If you want to register a new company but time is limited, there are a few things you can do to maximise your chances of starting a business in 24 hours.
How long does it take to form a new company? It’s a question we’re often asked, and many people assume it could take days or even weeks. Imagine their surprise when we tell them that if they have everything in place and register a limited company online, you could be up and running the same day. Read on for our top tips and details of how long it takes to register a new company.
How long does it take to register a company?
The amount of time it takes to form a company online depends on how you choose to do it. Postal applications to Companies House can take between eight and ten days, but if chose to set up your company with us, your business could be ready within 24 hours.
How can you speed up the registration process?
As long as you have all the information you need to hand, you should be able to complete our online application form within 15 minutes. After that, we could have confirmation of your company formation within three to five hours. Register your company before noon, on any working day, to be registered the same day. This does depend on how busy the team at Companies House are on any given day, so it’s not guaranteed, but it is possible.
The amount of time may also vary depending on a number of factors such as the time of the day or week that you make the application. If you submit your application in the afternoon, for example, the chances are Companies House will not get back to you before the end of the day. If you send your application on a Friday, you will also probably not see it back until the next Monday as Companies House shuts down for the weekend.
We have experts on hand to help you and answer any questions you might have to make sure your application is submitted quickly and correctly.
How to register a limited company quickly
In short, the key thing is to get in as early as possible. If you hope to be registered on the same day, get your application in before 10 am. However, if you’re happy to wait until the next working day you could complete your application in the evening.
Mondays tend to be busier than usual as Companies House will be busy working through the backlog of the weekend, but in general – as long as everything is in order – you should expect to start a business in 24 hours.
Getting the application right first time
The only other thing which might delay things is if you’ve missed some of the required details on the application. You’ll need to have a registered address in the UK and a UK bank account and include a director and shareholder, though these can be the same person if it’s just you in the business.
Make sure you have your relevant ID and the details of all shareholders to hand and that everything is correct and up to date to avoid having to go back and change things to get accepted. Again our expert customer support team will be on hand to help you with any issues around this.
Get started
Once you have successfully registered your limited company, you’re ready to go. If you have a business bank account, you can start trading immediately. So, if you have everything in order and get your completed application in straight away your business could go from nothing to actively trading within a day. We offer several different bank accounts to suit all types of business to save you time looking around and get you up and running asap.
So, to answer the original question: how long does it take to register a company? The answer is, well, very quickly depending on how you go about it. Check out our packages to start the application now and your limited company could be up and running in no time.