions, filings and receipt. A transition tracker can usually refer to items without reproducing their sensitive contents.
Example: switching ahead of an annual renewal
In this fictional example, a consultancy's director decides to change address providers before renewal. She first obtains the old contract's cancellation requirements and asks for an inventory of held mail. The replacement provider completes onboarding and confirms activation. She then agrees the actual office-change date and filing responsibility, instead of cancelling first and hoping the next order is immediately usable.
One original remains with the old provider and a tax letter needs her accountant's attention. She tracks those as two separate tasks, checks the updated CRO entry and asks the authorised agent to review Revenue details. Only after the agreed final dispatch and receipt does she close the handover checklist. The example offers a sequence, not a promised processing time or a universal overlap entitlement.
Choosing StartCompany.ie for the replacement service
Our Registered Office Address product is available for new and existing Irish companies. The order covers 12 months, with company review and required checks before the team confirms the allocated address for use. Receipt and forwarding of official CRO and Revenue correspondence follow the agreed terms. Renewal is arranged separately; checkout does not create an automatic subscription.
Check the live product page for the current total payable and discuss your intended handover before using the address. Form B2 filing assistance is a separate service. The address product does not include office rental, general parcel handling or annual-return filing. Confirm any exceptional delivery or records requirement separately. For an existing urgent notice or disputed handover, explain the issue before ordering routine address support.
StartCompany.ie service
Registered Office Address
Official information and next steps
Official sources checked on 19 October 2026. Service arrangements and operational recommendations should be agreed with the relevant provider. Obtain professional advice about live notices, disputes or combined officer changes.