Most shareholders of UK limited companies need advice when making changes to the company structure or issuing a dividend. SFS provides a range of guides for limited companies to help owners of small businesses.

Making adjustments to your company shares can be complicated and confusing. Re-structuring your company or simply recording the changes can seem like an administrative nightmare. We have created a range of articles with more information about company shares for owners of small businesses.

What are dividends and how do I issue a dividend?

A dividend is the distribution of the available profit in a UK company to the shareholders. In simple terms when the company has made a profit the directors of the company may choose to pay some of this profit to the company owners (the shareholders). It is essential that the company directors only pay a dividend when the company has sufficient profit to do so. When issuing a dividend accurate records must be kept. If you require more information please visit the issuing a dividend section of our website.

Transferring shares

During the life of a company, it may be necessary to transfer shares from one person to another. This is done by completing a share transfer form which is often called a stock transfer form. When the transfer of shares takes place stamp duty may have to be paid to HMRC if a financial consideration has been exchanged for the shares. You can read more on this on our transferring shares pages.

Issuing new shares

New shares can be issued in UK companies at any time, subject to the company’s memorandum and articles of association. This is done by completing the SH01 form at Companies House. New shares can be issued to new or existing shareholders. You can even create different share classes. To discover more on this please read our issuing company shares section.

Updating companies house with new shareholder information

When new shares are issued or stocks are transferred the information is not instantly recorded at Companies House. The records are only updated when the company files the Confirmation Statement which has replaced the annual return. It is a legal requirement for companies to file this document every 12 months as a minimum, normally near the company’s anniversary. If you need Companies House to accurately reflect the shareholding of the company then a new Confirmation statement needs to be filed. This can be filed anytime during the year and can be submitted online in just a few minutes. Help can be found in our company document filing guides.

SFS provide a range of guides and help pages. These are for information only and are not to be regarded as tax or accounting advice. If you need professional help filing any of your documents please get in touch with one of our advisors.