Topic

Business Structure

Choosing and setting up business structures

Business Types

Stop being self-employed

How to close your sole trader business, notify HMRC, and complete your final Self Assessment tax return. Includes deadlines, VAT deregistration, record keeping, and claiming terminal loss relief.

Change from sole trader to limited company

How to incorporate your sole trader business as a limited company. Covers the incorporation process, transferring assets, tax implications, and closing your sole trader registration.

Choose a partnership structure

Compare general partnership, limited partnership (LP), and limited liability partnership (LLP) to find the right structure for your business.

Register a business partnership

How to register a partnership with HMRC for Self Assessment, including nominated partner responsibilities and individual partner registration.

Dissolve a business partnership

How to wind up a general partnership, settle debts, notify HMRC, and fulfil your final tax obligations when ending the business.

Prepare charity accounts using SORP

How to prepare charity accounts following the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), including thresholds for receipts and payments versus accruals accounts, audit and independent examination requirements, and the trustees' annual report.

File partnership tax returns (SA800)

How to file the SA800 partnership tax return and individual partner returns. Covers registration, deadlines, supplementary forms, and the nominated partner's responsibilities.

Follow the Code of Fundraising Practice and your trustee duties

How the Code of Fundraising Practice and your trustee duties under CC20 apply when your charity raises money, including the agreements and solicitation statements you need with professional fundraisers, the fundraising disclosures in your trustees' annual report, and the data protection rules for direct-marketing appeals.

Register a charity with the Charity Commission

How to register your charity in England and Wales, including income thresholds, charitable purposes requirements, and the registration process.

Set up a community interest company (CIC)

How to register a Community Interest Company, pass the community interest test, and complete the required forms. For social enterprises wanting to trade for community benefit with asset lock protection.

Understand your duties as a charity trustee

The six key duties every charity trustee must follow, with guidance on eligibility, conflicts of interest, liability, and remuneration rules in England and Wales.

How partners pay tax on profits

Understanding how partnership profits are taxed on individual partners, including profit allocation, National Insurance contributions, and Self Assessment obligations.

Understand CIC asset lock rules

How the CIC asset lock protects community assets, when and how you can transfer assets, and dividend and interest caps that apply to Community Interest Companies.

Meet your ongoing CIC compliance obligations

How to stay compliant as a Community Interest Company. Covers annual CIC reports (Form CIC34), asset lock obligations, dividend caps, and CIC Regulator oversight. This guide is for existing CICs, not for setting up a new CIC.

Claim Gift Aid on donations

How charities and CASCs can claim Gift Aid to boost donations by 25%, plus use GASDS to claim on small cash and contactless donations without declarations.

Register a charity with OSCR

How to register a charity with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). Covers the charity test, choosing a legal form including SCIOs, the application process, and cross-border registration for charities operating in both Scotland and England or Wales.

OSCR annual reporting and charity accounts

How to complete your annual return and file charity accounts with OSCR. Covers the 9-month filing deadline, the online monitoring return, accounting thresholds that determine whether you need an audit or independent examination, and notifiable event reporting.

Register a charity in Northern Ireland with CCNI

How to register a charity with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI). Covers the Northern Ireland charity test, the no-threshold registration duty, the Expression of Intent and call-forward process, and the position for charities already registered in Great Britain that operate in Northern Ireland.

Charity trading rules and when you need a trading subsidiary

How the tax rules on charity trading work, including the primary purpose trading exemption, the small trading tax exemption sliding scale, and when you must set up a trading subsidiary to protect your charity's assets. Covers Gift Aid profit-shedding from a subsidiary and how charity shops fit within these rules.

OSCR charity compliance checklist

Annual compliance checklist for Scottish charities registered with OSCR. Covers registration obligations, annual reporting, accounting, trustee duties, and notifiable events.

Create a partnership agreement

How to draft a partnership agreement covering essential clauses, legal requirements, and what happens if you do not have one.

OSCR enforcement and charity investigations

What triggers an OSCR inquiry, OSCR's enforcement powers including those strengthened by the 2023 Act, possible outcomes of an investigation, and charity reorganisation schemes.

Sole trader or limited company

Compare the two most common business structures and choose what's right for you.

Charity trustee duties and CCNI enforcement in Northern Ireland

Your legal duties as a charity trustee in Northern Ireland, CCNI's statutory inquiry and protective powers, and how these differ from the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

Report annually to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland

How to complete your Annual Monitoring Return and file accounts with CCNI. Covers the 10-month filing deadline, accounts basis by income band, and whether you need an independent examination or a full audit.

Trustee duties under Scottish charity law

Your legal duties as a charity trustee in Scotland, including the general duties under the 2005 Act, the expanded disqualification criteria introduced by the 2023 Act, and what to do if things go wrong.

Understanding OSCR and Scottish charity regulation

How charity regulation works in Scotland and why it differs from the rest of the UK. Explains OSCR's role, the key legislation, how the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 strengthened the framework, and what this means for your charity.

Set up a business partnership

How to register a partnership and understand partner responsibilities.

Company Formation

Strike off your limited company

How to voluntarily close your limited company using the DS01 form. Covers eligibility requirements, fees, director signatures, notification duties, and what happens to remaining assets. Includes guidance on the Gazette publication process and how to withdraw an application.

Mandatory registrations every business must complete

Step-by-step guide to the registrations every business must complete before trading, regardless of sector. Covers HMRC tax registration, ICO data protection fee, mandatory insurance, and pension auto-enrolment.

Check your business name is available

Step-by-step guide to checking your business name is available across Companies House, trademarks, domains, and social media before you commit.

Register a trademark

Protect your business name, logo, or slogan by registering a UK trademark with the Intellectual Property Office.

Business Naming

Business name rules

Rules for choosing a business name, trading name, or company name.

Business Acquisition

Scale your business operations

What you need to know as your business grows - employment thresholds, reporting requirements, and growth support.

Negotiate and structure your acquisition deal

Complete guide to negotiating a business acquisition from initial offer through exclusivity, Heads of Terms, and the legally binding Sale and Purchase Agreement.

Running a business from home

Rules and considerations for home-based businesses.

Your first 90 days as business owner

Strategic guide for your first 90 days owning a business. Covers immediate priorities, building relationships, implementing quick wins, and avoiding common mistakes.

Conduct business acquisition due diligence

Complete guide to financial, legal, and commercial due diligence when buying a business. Covers what to review, red flags to identify, and advisor requirements.

Find a business to buy

How to identify and source business acquisition opportunities through brokers, online marketplaces, direct approaches, and succession opportunities.

What happens on completion day

Detailed timeline and checklist for business acquisition completion day covering funds transfer, legal documentation, physical handover, and immediate notifications.

Guides

Get licences for street collections, house-to-house collections and charity lotteries

How to get the right licence or permit for a street collection, a house-to-house collection, or a charity lottery, covering England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the thresholds that decide whether your lottery needs Gambling Commission licensing or falls outside licensing entirely.

Run a compliant membership organisation

Whatever kind of membership organisation you run — a trade body, a union, a congregation, a party or a club — the same core duties apply. Data protection comes first: membership records are extensive personal data, often including special category data such as union membership, religious belief or political opinion. Add employers' liability insurance if you employ anyone, and keep your premises safe, fire-safe and free of discrimination.

Charity tax and business rates reliefs

Reference guide to charity tax reliefs and business rates relief: HMRC recognition, corporation tax exemptions on non-trading income, the VAT position for charities including the fundraising events exemption, and business rates relief in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Membership organisations compliance checklist

A confirmation checklist for membership organisations — trade bodies, unions, congregations, parties, clubs and societies. Work through the duties every organisation shares, then the registration items for what kind of organisation you are.

Registration rules for trade unions, political parties and charities

What a membership organisation must register depends on what it is. Trade unions list with the Certification Officer and file a statutory annual return. Political parties that contest elections register with the Electoral Commission and report donations. Organisations established for exclusively charitable purposes — including most religious congregations and many membership bodies — register with the charity regulator for their nation. Work through the section for your kind of organisation.

Which membership organisation rules apply to your organisation

Membership organisations — trade and professional bodies, trade unions, religious congregations, political parties, clubs and societies — are mostly governed by the universal duties, with data protection looming large because membership records are extensive. On top of those, what you must register depends on what kind of organisation you are: trade unions list with the Certification Officer, political parties register with the Electoral Commission, and charitable bodies register with the charity regulator for their nation.