Reply to: Crunch Accounting, removing a B Class Shareholder & address change

[RonBW]

Are you sure FreeAgent are still updating this list? As you say, some of them are pretty old.

AFAIK, the only *official* list of work in progress is here: https://www.freeagent.com/depot/

There are employee updates from 4 months ago about some of the problems, so someone is looking at them (or was in the last quarter of last year).

I presumed that the forum called "problems currently being worked on" was still active rather than being archived or locked, but I have no idea if they are still updating that list or not. That said, I can't see how to order the posts in any way to see what is recent and what isn't.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

You can see the list of the 67 current problems that FA are working on here.

Some that have been marked as "In Progress" have been around for a while, eg this one has been there for 7 years now

Are you sure FreeAgent are still updating this list? As you say, some of them are pretty old.

AFAIK, the only *official* list of work in progress is here: https://www.freeagent.com/depot/

[RonBW]

On the contrary. One of the last posts I can remember was that a customer had discovered a significant issue with their accounts. It turned out to be a bug in the portal software. Now, I'm not saying it would be impossible to also happen to a FA user, but given the weight of users of the software now, you'd have to be very unfortunate indeed to the very first person to discover a bug like that. (IMO, of course).

You can see the list of the 67 current problems that FA are working on here.

Some that have been marked as "In Progress" have been around for a while, eg this one has been there for 7 years now

[gypsymoth]

Stamp duty shouldn't be an issue if the shares are gifted back.

CGT does need to be considered though - the shares may have been worthless when first gifted to partner, particularly if they were allocated on incorporation and may have little value now but OP should probably get a valuation of the shares just to show they have done due diligence. Its very unlikely any gain would be outside the CGT allowance but you need to at least show HMRC if they enquire that you've calculated this. Any gain should be based on market value not sale value.

As far as paperwork I'm pretty sure all I did when I transferred shares was record some company minutes noting that the shares had been transferred, filled out a share transfer form and filed it away with the minutes, updated the company share register and printed off updated share certificates. Companies House do not need to be notified until your next confirmation statement.

Appreciate the feedback!

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Yes, you do need to be more careful if you are not married. As there could potentially be stamp duty and CGT implications.

As for the address change, that's much easier. It can be done online with CH. Advise HMRC, clients/agencies and any other suppliers know too.

Stamp duty shouldn't be an issue if the shares are gifted back.

CGT does need to be considered though - the shares may have been worthless when first gifted to partner, particularly if they were allocated on incorporation and may have little value now but OP should probably get a valuation of the shares just to show they have done due diligence. Its very unlikely any gain would be outside the CGT allowance but you need to at least show HMRC if they enquire that you've calculated this. Any gain should be based on market value not sale value.

As far as paperwork I'm pretty sure all I did when I transferred shares was record some company minutes noting that the shares had been transferred, filled out a share transfer form and filed it away with the minutes, updated the company share register and printed off updated share certificates. Companies House do not need to be notified until your next confirmation statement.

[Louisa@AardvarkAccounting]

We're engaged, so not yet husband and wife - does that make a difference?

In terms of address change, I guess that's just a simple update at Companies House, HMRC and my bank

Yes, you do need to be more careful if you are not married. As there could potentially be stamp duty and CGT implications.

As for the address change, that's much easier. It can be done online with CH. Advise HMRC, clients/agencies and any other suppliers too.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Sadly not quite. I could be wrong but HMRC have a number of places where they hold your address and you have to make sure VAT people have it as well as Tax.. Or something like that. Could be better now though?

Yes, I've tripped up on this. To change the address on your VAT record online you need to be registered for the "Change of VAT registration details" service. If you aren't already, they will helpfully send you an activation PIN...to your old address. So if you've moved already you'll need to print out a change of VAT registration details form and send it by snail mail.

You'll also need to update your company's corporation tax record and possibly employer record if you operate PAYE.

Then you'll need to update your own personal SATR record (which may be on a separate gateway login to your company one).

And don't forget Companies House too...(this can be done online).

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I'm just going to leave before this turns into another settlements discussion...

[northernladuk]

Thanks again

We're engaged, so not yet husband and wife - does that make a difference?

In terms of address change, I guess that's just a simple update at Companies House, HMRC and my bank

Sadly not quite. I could be wrong but HMRC have a number of places where they hold your address and you have to make sure VAT people have it as well as Tax.. Or something like that. Could be better now though?

[gypsymoth]

If you do want to make any changes to the current shares, this would be a share transfer, if it's between husband and wife - done on a stock transfer form. This is an internal business document, it's not filed externally. Any transfers are then reflected on the annual confirmation statement.

However, IMO I'd probably suggest leaving it as it currently is.

Your accountant again should be spending more time hopefully advising you on how to maximize your personal income, plus guiding on your company affairs too. If you're only paying for software and not much hand-holding at this stage, whilst your new to contracting you may want to evaluate this. Once you've become a seasoned pro, then you could consider looking at more DIY/software only, as you'll need to ask generally a lot less questions.

Thanks again

We're engaged, so not yet husband and wife - does that make a difference?

In terms of address change, I guess that's just a simple update at Companies House, HMRC and my bank

[Louisa@AardvarkAccounting]

Ah, see this is interesting..

I really don't want to trigger an investigation, although the company is only a year old and very straightforward. If you're suggesting keeping things as they are, that might be more prudent.

In terms of the dividends, I'd not realised that £5000 was tax free - another reason to keep it the way it is

My affairs are super simple - invoice, basic expenses, etc. I'd need some advice on the most optimal salary / divi mix each year, but i guess my accountant would do that, in conjunction with Free Agent

Thanks everybody who took the time to respond - very helpful!

If you do want to make any changes to the current shares, this would be a share transfer, if it's between husband and wife - done on a stock transfer form. This is an internal business document, it's not filed externally. Any transfers are then reflected on the annual confirmation statement.

However, IMO I'd probably suggest leaving it as it currently is.

Your accountant again should be spending more time hopefully advising you on how to maximize your personal income, plus guiding on your company affairs too. If you're only paying for software and not much hand-holding at this stage, whilst your new to contracting you may want to evaluate this. Once you've become a seasoned pro, then you could consider looking at more DIY/software only, as you'll need to ask generally a lot less questions.

[gypsymoth]

If she holds a B share too, it means even if her circumstances have changed and you now don't want to pay her dividends, then you don't have to, as you could pay all the dividends on the A shares.

Plus, if her circumstances change later, it means she will already have the shares in the company.

And in the meantime, she could still take out £5,000 of dividends per year at 0%

Ah, see this is interesting..

I really don't want to trigger an investigation, although the company is only a year old and very straightforward. If you're suggesting keeping things as they are, that might be more prudent.

In terms of the dividends, I'd not realised that £5000 was tax free - another reason to keep it the way it is

My affairs are super simple - invoice, basic expenses, etc. I'd need some advice on the most optimal salary / divi mix each year, but i guess my accountant would do that, in conjunction with Free Agent

Thanks everybody who took the time to respond - very helpful!

[gypsymoth]

If you were to keep the B shares, FreeAgent allows multiple classes on the online system. And prepares the dividend documents as well.

If you do want to remove your wife as a shareholder, this can be done through a simple transfer, which an accountant can help with the paperwork. Then any changes in the year are reported on the confirmation statement.

Have you been snooping around my website? That's my catchphrase - I'm all ears! [emoji3]

Thanks very much for the advice - appreciated

My current accountant is very unresponsive and I would much prefer to action the changes myself

Do you know exactly which paperwork I'd need to complete?

I tried calling Companies House several times - no one picking up the phone there!

Cheers

[Fred Bloggs]

Maybe we don't hear much about it because people are generally happy with it ;-)

I use Crunch - it's perfectly adequate and cost effective. Had a couple of issues but nothing that made me seriously consider changing.
If you need a lot of advice then a more active/costly solution may be better however.

On the contrary. One of the last posts I can remember was that a customer had discovered a significant issue with their accounts. It turned out to be a bug in the portal software. Now, I'm not saying it would be impossible to also happen to a FA user, but given the weight of users of the software now, you'd have to be very unfortunate indeed to the very first person to discover a bug like that. (IMO, of course).

[Invisiblehand]

I guess this is arguably inevitable, as it's the way things have gone with stuff like utilities. Compare the meerkat et al means people only compare price, service ignored.

There's even one for contractor payroll services now.