Company formation

Company formation

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My currrent agent has become slighlty sloppy (e.g. sending invoice to client rather than us!) so am looking for an alternative.

Not looking for the cheapest, just a minimum quality at reasonable prices. Dedicated service for accountants would be a bonus.

We use Iris but have not looked at their company formation software yet - any good?

Replies (25)

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
10th May 2011 00:36

Go for Iris

We've used Stanley Davis for years, excellent, straight forward online formations, plus help with Co Sec stuff.

Switched to IRIS Co Formations last year and once you get to grips with it's funny ways it's good and cheap.  Best thing is only having to put the company & directors' info in once.

It's funny ways would be easy to follow if it's guides were up to date and made any sense at all, but they don't and so, even though they have promised faithfully they will update them I'd wait till they do.  Better still, as a favour to me, say you're really interested in Co Formations but you'd heard that the main "how to" guide was rubbish and written for the system 3 years ago and not today.

Good Luck

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By BigBadWolf
10th May 2011 09:51

A1 Company Services

We use A1 Company Services Ltd - and have negotiated a fee with them, which is waived if our client opens a bank account with Barclays.

They provide a quick and efficient service - and have had no problems to date.

 

Please also name and shame your sloppy agent (if you see fit) - so other Aweb memebers will know avoid them.

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By petersaxton
10th May 2011 10:22

Quick Formations

I use Quick Formations and they are efficient and reasonably priced.

https://www.quickformations.com/

 

 

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
10th May 2011 10:24

Simple Formations

I quite like simple formations:

http://www.simpleformations.com/

Not always the cheapest (about £30 for the standalone, but you can get an agent discount), but the form is really easy to use and if (like us) you like your clients often fill in the form themselves it rarely raises any questions. They have a free helpline too for questions.

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By stt
10th May 2011 11:23

.

BigBadWolf, I think it would be unfair to name the agent as they have given good service over the years and only recently slipped up once or twice. If I continue to use them and they keep slipping up, I'll be happy to name them.

Thanks for all the other suggestions.

 

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By help4u
10th May 2011 21:28

Company formation

Here's an idea. Why don't we all get together and negotiate an exclusive deal with a reputable company formation agent with agreed service standards for all accountants in practice.

Do you normally add on £ to your client or get a commission from the agent?

 

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By Chris Smail
11th May 2011 08:53

Good bunch in Stockport

 http://www.companyregistrations.co.uk

never had a problem.

 

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By clprince
12th May 2011 10:41

Company formation

 Our experienced team will be more than happy to talk to you about tailoring a company formations package (and price!) to suit your requirements.  Email [email protected] or call 0117 918 1344

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By taxhound
12th May 2011 11:13

Compnies Made Simple

For £16.99 plus VAT, they will form a company within hours.

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By petersaxton
12th May 2011 11:39

Jordans

I thought Jordan's was ridiculously expensive! I looked on their website and it's £119 + VAT for a basic company formation,

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By DMGbus
12th May 2011 13:16

What's included in the price?

When talking prices (a range £16.99 to £119.00 ex VAT) it would be useful to know what's included (and if it's all necessary):-

Minutes of first directors meeting includedShare certificates preparedRegister of applications and allotments written upRegister of transfers written upRegister of shareholders written upRegister of directors interests written up

Some of the cheapy formations that I've seen over the years lack some of all of the above, creating work for accountant or client - and it is most certainly NOT a "5 minute job" to prepare the above paperwork which I personally think is necessary, but some other people don't judging by some of the "blank" statutory books that I sometimes come across.

 

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By petersaxton
12th May 2011 13:25

Why registers?

I don't see the point of wanting the registers when Excel can do a good job. I get pdf's of cert, memo & arts, paper cert for about £25 plus VAT. I also have to pay for Companies House fee.

I also have Digita Company Secretarial software.

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By taxhound
12th May 2011 13:39

For £16.99 + VAT

The company is formed and the certificate of incorporation is e-mailed to me for this price (and it includes the Co House fee).  I have invested in a pack of buff coloured card so I can print off the certificates of incorporation (go to Rymans).  You can pay a bit more and get certificates etc sent over if you don't want to do this, but it does not take me long to do my own - I have an excel template into which I put the data and share certificates, minutes etc pop  out.  No frills.

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By petersaxton
12th May 2011 13:43

Smudged

I bought the recommended colour and weight cards but when I tried to print a certificate it smudged so I pay extra to get it in the post!

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
12th May 2011 14:16

.

We just forward the formation docs as a PDF to our clients via email.

Banks dont seem to have any problem accepting whatever the client prints out for their bank account application.

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By Malcolm Veall
17th May 2011 10:53

Flexibility

Interesting that so many replies talk only about how cheap can you go.

I use London Law, approx £75, but their software & service allows me to tailor the Articles, eg Pre-emption rights.  I wonder if some of us accountants are selling client's short if we save 50 quid on a formation & give no advice/make no provision for things that could cause huge problems down the line.

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By Malcolm Veall
17th May 2011 10:56

Iris - Model Articles

Used to use IRIS but was shocked when CA2006 came in & they could only do short form articles, (ie using the new model articles) - have they changed that now?

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By jimlowe
17th May 2011 11:26

Company formation

Like all the other agents who have replied, we would very much like to have you as a client.

We have been providing company formations and related ervices since 1987 and believe we have a first class reputation for excellent, friendly service at a reasonable price. Most of our work comes from accountants and solicitors. We can provide you with contact names for professional references, if you wish. There are some on our website www.incorporationservices.co.uk.

Frankly, there are some very competitive on-line services available at silly prices, even 'free' services, as highlighted on Accounting Web this morning. Many of these are very mechanical, on-line services and some offer very little advice of a professional standard. Rather than looking at the such things as how many copies of the articles, etc., I suggest you consider how well the formation agent will advise on the acceptability of the name (not just the straightforward question 'can it be registered?' - it is more complex than that; what provisions do the articles contain? - this should be considered in relation to each particular company, and the new Model Articles are not ideal in many situations: what back up can they give you on non-standard requirement?

We have the knowledge and experience. Check out our full range of services on www.companylawsolutions.co.uk and our free company law service on www.companylawclub.co.uk. We also specialise in charities and community companies on www.communitycompanies.co.uk.

Good luck with whoever you choose.

 

-- Jim Lowe Company Law Solutions Limited Q16, Quorum Business Park, Benton Lane, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE12 8BX www.companylawsolutions.co.uk

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By petersaxton
17th May 2011 11:53

Advice?

"I wonder if some of us accountants are selling client's short if we save 50 quid on a formation & give no advice/make no provision for things that could cause huge problems down the line."

I don't think anybody has indicated they don't give any advice. I don't know why anybody would mention what advice they would give in a discussion about company formation agents.

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By Malcolm Veall
17th May 2011 12:29

Advice

Peter,

I am not implying that accoutnants are nto advising; what I am saying is that many people, who I think should know better, (not necessarily on this discussion), feel they have to use the cheapest option rahter than one that provides some faciltiy to act on advice.

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By matMSG
20th May 2011 12:26

Company Formation Agent

Hi,

 

My name's Mathew. I work at CompaniesMadeSimple (www.companiesmadesimple.com) a Limited Company Formation Agent. We offer competitive pricing (Private Limited by Share Companies from £16.99 plus VAT) and normally have Companies formed within 3 working hours.

We also offer wholesale services for accountants as well as a free to use company secretarial system (accredited by ICAEW).

The secretarial system allows you to upload your limited companies (all you need is the company number and authentication code) and carry out general maintenance for your companies such as:

 

appoint/resign directors & secretariesupdate director/secretary detailsupdate Registered Office addressfile annual returns (£21.20, includes the £14 Companies House filing fee)sort through your companies to find upcoming due dates for both returns and account

If you're interested feel free to visit our site or dm me.

www.companiesmadesimple.com - our general website

http://www.companiesmadesimple.com/cosec/ - our company secretarial site

 

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Norman Younger
By Norman Younger
23rd May 2011 14:53

Company formation for accountants - you'll be hard pressed to be

If you require a reasonably priced service aimed at accountants we at www.formationsdirect.com can help you.

Since 1994 we have provided advice and guidance free of charge and we even pay for the phone call . Alterations of Articles are part of the service at no extra charge and we'll print your firm's details on the Articles so you get free advertising -  at NO extra cost.

0800 085 45 05.

We offer FREE formation if your client opens a bank account at Barclays or HSBC , and we have FREE usage of our groundbreaking Vectis secretarial software.

Give us a ring to see how we can help you

The team at FD - 0800 085 45 05

 

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By User deleted
23rd May 2011 17:16

Don't touch Companies Made Simple

Companies Made Simple are fine while its all straightforward but the second you have a question you're scuppered - they'll take well over a week to bother answering (by which time you've gone elsewhere and spent more money to perform a simple service for your client) and that's a week per question. Absolutely atrocious.

I'd recommend companyformations247.co.uk - really fast service when I had a query & far quicker formation than Companies Made Impossible.

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By matMSG
31st May 2011 17:09

Companies Made Simple Cosec System

We're sorry you feel that way. We pride ourselves on our customer services and take all feedback from our customers seriously.

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

We really are very proud of our cosec system and the customer services we provide along with it.

 

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By FormationsFactory
22nd Oct 2015 16:39

Hi, I wouldn't recommend that you ever pay for company formation software. If anything, you should really be using a web-based solution. It's a lot quicker and a whole lot cheaper. If it helps, Companies House maintains a list of fully-approved formation providers here: https://www.gov.uk/company-filing-software/filing-other-information

That being said, I would advise that you simply using our website for company formation and company maintenance activities: https://www.formationsfactory.co.uk

Not only will it save you money, but you’ll also receive unlimited support from our highly trained staff.

 

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