Your company exists. Now set up the money and deadlines properly.

Incorporating the company is only the beginning. Put the right structure around your money, records, tax and deadlines before transactions start piling up.

Grounded in live HMRC, GOV.UK and Companies House data. Five free questions, no card needed.

Enter your incorporation date

See the first financial and company milestones likely to matter to you.

This tool is coming soon. Ask WiseMind directly in the meantime.

Getting organised

Five things to set up in your first weeks.

Small habits now save a messy clean-up later.

When does your company actually become active?

Incorporating a company at Companies House isn't the same as it being active for tax purposes. A company can sit dormant, do some preliminary set-up, or start trading, and each has a different starting point for Corporation Tax.

I've incorporated. When does Corporation Tax actually start?

Before you pay yourself, know what the payment is

Salary, dividends, expense reimbursement, money you lend the company, and a director's loan all move money between you and the business, but they work completely differently for tax, and mixing them up creates problems.

There's no single ‘right’ way to pay yourself that works for everyone. It depends on your circumstances.

Can I pay myself straight away?

Should I take salary or dividends?

Can I just transfer money from the company account to myself?

Build clean records from transaction one

Keep company spending, personal spending, and founder-funded costs clearly separated from day one. Untangling them later, once there are hundreds of transactions, is far harder than keeping them apart from the start.

Can the company pay me back for things I bought before I incorporated?

Know the dates before they become deadlines

Your confirmation statement, annual accounts, Corporation Tax payment and Company Tax Return all run on different clocks. Knowing roughly when each lands now means none of them arrive as a surprise.

When is my first confirmation statement due?

When will my first accounts and tax actually be due?

Your first year-end brings its own detail, covered properly on the First Year End page →

Costs you paid before incorporation may still matter

If you spent money on the business before the company existed, it's worth revisiting what you can still claim.

This is covered properly on the Pre Incorporation page →

Ask the thing you are actually stuck on.

Real questions founders ask at the just incorporated stage.

I've incorporated. When does Corporation Tax actually start?

Can I pay myself straight away?

Should I take salary or dividends?

Can the company pay me back for things I bought before I incorporated?

When is my first confirmation statement due?

When will my first accounts and tax actually be due?

Incorporated doesn't mean financially set up.

WiseMind can help you understand what needs doing next, how different ways of taking money work, what deadlines are approaching and how to build good financial habits from the beginning.

Part of the start-up journeyAll start-up stages →