Congratulations if you’re reading this. You’re ready to set up a limited company in the UK, and you want to know what is necessary. Take a big breath because it’s not as complex as you think, and it’s also a critical step in moving forward.
You want to be able to set up a limited company to protect yourself and your assets, and the guide below will help you with just that.
Pick your business name
You’ll need a few items before you get yourself a limited company. The first step is to find a unique name. You can search directly here to check if your company name is available. Take your time with this one, as this is a process to change the name in the future. Keep in mind that the name cannot be offensive in any manner to any type of group or society.
Decide who’s going to be on the business
Then you’ll need to gather all the information related to the relevant business partners. At the least, you’ll need the IDs, home addresses, and other personal information of the company director, the major shareholders, and any additional shareholders.
Keep in mind that company directors are also able to be majority shareholders. So this is a critical item to understand because it’s all about who owns the shares and majority once you’re incorporated.
With that information, you’ll be able to fill out the CS01 form, which states the above information and additional information such as your SIC code, which is a five-digit code that displays the nature of your limited company and what business or industry it is in. You’ll then need to generate a Memorandum of Organisation and Articles of Incorporation.
Hire an accountant
As your business gets more complex, you’ll need to also ensure your financial books are in order. Even if you’re not generating revenues or any significant revenues, you’ll still need to file annually and correctly.
This also helps all your VAT collection, and if you pay yourself through the limited company, then you’ll need to complete PAYE registration (pay as you earn). To add a layer of complexity, if directors and shareholders receive any type of non-salary income (i.e. dividends), they’ll be subject to a self-assessment.
Consider working with a Company Formation Agent
Although the process can be done by yourself and there’s plenty of information from Companies House UK – the official UK government website, it still might be a good idea to use an agent for your limited company.
The reason being is that there is a lot of paperwork to gather, generate and fill out. The above-mentioned covers the bare minimum. If you work with certified registered agents, they will help you easily set everything up. Many provide additional services, such as being the critical registered address for Companies House and a mail collection service.
Some may even offer accounting and other ancillary business operational services to simplify your company formation.
Register your company
Once you have the right team behind everything and all the paperwork is ready to complete, all that’s left is to submit everything to Companies House and wait for your processing. Then you’ll get your company formation documents, and they can even be received in a digital format.
It may have felt like the whole process was exhausting, but that was just the initial preliminary effort. Now the real business starts. There’s no need to focus too much on company formation and that initial set-up (such as a website design, social media channels built, and initial marketing materials) when you can work with experts such as Massive Startup.
We will help get everything up and running for only around £1500.
