Limited companies · Check before acting
Post-incorporation checklist for a UK limited company
Work through the records, tax, banking, ownership and deadline checks that follow after Companies House creates the company.
Start with the incorporation record
Download the certificate of incorporation and save the company number, authentication details and formation documents somewhere controlled. Check the company name, registered office, directors, shares and people with significant control on the public register. If anything is wrong, deal with it promptly rather than copying the error into every new account.
During the first week
- Create the statutory records. Keep the registers, share information, decisions and supporting documents the company is required to maintain.
- Issue and record the shares correctly. The share numbers, values, owners and percentages should agree everywhere. Use professional help where ownership is not simple.
- Separate company money. Open a suitable business account and do not treat its balance as personal money. Record expenses paid personally for the company.
- Choose a bookkeeping routine. Decide who records transactions, stores evidence and reconciles the bank each week or month.
- Record when trading actually starts. This date can affect Corporation Tax actions. Check the current HMRC process when the company becomes active.
- Plan how the director will be paid. Salary, expenses, dividends and director loans have different rules and records. Do not move money first and label it later.
Put the recurring work in the calendar
Record the accounting reference date, accounts deadline, confirmation-statement review period, Corporation Tax payment and return dates, payroll dates if relevant, and VAT checks. Use the live Companies House and HMRC records as the source. Set an earlier internal date so there is time to fix missing information.
Do not forget the trading basics
Check that invoices, the website, emails and order documents show the required company details. Review licences, insurance, data protection, contracts and any rules for the actual activity. Incorporation itself does not grant permission to trade in a regulated sector.
What complete looks like
The public record is correct, ownership reconciles, company money is separate, the bookkeeping owner is named and every official deadline has an earlier preparation date. Directors know what they are responsible for rather than assuming the formation agent will run the company.