The cost for registering your new business will vary depending on the method that you choose. You can register a business cheaply online, which is also the fastest and easiest way to do so or you could register it by post, which is a bit more costly. Generally speaking, if you are using a company formation agents in the UK you should expect to pay between £12 and £100 in total to get your new business registered.
You have the option to register your business with Companies House or your self assessment with HMRC online. Both of these agencies have moved many of their services online and the process for each is pretty straightforward. Online registration increases efficiency and allows you to begin trading much faster than post and it reduces the paperwork that you must fill out. You can expect your business to be registered up to ten times faster if you do so online than if you do so through post and you will save money on the process, as well.
You simply pay a flat fee of £12 to register through the Companies House website and this can be paid with a debit or credit card or directly through PayPal. The registration process online is really simple and takes only a few minutes. Plus, the majority of all online registrations are processed in 24 hours or less so you can begin trading under your new business name within just one day of online registration.
If you prefer, you can still register your company by post. Note that if you choose this method, there is more work involved which means that you will be charged a higher fee and it will take longer for your business registration to be complete. The standard post service costs around £40 and it can take anywhere from a week to 10 days for the registration to be completed. Still, if you prefer to keep things old school and register offline, this is still an option.
If you want your registration to be done faster, you can pay £100 and have it processed on the day that Companies House receives it. Of course, you are still waiting for the post to be delivered so you should expect it to take anywhere from two to four days but if you are in a really big hurry and just cannot wait for it to be done at normal time, you can pay the extra to have it processed on the same day.
If you have filled out your paperwork properly and everything is processed correctly, you will be permitted to begin trading as soon as your business registration is complete. There is nothing else that needs to be done and no further costs at this point. You will however, need to remember to register for corporation tax within the first three months that your business is operating. There is no charge for this application so it is recommended that you fill it out online as quickly as possible once your business has been registered and then you are set to begin trading legally.
