A limited company must have its own business bank account. You cannot run your business from your personal account as a limited company is a separate legal entity.

Do I need a business bank account or can I use my personal bank account?

To keep everything tidy from the outset it is a good idea to loan your business some money to cover initial costs whilst you’re waiting for payment from your first customer.

You can transfer money into the company and record it as a director's loan. When your company has enough funds at a later date, you can then withdraw this amount tax free to repay the loan.

 to see how to record the loan in Provestor.

How do I put money into my company to pay for initial expenses?

HMRC rules state that all limited companies, whether trading or not, must keep accounting records for at least 6 years plus the current year. 

How long do I need to keep records for?

A company’s first set of accounts normally has to be delivered to the Companies House Registrar within 22 months of the date of incorporation, or 3 months from financial year end, whichever is longer.  For example, a company incorporated on 1st January 2018 with an Accounting Reference Date (ARD) of 31st Jan has until midnight on 1st November 2019 (22 months from the date of incorporation) to deliver its accounts.

All subsequent accounts need to be delivered within 9 months from the Accounting Reference Date / financial year end. If, however, the accounting reference period has been shortened, the time allowed for filing the accounts is the longer of:

How long do I have to file my company accounts?

Backdating dividends is illegal, therefore you are unable to backdate dividends in the software. 

If you have taken funds from your company and not raised a dividend, this will need to be recorded as a director's loan and a dividend raised at today's date can be used to reduce this balance. 

Can I backdate a dividend?

Dividends are drawn from the profit available in your company. If you have profit available you may decide to issue a dividend to your company shareholders.

You can view your available profit in the software by clicking Withdrawals then Dividends in the menu bar. You can then click the Issue dividend button to see your profits and decide on a dividend.

Always ensure all your bookkeeping records are up to date before processing a dividend. If dividends are taken without available profits, it may result in additional tax

Can I take a dividend?

You need to retain receipts for all business expenses for 6 years plus the current year as HMRC would want to see these, should they make an enquiry. It is up to you whether you keep the original paper copies or if you store them digitally by uploading them to Provestor.

Do I need to keep receipts for my purchases?

Yes - your company data belongs to you, therefore we have created a comprehensive 

 where you can customise and download all your data in various formats, whenever you need it. You can also export invoices, payslips, dividend voucher and minutes in pdf for your records.

Can I export my records if I need to?

How do I change my password?

If payment or filing deadlines are missed, HMRC & Companies House don't hesitate in issuing a penalty with interest charges if payments are overdue.

Late filing of RTI submissions result in 

of £100 per late submission. With a submission generally required for each tax month, these penalties can become significant.

Provestor takes care of your RTI submissions for you each time a payslip is created.

If you miss a VAT return filing or payment deadline,

that are a percentage of the VAT due. If you miss filing a return, HMRC will estimate your VAT due and apply the surcharge to their estimate.

If a Corporation Tax return is filed late the

increase the later the return becomes. The automatic penalty starts at £100 that starts to increase after 3 months.

for filing a Self Assessment Tax Return late is £100. This starts to increase after a return becomes 3 months late. These penalties can be complicated as they also charge interest.

start at £150 when accounts are 1 day late increasing to £1,500 if accounts are delivered over 6 months late.

Late payment and tax return filing penalties

Your Company TIN is also known as a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR). It can be found on a document called a CT41G, which is sent to your registered office address shortly after you incorporate a limited company.

If we have your company UTR it will be displayed in the company settings screen of your software.

Where do I find my TIN?

Your Company Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) can be found on a HMRC document called a CT41G. This document is sent to your registered office address shortly after you incorporate your limited company. 

If we have your Company UTR it is in the company settings of Provestor.

Where do I find my company UTR?

A P45 is the reference code of a form titled ‘Details of employee leaving work’ that is issued by an employer when an employee leaves.  It is used when an employee ends or starts employment with a company and allows each company and HMRC to accurately calculate tax for the year.  It contains details about earnings and tax paid during the tax year.

If you would like to request a P45 for anyone in your company, please email your account manager at

What is a P45 and how do I get one?

Any PAYE (income tax and/or National Insurance) is payable to HMRC quarterly. PAYE periods run as follows:

You will receive an email from us once your PAYE payments are due with payment instructions.

What are the deadlines for payment of PAYE?

Go into PAYE payment screen screen in the Taxes & accounts area in the menu. Select the relevant PAYE payment to view the Accounts Office Reference number.

Where can I find my Accounts Office Reference number?

Dividends are taken on the profits available in your company and are a generally a more tax efficient compared to a salary. 

Tax is paid on any dividends received over £2,000 at the following rates:

The amount of dividend tax you are required to pay is calculated on a Self Assessment tax return each year.

How are dividends taxed?

A CT600 is a company tax return which is submitted to HMRC and outlines the amount of Corporation Tax your company is required to pay along with calculations of how this figure was calculated.

This is normally filed at the same time as your year end accounts are filed at Companies House.

What is a Company Tax Return (CT600)?

When an individual identifies a reason for filing a Self Assessment tax return, they need to tell HMRC. You can do this either by completing an online HMRC form or by downloading and posting a SA1 form to HMRC.

It takes around 6 weeks for HMRC to process and once done, they will post a letter confirming registration and provide you with a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number. You need this to file your tax return.

As soon as you receive your UTR number, please email a copy to us at support@provestor.co.uk

How do I register for Self Assessment?

You can find this information in your Self Assessment Tax Return and SA302 tax calculation.

The SA302 is helpful when making payments as it shows the total due by the deadlines and your UTR number. 

If we filed your return, you’ll find copies of your Self Assessment Tax Return and SA302 in your document store.

How do I know how much to pay on my Self Assessment?

An individual Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) will have been issued by HMRC if you have completed a Self Assessment tax return in the past. The UTR is made up of ten digits and can be found on a previously filed tax return, a Notice to complete a tax return or on a Statement of Account.

If you have not registered for Self Assessment, you can find out more 

Where do I find my personal UTR?

You must pay your Corporation Tax by 9 months and 1 day after the end of your accounting period. Your accounting period is usually your financial year end but you may have two accounting periods if it is your company's first year.

When we prepare your accounts and Corporation Tax return, we will provide you with details of your payment deadlines.

When do I need to pay my Corporation Tax?

You have a dedicated account manager that is ready to help and answer your questions. They can be contacted by: 

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