Company Formation for Accountants

Company Formation for Accountants

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Hello,

We are developing a piece of software for accountants and one part of it has to do with company incorporation. Check out our company formation software

I would like to find out more about how you accountancy firm is involved in company formation.

- How many employees does your accountancy firm have?

- How many companies do you form per month?

- How much do you pay per formation?

- Do you get all electronic documents along with your purchase? Do you need them?

- What company formation service providers do you use? What do you like/dislike about them? What problems do you encounter?

Thank you so much!

Replies (14)

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By carnmores
27th Dec 2013 11:01

well you would do well to develop software

that draws up the articles where there is more than one class of share , had to do it recently , the whole thing took ages and was a ruddy nuisance , we form about 10 a year and use CH site for them, its about £25 a go  and god forbid there is any actual paper to deal with , all electronic isn't everybody these days

why do you need to know how may employees we have, whats that got to do with the price of eggs? 

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Replying to Sue Murby:
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By chuckfinley
27th Dec 2013 11:09

Hi, thank you for a quick response. I asked for the company size to better understand how it correlates to the number of formations made per month.

- £25 is quite steep as the electronic filing costs only £13.

- Would you consider doing more company formations and try pushing company incorporation services if you were able to make money from it? 

- What about company documents? Do you receive them from Companies House? Do you even need them?

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By carnmores
27th Dec 2013 11:18

iam aware of the cost for direct filing and £25 is reqsonable

this is a competitive market place , look how the other suppliers add value, but accountanst typically go for cheap . its not a core activity for me so not in the market to make money from it . yes we receive dovcuments from companies hosue when we incorporate but they are dfairly sparse. yes you need some because for example banks are still pretty useless when it comes to newcos tho thye are getting better and can now actuallybe bothered to look up the co at CoHo .

 

LOOK AGAIN AT THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF COST AND SERVICE PROVIDED BY OTHERS

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Replying to Sue Murby:
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By chuckfinley
27th Dec 2013 11:22

Thanks! Appreciate your help

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By Sheepy306
27th Dec 2013 11:18

Bit confused
£25 isn't exactly steep, i think company formation agents have reduced their margins so much that it's hard to believe that they can actually make a living. I pay about £20 via an agent and as Carnmores says I would happily pay more for a slightly tailored package. Do I need documents from Companies House? OF COURSE, it's absolutely essential, but preferred by email rather than paper.

I form about 8 companies a year. There have been numerous discussions about the fees we charge for this service, some people charge the client costs only, some charge £250. Personally I charge about £75-£100 which includes some of the other HMRC and registration paperwork.

I expect company formation within 24 hours, I have no employees.

I wouldn't consider pushing incorporations to clients purely because I wanted to make more profit/margin from it, that would be doing the client a dis-service.

Hope that helps!

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Replying to DJKL:
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By chuckfinley
27th Dec 2013 11:21

Thank you for a thorough answer!

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By chuckfinley
27th Dec 2013 12:54

It would be great to get more answers!

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By Cloudcounter
27th Dec 2013 15:20

Companies House

We form directly with Companies House.  It doesn't take any longer than keying the same data into a formation agent's site, and you don't get endless upsells of unwanted goods and services.  Not to mention completely unnecessary emails every year reminding us that the annual return or accounts are due.

The only time in the last year or two that we've used an agent is when there was a reserved word in the company name and we had to supply a letter of approval from the regulator.  Companies House don't seem to do that directly.

 

chuckfinley wrote:
It would be great to get more answers!

Choose a day when most accountancy offices aren't closed!

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Replying to Locutus:
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By chuckfinley
27th Dec 2013 15:29

That's a great answer, thank you!

How many incorporations do you do per month and what's the size of the firm, if i may ask?

 

Regarding the day: haha yes i should have waited until January :)

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Replying to grahambonds:
By petersaxton
27th Dec 2013 19:37

I don't think you understand the accounting profession!

chuckfinley wrote:

That's a great answer, thank you!

How many incorporations do you do per month and what's the size of the firm, if i may ask?

Regarding the day: haha yes i should have waited until January :)

Christmas and January are not recommended if you want to deal with accountants.

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Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
27th Dec 2013 18:55

I do about 10 to 15 per year.
If people are after no frills approach I just do it through companies house which charge £15 and you can also register the basic details with HMRC. If the company is likely to be a bit bigger ie with shareholders different to those running business and something a bit better is required I use Hanover company service who charge about £50 for a professional set of books including 3 copies of bound memorandums, share certificates etc. what I charge it on for depends on what else I have had to do as part if the start up but usually charge about £75 to £100 to include registration with HMRC and vat. I did speak to someone the other week who had always used a solicitor to do it who charges £400 just to register the company. He couldn't believe I would do it for £100, although these type of clients are few and far between these days.

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By chuckfinley
27th Dec 2013 22:31

Thank you for such an informative answer Glennzy!

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Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
02nd Jan 2014 20:55

10ish

Use CH incorporation service

Charge clients £175 plus vat.

Will charge more if they want to appoint additional directors, have more than one class of share or want a shareholders agreement.

Would I do more? - NO, only do them when its right for the client.

 

Oh - sole practitioner, one PT member of staff.

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By chuckfinley
03rd Feb 2014 12:51

Thanks @10ish!

How many incorporations per year?

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