Advice on New Ltd Company

[boardman411]

Hi All,

Starting my first contract in the next couple of weeks, but need to setup a Ltd Company first. I was advised that to get the ball rolling to go to Companies House and request a new company..

One of the steps here is to add share capital, no of shares etc.. I need some advice on this section. As I would rather do this at a later stage once I've decided who will be my accountant.. Any recommendations on accountants would be a plus, currently looking at SJD & InTouch..

I know I can get an accountancy firm to do this as a service, but they seem to charge a lot more for the same process. Also I just want to have the company details setup only for now..

Any Advice welcome..

[Clare@InTouch]

You need to appoint the shareholders when you set up the company, you can't do it later. Although you can change it later.

If it's just you, I'd set it up with you having 100 £1 shares. If you're married, and your partner doesn't work, considering adding them as a shareholder.

You could always call an accountant for a bit of advice, you don't need to sign up there & then :-)

[rd409]

If you are just looking for some initial advice, I am sure most of the accountants who post here, would be more than happy to help you. AFAIK you dont have to subscribe to their services for initial guidance.
But it might be a good idea to get an accountant from the start, as it is during the early days, that you tend to get things wrong most of the times. Also most of the accountancy services get your ltd company set up for free anyways, so it would also save you some hassle there.

[Jeremiah@RHJAccountants]

As said already you will need to appoint shareholders and 100 shares is what most accountants reccommend.

if you give an accountant a call they can advise you on how best to set up the company and also which address you want to use as the registered office which you may want to be your own or the accountants.

if you set the company up now it takes around a couple of weeks to get registered with HMRC so by the time you start your contract you will be up and running.

Good luck

[boardman411]

Thanks for all the advice so far, will be making a call to 'Intouch' this afternoon for some guidance.

[Clare@InTouch]

Good point re the office address. You have three different addresses:

Registered office - publicly available
Service address - your 'home' address as shown on public record
Trading address - your home address, not publicly available

The first two can be your accountant's address, and many offer this free of charge. If you start the company using your own address as the registered or service address then it will always be part of the publicly available history. If you value your privacy a lot you may wish to use an accountant's address from the start. Just give them a call and talk to them, ask them if they will allow you to use their address from the start even if it takes you another 2 months after then to sign up as a client. Many will be happy to do so.

[Waldorf]

I use Nixon Williams if that is of any help.

Following the fraud through Upton, I would perhaps avoid using your accountants address as the registered office, less chance that someone can cover up a con.

[Clare@InTouch]

I use Nixon Williams if that is of any help.

Following the fraud through Upton, I would perhaps avoid using your accountants address as the registered office, less chance that someone can cover up a con.

The registered office address is where Companies House write to, HMRC should still write to your home address. If you want to keep an eye on things, which is a good idea given the whole Uptons thing, then register with HMRC Online. That way you can log in and review your Personal Tax and Corporation Tax status at any time. You'll be able to see what's been filed and any payments that have been made/refunded. You can also register for VAT and PAYE, although the online system doesn't provide much information for those two. Register here: https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/login

[Jeremiah@RHJAccountants]

The registered office address is where Companies House write to, HMRC should still write to your home address. If you want to keep an eye on things, which is a good idea given the whole Uptons thing, then register with HMRC Online. That way you can log in and review your Personal Tax and Corporation Tax status at any time. You'll be able to see what's been filed and any payments that have been made/refunded. You can also register for VAT and PAYE, although the online system doesn't provide much information for those two. Register here: https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/login

I agree with this after the whole Uptons thing at least if you are making regular checks online at HMRC for personal tax and corporation tax the chances of being conned should decrease.