If you are planning to start and operate your own limited company, you may wonder if it is best to register your company yourself or to work with a company formation agent. Generally speaking, the registration process is fairly simple and straightforward. However, if you are new to the process or have questions about anything regarding your new company registration, it may be in your best interest to consider working with a company formation agent.
DIY is possible, but…
Do it yourself company formation is possible and not as difficult as you may think. It can however, be confusing at times. Note that before you can register your company with Companies House, you will need to appoint a director and a shareholder and you may need to consider appointing a company secretary. All of these appointments have to be named on your registration application.
You will need to choose a company name, and this is often where it gets tricky. Companies House has specifications for company names that must be adhered to if you want your registration to be approved. This is often where small business owners choose to contact someone with more experience to help them. An accountant or solicitor or a company formation agent can walk you through the process of choosing a business name, which could save you time and aggravation simply because if your name is not approved by Companies House then you will need to do the registration process all over again. There are other things that you will need to do before submitting your registration to Companies House including drafting a memorandum and articles of association and paying the required fees.
Better option: Company formation agent
If you work with a company formation agent, they will handle a lot of this paperwork for you. Form IN01 that you must fill out is 18 pages on its own, and that is not including your memorandum and articles of association. Because of the confusing nature of all of these documents, many new business owners choose to enlist help from a qualified company formation agent.
A company formation agent that is registered as a filing agent with Companies House can submit your company formation online. This alone could save you time and money as the fees associated with online filing are lower than fees for filing via post. Online registration also means that there are no actual paper forms to fill out. Most company formation agents have an online form that you fill in that handles all of the documents that you are required to sent to Companies House, and they are much shorter than the Form IN01 that is required by Companies House for company registration. You just fill in the blanks and the company formation agent drafts all of your required documents for you.
In addition to time and money savings, a company formation agent can help you to get your company registered much more quickly. If you have a problem with your chosen company name for instance, a company formation agent can help you to solve the problem before your registration is sent to Companies House which saves you even more time and money.
