Hi I am due to be going out to see a potential new client within the next week and they are currently trying to decide if they want to go sole trader/partnership or Ltd Company, as I am not authorised I will not be giving any advice on this. I am just after their books & self assessment if they stay sole trader or do their books up to tb if they go Ltd Company.
Now, the reason for my post is that I have seen that there are many companies out there who offer a ltd company formation service for a fixed fee and I was wondering whether anyone here had used one and could recommend it. This is so that I can offer to set the ltd company up for the potential client and then try to keep all of the business.
I became Limited Company at end of October 2008 because of getting premises (a lot of the agents/landlords we dealt with expected tenants to be Limited Company. Directors have a lot of responsibilities.
Would say if your client is not needing to be a Limited Company for getting premises and can run as a sole trader or partnership then that makes things a lot easier for them and cheaper, there are costs to set up Limited Company, Annual thing on Companies House £15 and if they cannot have you doing their Limited Company end of year accounts accountant costs as well.
I agree with you that it may not be necessary and I am not sure that they have taken all of these things into account but it will be their decision, I just want to make sure that I can provide a service for all of their needs, within my allowed area of expertise, hence the original question regarding Limited Company formation.
I had a look at the sticky thread on UKBF for Sole Trade V Limited Company to get some more information which may help.
With Limited Company a lot of the formation companies charge quite a lot considering it only costs £20 (or £15) if you register online at Companies House.
Amazon and other bookkshops sell a Limited Company pack
Paperback: 40 pages Publisher: Lawpack Publishing Ltd; 6Rev Ed edition (3 Oct 2005) Language English ISBN-10: 1904053939 ISBN-13: 978-1904053934
Which has all the paperwork you need to set up a limited company including articles and memorandum of association.
I've used a company called www.UK-PLC.net a few times and found it extremely user friendly. The cost was around £30 which wasn't too bad.
As mentioned by other members, unless they need to register as a limited company for legal reasons e.g. obtaining a lease etc, most businesses find it easier to set up as sole trader or partnership first. The costs associated with running a limited company are also much higher.
However when profits get to a certain level, normally about £30K, most sole-traders and partnerships transfer to a limited company. The transfer is an ideal time to include a valuation for goodwill which can be a useful pot for drawing down tax free payments in the future. A limited company can also reduce the overall tax burden, as the directors will save class 4 national insurance, and they will be able to pay themselves a mix of dividends and remuneration which can also save some tax.
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HI Mark65 Ltd company is opportunity for more fees outside normal bookeepimg/acounting £20/£50 for filing Annual Company Return £10/£30 for recording staturory directors meetings. £20/£50 for recording Annual Shareholders Meeting. £20 for every change of Director £10 for change of dirctor's addresses £20/£50 for registering Share Sales
