Limited Company Guidelines

If setting up your own limited company is the way that you are going there are some important points should need to be aware of.

The first things you will need to do is set up your Limited Company, to do this you need to think of a name and decide on who will be the Shareholders, Directors and Company Secretary. You can check whether a company name is available by checking on Companies House. You can set up a company directly with Companies House, through a formations agent or through an accountant like Churchill Knight & Associates Limited (we will offer you a formation free of charge). It is normal to expect to pay from £20 to £200 to form your limited company.

Secondly your limited company will need to set up a business bank account. You should be advised that due to the Anti-money laundering regulations some banks will take up to 4 weeks to open a business bank account.

When your limited company receives its first contract offer, the director is usually required to sign a contract which is normally with either your end client or an agency.

Once your limited company has started trading you are normally required to raise and send an invoice to your contract handler. In turn your contract handler should pay your limited company’s business bank account. Now your limited company has received its first payment, you are required to make the official decision whether you are operating the contract Inside or Outside IR35 (if you haven’t already, you should certainly consider IR35 at the earliest possible moment). You can also claim Tax and National Insurance relief on any legitimate business expenses.

You must register your limited company for VAT if you have supplied taxable goods and services with a total value of more than £67,000 in the last 12-month period. Even if you think your limited company will not supply services exceeding £64,000 per annum you could still benefit financially from VAT registration at the cost of a quarterly VAT return (normally your accountant can complete).

Other paperwork and reports will be required at the end of your limited company’s tax year end, which is on the limited company’s anniversary. We strongly recommend that you get an accountant such as Churchill Knight & Associates Limited to complete the end of year work.

At Churchill Knight & Associates Limited we can offer you a service in line with your requirements. To find out about more about Churchill Knight & Associates Limited’s accounting please select a link below or call us on 01707 871610.