***Starting an Company Ltd in 1 month!!!!***

stphnstevey

I have just excepted a job as a contractor (medical consultant) and have 1 month to sort out a Ltd and everything else that comes with that!

I have made a list of what I need to do, but any help would be much appreciated !

• Find an Accountant
• Open a Ltd
• Get Insurances – Public Liability
• Think of a name

fengirl_2

You can do this within a month by buying an off the shelf company so you don't even have to think of a name. I think going to an accountant is a good first step. Ring 2 or 3 in your area and ask them for what you want and how much it's likely to cost.

stphnstevey

If I buy one, do I then have to use that name? I would much prefer choosing one myself to create a brand

johnllew

You can form a company online from around £20 + VAT. As an example: http://www.company4less.com/

I haven't used them but they work on similar lines to one I have used (companiesmadesimple - no longer around, I fear). You can choose the name you want and they will search to see if it is available. It takes literally just hours to form a new company and the documentation is emailed to you to print out.

By all means consult an accountant first but resist letting them form a company for you; they are likely to charge a lot more than £20.

Edit - I have found CompaniesMadeSimple and can recommend them:

http://www.companiesmadesimple.com/index.html?gclid=CMqo7caB45ICFQ1I1AodQHtq_Q

Note: by going through CMS and getting an Abbey Business account through them (free banking for life), you can get £20 cashback!

http://www.companiesmadesimple.com/fast_track_banking.html

Bean_Counter

stphnstevey wrote: »

If I buy one, do I then have to use that name? I would much prefer choosing one myself to create a brand

You can use that name to start with and change the name the name at a later date, assuming someone else is not already using it. £10 fee to Companies House last time I did it, IIRC.

Pennywise

johnllew wrote: »

By all means consult an accountant first but resist letting them form a company for you; they are likely to charge a lot more than £20.

Depends on the accountant. We simply recharge the formation agent's fee and don't make any profit on it. Talk to 2/3 recommended accountants, get them to give you quotes and choose the one who you feel you get on best with. I would strongly recommend against doing it yourself - EVERY client we have taken on in the past couple of years who has used the cheap online firms without professional help has got it wrong and it has taken far more time to change the set-up to get it right, costing the client more than had they taken proper advice in the first place.

There is no longer any need to buy an "off the shelf" company. Your own-name company can be formed just as quickly now that nearly all formation agents electronically file the incorporation documents to Companies House. If a client of ours instructs us to form a company, their own-name company is shown at Companies House the next day.

stphnstevey

I need an accountant to do PAYE, accounts, VAT etc - so may as well add this task

chappers

Have used these people to set up two companies all done within 48 hours, they set up with themselves as directors and then a few days later they send the forms to change directors to yourself.
All pretty staright forward.
the first company i set up through my accountant cost nearly £400

http://www.uk-plc.net/

avantra

I was in the same situ about a year ago, just my 2p advice: use someone who know the system well as the setup can be faster.You can try some good accountants like BF http://xrl.in/3d9
Going down this road saved me a lot of ££ and running like a hadless chicken.:rotfl:

PasturesNew

I used to be a contractor, with a Ltd company.
I'd not do it again.

Get an umbrella company. Instant. No obligations.

This is how they work:

Sign up with one. THEY invoice the client/agency (instead of you/your accountant).
You submit to them your expenses. They pay you your expenses just like an employee.
They deduct their fees.
What is left is "yours" and it works like this:
Taking the gross left, they calculate how much of that is holiday pay and how much of it is employer's NI.

You then end up with a payslip, salary paid into the bank, holiday pay accruing and all tax taken from you and paid.

So it's just like being an employee.

A benefit to this, apart from not having to set up a whole Ltd company, is that should your contract finish and you not find another, they will issue you with a P45 and you can go trotting down the Job Centre to sign on... because you are legally an employee and not a Director of a Ltd Company.

Much easier, using an umbrella, to dip in and out of contracting if you're not sure how long you'll be doing it for.

stphnstevey

PasturesNew wrote: »

I used to be a contractor, with a Ltd company.
I'd not do it again.

Get an umbrella company. Instant. No obligations.

This is how they work:

Sign up with one. THEY invoice the client/agency (instead of you/your accountant).
You submit to them your expenses. They pay you your expenses just like an employee.
They deduct their fees.
What is left is "yours" and it works like this:
Taking the gross left, they calculate how much of that is holiday pay and how much of it is employer's NI.

You then end up with a payslip, salary paid into the bank, holiday pay accruing and all tax taken from you and paid.

So it's just like being an employee.

A benefit to this, apart from not having to set up a whole Ltd company, is that should your contract finish and you not find another, they will issue you with a P45 and you can go trotting down the Job Centre to sign on... because you are legally an employee and not a Director of a Ltd Company.

Much easier, using an umbrella, to dip in and out of contracting if you're not sure how long you'll be doing it for.

I considered and ubmrella company, but I don't just want to be an employee

An umbrella company is just like having an accountant do the director PAYE and nat ins (they both charge a fee), but you don't get the massive tax breaks of a Ltd

All you money is paid PAYE and tax taken at source, where as a LTD you can take away all your expenses, ditribute profits via dividend and make use of a partner's allowance

More admin, but the contractor rate and tax breaks by far away the extra cost