Company registration

I am thinking of a starting my own business providing a service. I will be the only one working in it/for it. I assume this is a single member company?

Can I set up a company eventhough I am an employee and not ready to set up for another 3 months? I would like to get prepared in advance with business logo/cards etc..

I checked my business name idea on the CRO site and it doesnt exist.

Moved from Other Financial Issues.

jesster, You will need a second director for a single person limited company according to current legislation. You can be the only shareholder and company secretary.

Do you really need to set up a company or do you just want a register for VAT?

Do you need a company?. Just register a Trading name on line to CRO site for a small fee, and you can open a seperate bank account with this document.

I will be charging VAT of course but I will have to issue invoices etc and I thought that I would need to have a company to do that. Maybe Im wrong.

Im good at my job but very new to business end of things. I find the CRO website confusing.

runner said:

Just register a Trading name on line to CRO site for a small fee, and you can open a seperate bank account with this document.

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This is correct. You can start all your preparations now. If your new to business why not hire an accountant to start with until you learn the ins and outs.

Getting an accountant is on my list of things to do. I suppose now is the time.

Thanks

I will be charging VAT of course but I will have to issue invoices etc and I thought that I would need to have a company to do that

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Nope, you can do this as a sole trader. If you are trading under your own personal name e.g. John Murphy, you do not need to register with CRO at all. You just need to file a TR1 form with revenue. This form registers you for Tax and you can also elect to be Vat registered on this form as well. You can download the form [broken link removed]

If you intend to trade as a sole trader but under a different name other than your own e.g. Murphy Construction, then you need to file an RBN1 form with CRO which you can downloaded [broken link removed]. Once this is registered with CRO, you can then proceed to file the TR1 form as well with Revenue.

If its a limited company you want to register, Gearoid is right. You will need two directors regardless of whether its a private company limited by shares or a single member company. You are better off going to an accountant or company formation agent to do this as it is VERY tedious registering a limited company yourself.

PM me if you have any other questions.

At the risk of digressing a bit (and sorry if this has been covered elsewhere).... what are the advantages of establishing a Limited Co over Sol Trader for someone looking to procive consultanct services?

I had heard that there is more scope to offset expenses against income under the Ltd Co arrangement but haven't seen any concrete guidance on this.

Also, for a one-person consulting company (e.g. an IT contractor) is the additional hassle of setting up and completing filings for a Ltd Co worth the bother when one can register as a Sole Trader?

Bit confused on this so would welcome any views.

Cheers....