Limited Company Accountants Birmingham | Vtrahe
A limited company is a separate legal person from the people who own and run it. The company owns the assets, signs the contracts and owes the tax, and its directors are officers of that company rather than the business itself. That is what protects your personal assets if something goes wrong, and it is also why a company brings more filing than a sole trader ever deals with: accounts to Companies House, a corporation tax return to HMRC, a Confirmation Statement, payroll submissions every month and a Self Assessment return for each director.
Vtrahe looks after all of it for owner managed companies in Birmingham, the West Midlands and across the UK. One accountant handles the company and the directors together, in English or Russian, on a fixed monthly fee agreed before we start.
Bookkeeping, VAT And Management Accounts
VAT registration is required once taxable turnover passes £90,000 in any rolling 12 months, and we register you before that point rather than after. Quarterly returns go in under Making Tax Digital on the scheme that suits the business, standard, flat rate or cash accounting. Companies that want to see the figures between year ends get monthly or quarterly management accounts, and companies borrowing or bringing in an investor get a business plan and forecasts to go with the application.
Bookkeeping And Software
We work in Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent. If you have no bookkeeping yet we set the software up, connect the bank feed and show you the 10 minutes a week that keeps it current. If you already do your own bookkeeping we review it quarterly so the year end is a check rather than a rebuild. Keeping company money and personal money apart from day one is the single thing that saves the most accountancy fees later, and it is the first thing we sort.
From Formation To First Year End
Working With Us Remotely
Everything can be done without coming to the office. Documents go through a secure portal, we meet by video call, and returns are approved with an electronic signature. Clients in Manchester, London and outside the UK get the same service and the same fee as clients in Birmingham.
Payroll, Pensions And Dividend Paperwork
Payroll runs monthly through PAYE with the RTI submission to HMRC each payday, payslips to staff, and the year end P60s. Where you take on employees we set up the workplace pension with auto-enrolment and handle the declarations to The Pensions Regulator. Each time a dividend is paid we prepare the board minute and the dividend voucher, because a dividend without the paperwork is what HMRC reclassifies as a director’s loan when they look at the accounts.
FAQ's
Can a Russian speaker be a director of a UK company?
Yes. There is no nationality or residence requirement for a UK company director. What HMRC and Companies House care about is where the company is managed and where the director is tax resident, and both of those affect how the company and the director are taxed. We check that at formation rather than after the first accounts.
Do I need a registered office in Birmingham?
The registered office must be in the UK jurisdiction the company is registered in, so England and Wales for most, but it does not have to be in Birmingham and it does not have to be where you work. Many clients use our address so Companies House and HMRC post comes to us and gets dealt with.
What is a director's loan account and why does everyone warn me about it?
It is the running total of money moving between you and the company outside salary and dividends. If you take out more than you have put in, the company has lent you money. That is legal, but if the loan is not repaid within 9 months of the year end the company pays a 33.75% tax charge on it, and if it is over £10,000 at any point it counts as a benefit in kind for you personally. Most surprises in first year accounts come from this account.
Can I run a company alongside a PAYE job?
Yes, and a lot of our clients do. The job uses up your personal allowance and some or all of your basic rate band, which changes the salary and dividend answer for the company. Usually a small or nil salary and dividends only, but it depends on what the job pays.
What happens if I stop trading? Can I just leave the company?
No. A company that stops trading still has to file accounts and Confirmation Statements every year until it is formally closed. Options are to make it dormant, which keeps it alive cheaply, or to strike it off, which costs £33 and takes about 3 months once the final accounts are done and HMRC has been paid. Leaving it to lapse ends in penalties and a compulsory strike off with the directors' names on the record.
Will my company details be public?
Yes. The company name, registered office, directors' names and month of birth, shareholders and the balance sheet from your accounts are all on the Companies House register for anyone to see. Your home address is not, provided a service address is used, and the profit and loss stays off the public record for micro and small companies.
Contractors, Consultants And Startups
Most of our company clients are one or two person businesses: IT and engineering contractors, consultants, tradespeople who have grown past sole trading, and new businesses that need to look established from day one. For contractors we check IR35 status on each engagement before the invoicing starts. For startups the first year is mostly about not paying for services you do not need yet, so the fee starts small and steps up as the business does.
Get In Touch
Send us a note through the Client Registration Form or call +44 7756 548969. If the company is not formed yet, the Company Registration Form starts that. Related pages: annual accounts, Confirmation Statement, VAT, Self Assessment, corporation tax calculator.