Before starting your business, you will no doubt have spent many hours thinking about whether your idea is robust enough to provide you with a good standard of living and whether you have the funds in place to get started. It is always a good idea to prepare a business plan that calculates how much cash you will need.
Once you have decided to take the leap, here is our handy checklist to follow to get everything set up.
- Choose your company name, which should end with the Limited or Ltd. Your name cannot be the same as another registered company’s name or too similar, so check the name that you want is available before you do anything else.
- Check that there is a domain name available for the company name if you are planning on having a website.
- Choose the registered office address, usually your home address, your office address or the address of your accountant’s office.
- Appoint your directors – there must be at least one director and a company secretary if you decide to have one. Make sure that all directors understand their responsibilities.
- Agree shareholders – i.e the owners of the company. Often, this will be the owner for a small start-up company.
- Register the company with companies house.
- Register with HMRC for corporation tax and PAYE. Even if there is only one director, if he/she will get paid then the company will need to register for PAYE.
- Get advice on how to pay yourself. Often, a combination of salary and dividends is the most tax efficient structure for a limited company and we are happy to advise on this.
- Auto-enrolment – the company will need to register for the government pension scheme as soon as it employs staff.
- Consider whether to register for VAT. When turnover exceeds £85k the company has to register for VAT, although it may be a good idea to do so sooner – we can advise on this and discuss the options with you.
- Set up your company bank account. This can take several weeks so it is a good idea to do this as early as possible.
- Appoint an accountant – it may seem like an extravagance for a start-up business keeping an eye on cost, but good advice early on can be invaluable. We can help with all aspects of the company set up and get you on the right track from the very start.
- Choose a software provider – we would usually recommend Quick books, Xero or FreeAgent and can advise on the most appropriate one for your business.
And a few useful tips once you are set up:
- Think about marketing, how are you going to get clients/sell your product/service?
- Grant funding – there may be grants available in your area – make sure you find out.
- As soon as the business starts to trade, save an amount each month to cover your corporation tax, Vat and self-assessment. We can advise on a suitable amount.
- Download the Lilley and Co app as this contains lots of helpful information and has a mileage tracker.
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