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Depending on the form you use, registering a company in the UK costs between £12 and £100. Online registration is the easiest and most convenient choice, but you can still register by mailing a form for a higher fee.
How can you set up a small company in the United Kingdom?
Online and postal systems are the most popular ways to register a limited company in the United Kingdom. If you want to apply as an overseas firm, you must submit a completed OS IN01 form to Companies House along with a £20 check within a month of establishing your business in the UK.
You could be best off using a business formations agent if you don’t want to go through the hassle of forming a limited company. More information on how to do so can be found in our guide here.
Registering your company on the internet
Companies House and HMRC are increasingly shifting more of their offerings online in order to reduce bureaucracy and improve productivity. When compared to traditional postal registration, incorporating your company online will save you up to ten times the time and cost.
The cost of logging on the Companies House website is £12, which can be charged using PayPal or a debit/credit card. Online registration is easy, safe, and fast, with the overwhelming majority of requests being fulfilled within 24 hours.
Your business must be limited by equity (i.e., a private limited company) and use common articles of incorporation in order to register electronically. Check out our guide for more detail about how to create a limited partnership.
Postal options for reporting your company
If you want to leave the operation offline, you can always register a limited company by mail. The cost of registration and the time it takes to finish are both higher than registering electronically due to the additional effort involved. The regular postal service costs £40 which takes between 8 and 10 days to arrive. You must send a completed IN01 form along with a check payable to ‘Companies House.’
You will pay £100 to have the registration document approved the same day it arrives, which would expedite the process. You must also write ‘same day delivery’ in the top-left corner of the envelope in addition to paying the extra money. To be processed the same day, your submission must arrive by 3 p.m.
Are there any other charges?
You will be eligible to begin trading as a private limited company if your registration is approved. There will be no further operating charges after this. Remember that you’ll have to apply for corporate tax within the first three months of your company. This program would not cost you anything extra and is relatively simple to complete online.
Registered business address
It’s worth remembering that when you register your firm, you’ll need a physical address. Although you can legally use your home address when registering, security and privacy experts advise against it. Instead, use a registered office address, which you can purchase for a small monthly fee which allows you access to a prestigious city center address that you can use while registering. Alternatively, you can purchase a mail forwarding address, which provides you with the same advantages but also allows you to get your mail sent to you.
The majority of people who start a business believe that forming a Limited Company in the United Kingdom is costly and difficult. Far from it, obtaining the Limited Company’s “Certificate of Incorporation” does not come at a high rate. And, depending on the choice you choose, it could take one day or ten days to complete. In terms of actual expenses, based on the choice you chose, you could pay as little as £12 or as much as £150 + VAT if you use the services of a specialist. Here’s what you need to hear about business formation.
Requirements for becoming a limited liability partnership
You must meet such conditions in order to become a limited partnership. You’ll need a unique/available company name, a UK address for the company, a director for the company, one shareholder, and a SIC Code (Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities) based on the business’s operations. Eventually, you’ll need an arrangement among stakeholders known as the “memorandum and articles of association.”
Actual start-up costs for a small business
There are two types of costs: real and additional mark up costs. If you want to enrol yourself online, the cost is £12. If you want to apply by mail, it will cost you £40. The cost of same-day registration by post, which you can handle yourself, is £100.
There will be extra charges if you use a formation consultant, an accountant, or third-party applications. It’s worth noting that an organisation can need the services of an accountant for normal activities, and bringing one on board as soon as possible would undoubtedly aid in the development of a closer working partnership.
Timelines for forming a limited liability company (LLC)
Online registrations take one day to complete, while postal registrations take anywhere from eight to ten days to complete. The operation of same-day postal registration is completed on the same day. These timelines assume that everything is in working order. It means that your paperwork, specifically your Form IN01 – a collection of different documents – should be in order. If the paperwork or material on the documents is missing or erroneous, the procedure will be slowed down. Depending on the quality of the observations, this may take a long time.
The timelines are the same if you use all of the other solutions, such as an accountant, a formation consultant, or third-party applications, with the added benefit of completing the registration process quickly.
It’s worth mentioning that, regardless of how much it costs to launch a corporation, the process of forming a limited liability partnership will save you money. It is undoubtedly more tax effective, especially if you are beginning to earn a significant amount as a sole trader. Second, it reduces your liabilities, and will provide insurance in the event that anything goes bad and you need to hire expensive legal help.
Remember that the expense of forming a limited partnership in the UK is primarily determined by you and your specific requirements. The cost and difficulty of merely registering a business name is much smaller than you would expect. Furthermore, by using our formations programme, you can be assured that all of the particulars will be handled and that you can receive expert assistance at any point of the operation.
