Company Secretarial Services in Manchester
In the absence of an appointed Company Secretary, this critical role falls to a director. Quay Accountants can take on the administrative burden to free up valuable time and keep your business compliant.
What is the role of a company secretary?
The role of a company secretary is to ensure that all formalities and legal requirements associated with the running of a limited company are met, such as updating statutory registers, filing annual returns, keeping up-to-date with changes to company law and providing guidance to the board on corporate governance.
What is a company secretarial service?
A company secretarial service provides support to a business and ensures compliance in the absence of an in-house appointed company secretary. Chartered accountants are ideally placed to fulfil this role, due to their in-depth knowledge of company and financial law and meticulous attention to detail.
What tasks are company secretaries responsible for?
In short, a Company Secretary is responsible for overseeing the administrative and legal aspects of a company, as well as playing an important role in corporate governance.
Among their many responsibilities, a Company Secretary must:
- Maintain statutory registers – including details of the directors, secretaries, shareholders, shareholdings, charges on the company’s assets and minutes of board meetings.
- File annual accounts– including financial statements and details of the company’s assets and liabilities.
- Arrange board meetings and take minutes.
- Update Companies House of any changes in company management, i.e. appointments and resignations.
- Ensure compliance with the Companies Act and all relevant company legislation, and provide advice on corporate governance to board members.
How do you form a limited company?
Registering a new limited company is fairly straightforward. It is a matter of supplying the relevant information to Companies House, either online or by post. To save you time and ensure your registration process goes without a hitch, Quay Accountants can register your limited company on your behalf.
Here are the main pieces of information you will need to provide:
- Company name – do your due diligence to ensure your company name is unique in your industry and doesn’t contain restricted words (such as king)
- Registered office address – this must be within the UK and is where Companies House and HMRC will send statutory mail. You do not have to trade from the address, and Quay Accountants can provide a registered address if required.
- Director(s), shareholder(s) and guarantor details
- Memorandum and Articles of Association (MOA and AOA) – These documents basically set out the scope of the company and act as a formal agreement by the directors to form a limited company under various rules and regulations. Companies House can provide templates for both documents.
How can Quay Accountants help you with company secretarial duties?
There are few small to medium-sized businesses that can afford the luxury of a full-time Company Secretary. But it plays a crucial role in ensuring your company meets the necessary legal requirements to avoid fines or even criminal proceedings.
The role requires detailed knowledge of the relevant legislation, a disciplined approach to administration, and dedicated hours per month – no wonder it feels like a burden to many directors.
Fear not. At Quay Accountants, we’re here to help you stay compliant with minimal effort on your part. We can effectively manage the company secretarial aspects of your business so that you can get on with the job at hand.
To discuss how our company secretarial support could benefit your business, please get in touch with the Quay Accounting team.
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Company Secretarial Duties - Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between MOA and AOA?
A Memorandum of Association (MOA) and Articles of Association (AOA) are the two legal documents that govern the operations of a company.
The MOA is a document that outlines the goals and objectives of the company, as well as the scope of its activities.
The AOA is a set of rules and regulations outlining how the company should be managed and operated.
What's the difference between a limited company and a partnership?
One of the main differences between companies and partnerships is that companies are separate legal entities, meaning that they are separate from the individuals who formed them.
Partnerships, however, do not have a separate legal entity and require one or all partners involved to be personally liable for any debts or liabilities incurred by the business.
Companies also have the ability to raise capital through the distribution of shares, while partnerships cannot. Another difference is that companies can continue to exist even after members have left, whereas partnerships dissolve when members leave.
