The main differences between the two types of business are:

1. A Limited Company has Limited Liability – that means the assets and liabilities of the company are separate from the owners of the business. With a Trading Name registration, the business does not have limited liability and the liabilities of the business are not distinct from those of the business owners.
2. With a Limited company the Company Name has legal protection and no other Limited Company with the same or similar name can be registered – this is not the case with a trading name where the company name can be registered by other applicants also – there is not the benefit of name protection.
3. With a Limited company lower Corporation Tax applies to retained profits and the company has shares that can be bought and sold, with a Trading Name there are no shares to buy or sell and lower rates of Corporation Tax do not apply.

Every Irish company needs at least one company Director and a company Secretary. They do not need to live in Ireland.

Yes, the Company Secretary can be one of the Directors also.

We always complete our company formations in the fastest time possible – it takes on average 1 to 3 days depending on the service you require.

No, they often are the same address, but they do not have to be the same, they can be completely different addresses.

This is a company normally setup for Non Profit making companies like Sports Organisations or Management Companies. These types of companies do not have Shares so this issue of who owns the company does not arise – important in situations where property like a sports-field or common areas in a building need to be jointly held by a group of people.

We can help you register for Tax and VAT. It takes around 2 weeks on average to get the tax numbers so we recommend starting as early as possible. Our Accountants can prepare the tax registration documents within an hour of your company being formed.

The following particulars should be shown on headed notepaper of the company:

1. Company Name and Address
2. Type of company
3. Place of registration and registered number
4. Address of the registered office

Every limited liability company which has a website is required to display either on its homepage or a readily accessible webpage the following:

1. The name and type of company
2. The place of registration of the company and the number with which it is registered
3. The address of the registered office of the company

We provide the complete pack you require to open a bank account for your new company including Certificate of incorporation, Company Seal, Confirmation of Shareholdings at Incorporation, and bound copies of your Company register and Memorandum and Articles of Association. Separately the Bank will also look for proof of ID for company Directors (e.g. Passport, recent utility bill).

Of course, changing a Director or Secretary or Shareholder is part of the normal changes that happen over a company’s life and we can arrange them all here for you. Call us and we can let you know what is required in your particular situation and we can organise it for you.

A company needs to file an Annual Return each year. We can prepare the Annual Return for you at a cost of Euro 130 including VAT. Normally a company will not need to file an audited set of accounts. Most companies are audit exempt as they are small companies below the thresholds for an audit.

Yes a company can change it’s year end filing date but it is important to note that this can only be done once during the lifetime of a company so it is vital to change it only when you have a strong reason to do so.

Yes closing your company is easy as forming your company. Our professionals will prepare the closure documents and liaise with the Revenue to obtain approval to cease and close the company. A standard company closure costs Euro 295 plus VAT plus there is the additional cost of a legally required small newspaper ad that we prepare and place for you that costs Euro 140 plus VAT.

If you would like any help on explaining the above please contact us on 01-2848911 where our professionals are waiting to help – and remember taking to us is free!