Startup costs

[riffpie]

Hi

So I'm about to start my first contract, and there are some initial costs I need to cover. Travel, accommodation, some equipment and books etc. What's the best way to do this? Should I pay out of my own pocket and claim back from my ltd company, or am I better off injecting some cash into the company's directors loan account?

thanks for looking

[thunderlizard]

Either is possible. "injecting into director's loan account" is probably the cleanest option, purely because you'll avoid putting stuff on your P35 at the end of the year.

[riffpie]

Either is possible. "injecting into director's loan account" is probably the cleanest option, purely because you'll avoid putting stuff on your P35 at the end of the year.

Thanks for that. Pretty straightforward. Presumably, since you didn't mention it, there aren't tax implications that make one route better than the other?

[northernladuk]

Do you have a LTD and a bank set up already or are you talking about covering these costs before the LTD has been setup?

If you already have it in place why not just pay for it on the Co credit card?

[riffpie]

No ltd or bank account set up yet, that'll be paid for by me, obviously!

[northernladuk]

No ltd or bank account set up yet, that'll be paid for by me, obviously!

So how can you inject any money in to the directors loan account?

I am crap at the accounts side of it and someone please correct me if I am wrong but you cannot claim expenses on the company before it is set up? If you buy equipment you can 'purchase' it off yourself but travelling/accomodation is not straight forward?

Anyone in the know please advise if this is right or wrong.

[riffpie]

So how can you inject any money in to the directors loan account?

Like I said, I'll be paying for the co. formation personally. Once that, and the bank account are set up, I'll be able to put cash into the account.

I am crap at the accounts side of it and someone please correct me if I am wrong but you cannot claim expenses on the company before it is set up? If you buy equipment you can 'purchase' it off yourself but travelling/accomodation is not straight forward?

Anyone in the know please advise if this is right or wrong.

I'd like this confirmed, too.

[Robot]

No ltd or bank account set up yet, that'll be paid for by me, obviously!

If no Limited company has been set-up how can you draw up a contract in the compnay name and start trading ?

Robot

[Jeebo72]

I am crap at the accounts side of it and someone please correct me if I am wrong but you cannot claim expenses on the company before it is set up?

My accountant allowed me to do that, the time frame had to be within reason, but claimed expenses up to 2 months prior to start up.

[riffpie]

If no Limited company has been set-up how can you draw up a contract in the compnay name and start trading ?

Robot

What relevance has this to my question? In reality, there isn't a single point from which one moves from having no company bank account, no limited company set up and no contract drawn, to having everything in place, including a physical means with which to interact with, say, an otherwise fully functioning bank account. These things take time to come together, I'm trying to ascertain what other arrangements I can still be making pending this happening. I don't see how making these Columbo-esque ass-pulls is any help. Thanks for looking though, all the same.