Limited Company Formation Advice

The first stage in getting your contracting career up and running is by forming a limited company.

The limited company is an type of organisation known as a ‘moral person’ in law: this means that it has its own identity, and does business under its own name.

It makes or loses money, can acquire debt, and pays taxes in its own right.

AccountsNet can incorporate your new business within a few hours and have the paperwork to you the same day.

There are a few pieces of information we need from you in order to begin limited company formation, and one of those is a company name.

The following rules apply as to what names will be acceptable to Companies House:

• Cannot use an existing company name – to check visit companies house
• Must end in ‘Limited’ or ‘Ltd’
• Cannot use registered trademarks of other companies, or pass-off as related
• Cannot use language likely to cause offense

So, assuming that your choice of name meets the above criterion, then it will be accepted at registration time.

Company Officers

To form a private limited company, a minimum of one director and one shareholder are required, although these may be the same person. Optionally, you can also appoint a company secretary.

Primarily the secretary is responsible for reporting information to Companies House in a timely manner. For example changes in directors or registered office address. In addition to this a company secretary would normally record the minutes of any meeting of the board.

Prior to formation, when we know if other shareholders are to be involved, AccountsNet will offer advice on share structures, based around the individuals current income. This is done to best maximise the tax efficiency of the new company.

How long does it take?

It only takes a couple of hours to complete the formation process and email the documents to you, including the Certificate of Incorporation.

The next steps

Thereafter, we will register your company for VAT and PAYE, and also get you setup with an online account into our portal.

You will always be dealing with your qualified accountant, who will talk you through any accountancy queries you have, such as using childcare vouchers, tax implications of a company car, allowable expenses etc.

Start-up Service

Our Start-Up Service for Contractors and Freelancers includes all of the above services and costs just £100 plus VAT.