Your firm’s Apple account in 5 steps
Apple asks that each firm’s iPhone app is published from the firm’s own Apple Developer account. The App Store then shows your firm as the seller, and the app and its listing belong to you. Your firm opens the account once. We do everything else: the build, the submission and every update, for as long as you’re subscribed.
While Apple does its checks, we build your app with you as usual, so the wait mostly runs alongside work that happens anyway.
Before you start
- The right person. Someone who can sign for the firm, such as a director. Apple may phone this person to confirm.
- An Apple Account for that person, with two-factor authentication switched on. An iPhone signed in to iCloud already has one.
- A work email at your firm’s own domain (not Gmail or similar).
- Your firm’s exact registered name and address, as on your CIPC registration. For example “Kirkwood Inc”, not a trading name.
- Your firm’s website, which Apple checks against the firm’s name.
The steps
Your firm’s D-U-N-S number
The person who signs for the firm, about 10 minutesWhat is it? A nine-digit number that identifies a business, much as an ID number identifies a person. Dun & Bradstreet issues it, and Apple uses it worldwide to check that a company really exists before it lets that company publish apps. It’s free, it isn’t a credit application, and your firm keeps it for good.
Why does Apple want it? The App Store will show your firm as the seller of your app. Before Apple puts a company’s name on an app, it checks three things: that the company is real, that its name and address match its registration, and that the person enrolling may act for it. The D-U-N-S number is how Apple does that check.
Look it up, or ask for one. Sign in with your own Apple Account at developer.apple.com/enroll/duns-lookup and enter the firm’s registered name, head-office address and office phone, with yourself as the contact and your work email. Many South African companies already have a number without knowing, because Dun & Bradstreet builds its records from company registrations and business dealings. If Apple finds yours, it emails it to you. If not, submit the request on the same page: it’s free, and a new number usually arrives within about a week. Apple then needs about two more business days before it can use a new number.
Getting it right first time: the name and address must match your CIPC registration exactly. Answer quickly if Dun & Bradstreet or Apple email or phone you: that keeps it to days instead of weeks.
Enrol in the Apple Developer Program
The person who signs for the firmGo to developer.apple.com/programs/enroll, sign in with your Apple Account and choose to enrol as a company or organisation. Enter the D-U-N-S number, the firm’s legal name, its website and your work email. We’re happy to sit with you on a call while you do it.
Apple’s check
The same personApple usually phones or emails to confirm that you may sign for the firm. Please take the call or answer the email promptly: it’s the step that most often adds days.
Accept Apple’s agreement and pay
The same personApple asks you to accept its developer agreement and pay the annual fee of US$99 with the firm’s card (Apple may show it in rand). Apple bills this directly every year; it isn’t part of our fee.
Apple updates this agreement from time to time and emails you when it does. Please accept the new version (or tell us): until it’s accepted, Apple won’t take updates to your app, and only you can accept it.
Invite us, and switch on access for our build service
The same person, about 5 minutes- Open App Store Connect → Users and Access and add riaan.potas@gmail.com (Riaan’s Apple Account) with the Admin role. Tick Access to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles.
- On the Integrations tab of the same page, click Request Access for the App Store Connect API. Only the account holder can do this, once. It lets our build service send your app to Apple.
That’s it. From here we build, submit and update your iPhone app, and you’ll see it under your firm’s name in App Store Connect.
A sole practitioner, not a company?
Then you don’t need a D-U-N-S number. You enrol as an individual in step 2, and the App Store shows your own name as the seller. Steps 3 to 5 stay the same. Let us know, and we’ll walk you through it.
Questions firms ask
Who owns the account?
Your firm. The account and the App Store listing are in your firm’s name, and you can see who has access at any time under Users and Access.
What does FIFO do with Admin access?
Build, submit and update your app, and answer Apple’s review questions. Nothing else.
What if we stop subscribing?
The app stays on your firm’s account, but it no longer receives updates, rate changes or online applications from FIFO, and our access ends. See clause 14.4 of the Terms of Service.
Does this change anything for Android or the web app?
No. We publish your Android app on Google Play and run your web app as before.
How long until the iPhone app is live?
| Your situation | Account ready |
|---|---|
| Your firm already has a D-U-N-S number | Usually 2 to 7 days |
| Your firm needs a new D-U-N-S number | Usually 1 to 3 weeks |
Apple then reviews the app, which usually takes one to three days.
Stuck on a step?
Email riaan@fifo.systems or WhatsApp 082 525 4011. We’ll help you through it.