advisoryInstitute of Financial Accountants (IFA)

Startup & New Business Accounting in Glasgow

Starting a business means decisions that are costly to undo — the wrong structure, a missed registration, no records from day one. QA FinTax advises new Glasgow business owners on choosing between sole trader and limited company, forming the company, registering correctly with HMRC, and building financial habits that save tax as you grow.

The excitement of starting up is exactly when the boring foundations get skipped — and those are the decisions that cost the most to fix later. Choose the wrong structure and you may overpay tax for years. Miss a registration deadline and you invite penalties before you have made a sale. Keep no records and your first tax bill is a nasty surprise. We spend an hour or two at the start getting this right, and it pays for itself many times over.

Call +44 7768 911170

What Our Startup & New Business Advice Service Includes

Sole trader vs limited company advice for your situation
Company formation at Companies House
HMRC registration — Self Assessment, Corporation Tax, PAYE, VAT
Cloud bookkeeping set up from day one
First-year tax planning and cash flow forecasting
A named accountant to call as questions come up

Sole Trader or Limited Company — Which Should You Choose?

This is the first and most important decision, and there is no universal answer — it turns on your expected profit, your attitude to risk, and your plans. The table gives the shape of it; we model your actual numbers before you decide.

Sole trader vs limited company — the trade-offs
	Sole trader	Limited company
Setup & admin	Simple — register with HMRC	More — Companies House + annual filings
Personal liability	You are personally liable for debts	Limited to the company (with exceptions)
Tax	Income tax on all profit	Corporation tax, then tax on how you draw profit
Tax efficiency	Simpler, can cost more at higher profits	Often more efficient once profits grow
Privacy	Details stay private	Directors and accounts are on the public register

A common path is to start as a sole trader and incorporate once profits justify it. We advise on the switch and its timing.

What Does It Cost to Set Up a Limited Company?

Forming a company is quick and inexpensive — the barrier is getting the setup right, not the fee. From 1 February 2026 the Companies House digital incorporation fee is £100 (up from £50), and a paper application is £124. We form the company correctly — share structure, officers, registered office and the statutory registers — as part of getting you started.

Which HMRC Registrations Do You Need?

New businesses miss registration deadlines constantly, and the penalties start before you have earned anything. Which registrations apply depends on your structure and plans.

Self Assessment — sole traders and company directors; register by 5 October after the tax year you start
Corporation Tax — limited companies; register within 3 months of starting to trade
PAYE — before the first payday, if you employ anyone (including yourself as a director on a salary)
VAT — once taxable turnover passes £90,000, or voluntarily before then if it helps

What Should You Put in Place from Day One?

A business bank account, kept separate from personal money
Cloud bookkeeping software, so records build automatically (see our cloud accounting page)
A simple system for keeping receipts and invoices
A first-year cash flow forecast, so tax and costs never surprise you
A set-aside habit for tax — a proportion of every payment moved out of reach

Startup & New Business Advice in Glasgow — Frequently Asked Questions

It depends on your expected profit, your exposure to risk, and your plans. Sole trader is simpler and more private; a limited company limits your liability and is often more tax-efficient once profits grow. Many start as a sole trader and incorporate later — we model both against your numbers.

The Companies House digital incorporation fee is £100 from 1 February 2026 (£124 on paper). The fee is the easy part — the value is in getting the share structure, officers and registrations right, which we handle as part of setting you up.

It depends on your structure: sole traders and directors register for Self Assessment (by 5 October after the tax year you start); limited companies register for Corporation Tax within 3 months of trading; and you register for PAYE before your first payday if you employ anyone. We handle the registrations for you.

Once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period. Below that you can register voluntarily, which can pay off if your customers are VAT-registered or you have significant input VAT. We monitor your turnover so you register at the right time.

Records of all income and expenses, with receipts and invoices retained — five years after the Self Assessment deadline for sole traders, six years for a company. Digital records in Xero or QuickBooks satisfy this and are increasingly required under Making Tax Digital.

Yes. Every new client relationship starts with a free, no-obligation consultation where we look at your plans and tell you plainly how to set up and what it will cost. It is the cheapest hour you will spend on the business.

Official sources

Rates and thresholds are stated for the 2026/27 UK tax year and are for general guidance only. They are not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances.