What are Company Secretarial Services?

Company secretarial services refers to the administrative functions within a business that ensures effective administration, good corporate governance and compliance with regulations, laws and legislation that govern business and industry. Whilst the title sounds like it might concern general secretarial services like filing and typing, it is actually much more involved than that. 

Managing corporate governance means ensuring that your company adheres to the Companies Act 2006 and complies with the law that governs your business. It also involves rigorously maintaining your records, such as the holding of meetings, interactions with your shareholders and stakeholders, conduct of board members and engagement with government authorities.

Company secretaries have a large amount of responsibility and are crucial to the functioning and governance of your business. They are required to have a number of skills and need to have a comprehensive understanding of corporate finance, law, governance and risk management. Their duties include:

  • Ensuring the business complies with its legal and statutory requirements
  • Filing documents such as compliance statements at Companies House
  • Maintaining the company’s statutory books
  • Admin duties, such as taking meetings minutes and distributing them later
  • Supporting the chairman, CEO and board in their roles

How Can AK Tax Help?

As a business owner, it’s vital that you adhere to the rules and legislation set out by Companies House and the Companies Act 2006. If you don’t have an expert on hand to guide you, it can be easy to fall foul of the rules and land your company with a large fine. At AK Tax, we provide a bespoke company secretarial service that will support your business and remove the stress of coping with the complex administrational side of the job.

We offer a range of secretarial services including compliance services, capital transactions, company formation, subsidiary management and much more. Our experienced, professional team can cover the role without you needing to employ a full time member of staff, which saves you both time and money. We will also eliminate any risk by ensuring your company is fully compliant with all legal requirements, giving you the peace of mind of knowing that your company secretarial needs are in safe, capable hands.

Get in touch today to find out more about how we can help.

slice

FAQ

What Are the Duties of a Company Secretary?

Company secretary services deliver legal and compliance services that support companies and their boards of directors with management tasks. The duties of a company secretary include, but are not limited to:

  • Maintaining statutory registers
  • Ensuring that statutory forms are filed promptly
  • Providing members, shareholders and auditors with notice of meetings
  • Sending copies of certain resolutions and agreements to Companies House
  • Keeping of minutes of director’s meetings and general meetings
  • Ensuring that people entitled to do so can inspect company records
  • Preparation and filing of the confirmation statement
  • Filing of annual accounts
  • Compliance checks and audits of statutory registers

Does My Business Need To Have a Company Secretary?

It depends on the type of business that you have. Private limited companies are no longer legally required to appoint a company secretary, unless there is a provision in their articles of association that states otherwise, such as the articles of private companies registered before April 6th 2008. Members (shareholders or guarantors) can remove this provision by passing a special resolution, but if you do not remove this clause from your articles, you are legally required to have an appointed company secretary at all times. If the company does not have a provision stating that they must have a company secretary they can choose whether to appoint one at any time after the business is incorporated if they so wish.

If your company does not have a company secretary appointed, then the responsibilities associated with the role fall upon the directors.

Who Can Be a Company Secretary?

There are a number of people who can be a company secretary and they do not have to be a direct employee of the company. Those who could take on the role include an individual person, another limited company, a professional chartered secretary, an administrative services company, a solicitor or accountant for the company and a director, guarantor or shareholder. The role cannot be held by the auditor of the company, a disqualified director, an undischarged bankrupt or anyone under the age of 16.

 

Explore our Business Advisory Guides

Gaming and Business

Gaming and business. Grinding and levelling up. Living and learning.

Read more

What Should Go Into Your Management Report

Consistent and properly organised management reports help keep a business on track. Collecting and analysing data provides a crucial insight into the state of projects, departments, resourcing, staffing and finances, and allows senior management executives to make informed decisions about the future of their company, and increase performance and profitability. This article outlines what should […]

Read more

Have you declared your Airbnb income to HMRC?

Have you told HMRC about your Airbnb income? Made sure it’s on your personal tax return? If not, then the 2019 Airbnb accounts that have been filed with Companies House and HMRC include an interesting line that you should probably take note of. The company is going to share data with HMRC about the earnings […]

Read more

Read all our Business Advisory guides

Top

Get in touch

Please complete the form and we'll be in touch as soon as possible.

    Get in touch

    Whether you’re starting up or you’re an established business, we’ll make your work with us as easy as humanly possible – starting from the time you get in touch. Just call us on 01634 540040 or complete the form below and we’ll get back to you ASAP.