Your first year as a limited company.
The deadlines a company picks up on the day it is incorporated, and what Finstem Accountants sets up in the first month so every one of them is in the calendar.
Your first year, in five steps.
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Incorporation
The company exists from the date on its certificate of incorporation. The first accounts run from that date; the tax deadlines run from the accounting period.
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Register for corporation tax
HMRC must be told the company is active within three months of it starting to trade.
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First accounting period
The first period runs from incorporation to the end of the month in which its first anniversary falls, unless the company changes the date.
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First accounts
Accounts are due at Companies House nine months after each year end; a first set covering more than twelve months is due twenty-one months from incorporation.
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Corporation tax and the CT600
The tax is due nine months and one day after the end of the period, and the CT600 twelve months after it.
The first CT600 is not due twelve months from incorporation. It is due twelve months after the end of the corporation tax accounting period, which starts when the company begins to trade. A first period of accounts longer than twelve months is split into two periods for HMRC, with two returns and two payment dates.
The first
month.
What Finstem Accountants puts in place before the company sends its first invoice, so nothing has to be untangled at the first year end.
HMRC agent authorisation
Finstem is authorised as the company’s agent for corporation tax and PAYE, so Finstem sees HMRC correspondence and drafts the response.
Accounting software
Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent set up with the bank feed connected, so the books are kept from the first transaction.
Payroll, where needed
PAYE registered and the first run set up if a director or employee is to be paid a salary.
The deadline calendar
Every filing and payment date the company now has, including the annual confirmation statement, written down, sent to you and tracked by Finstem.
Questions new directors ask.
Get in touchQ1Do I need an accountant straight away?
It helps. The decisions with the biggest effect on tax and admin — the year end, VAT, and how you pay yourself — are taken in the first few weeks. Getting them right at the start costs far less than undoing them later.
Q2When is my first corporation tax bill due?
Nine months and one day after the end of each corporation tax accounting period. Where the first period of accounts runs past twelve months there are two periods, so two payment dates. Finstem confirms both in writing well before they fall due.
Q3Should I register for VAT from day one?
Not automatically. Registration is compulsory once taxable turnover passes the threshold. Registering earlier can make sense if your customers are VAT-registered businesses or you have large start-up costs, and can hurt if you sell to the public. Finstem works through it with you.
Q4What records do I need to keep?
Every sales invoice, purchase receipt and bank transaction, kept for at least six years. With the accounting software connected to the bank feed, most of it is captured as you go, and Finstem keeps it in order.
Talk to licensed accountants in the West Midlands.
Accounts, tax and payroll for limited companies and their directors, quoted in writing before any work starts.
“Always available when you need him, advice is really good. Helped my start-up business perfectly — wouldn’t have been able to do half the stuff if he wasn’t so attentive and helpful.”
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