How do I register a Limited Company? Watch our video to find out more information.
This is something you can simply do online through several websites but the easiest is to use Companies House as they’re the government body that monitors all Limited Companies.
To set your company up, you’ll need to think of a few details first:
- A company name – Something simple, could be your initials or just something memorable.
- A company address – what address do you want to be on the public records?
- Director’s details – have you decided who the directors are going to be?
If your setting up the business on your own, then this will just be you and therefore you’ll just need to fill out all your own personal details (date of birth, nationality, etc.)
- Shareholders – you want the company to be limited by share capital so that you can take out the profits tax-efficiently. The shareholders own the company and receive dividends. As with the director, you can start with you as the sole shareholder and you can chose the number of shares that you want. If it’s just you, one £1 ordinary share is enough.
- A credit card – it costs £12 to register the company on Companies House.
After you have done all this, Companies House will process the application. This can take a few days and then they’ll send you your Incorporation Certificate, which your clients may need to see before signing a contract.
You will also receive a 6-digit authentication code through the post – keep hold of this. You will need this code whenever you want to sign into Companies House in the future.
HMRC will then automatically be notified of your new company. They will write to you with your company’s Unique Taxpayer Reference which you will need to be able to file a tax return next year as well as for some of the steps we will take today.