closing a ltd company

Paragon · #1 (**permalink**) 22-08-2008, 08:17

My friend has a small ltd company, but has hit financial difficulties and he's looking at his options, one of which is calling it a day.
What are the legal considerations??

e.g:
debts to the bank
debts to suppliers
any outstanding orders with customers

Andy Trish · #2 (**permalink**) 22-08-2008, 11:39

also staff issues (redundancy), as it is a limited company they really need to speak with their accountant.

Paragon · #3 (**permalink**) 22-08-2008, 12:26

No staff involved, its effectively a husband and wife scenario.

needaprint · #4 (**permalink**) 24-08-2008, 23:04

you need to prepare final accounts, payrolls need to be closed off, tell hmrc you are ceasing trade and they deregister the company off vat. then apply to companies house, etc to get it ceased

however if there is bad debt you need to come up with some sort of agreement with the creditors, etc to pay off your debts if possible.

i don't think you can be forced to fulfill orders if the company goes into liquidation and it isn't possible for you to fulfill them with the interest of the company in mind.

Paragon · #5 (**permalink**) 15-09-2008, 11:50

Looks like this small (online) ltd company will have to close...

A sale of the assets will cover the creditors, but nothing left to cover outstanding orders.
To liquidate a company do you have to use an insolvency practitioner (expensive)?
If a diy liquidation is possible whats the procedure?
If the company is closed and outstanding customers chargeback through their card issuer can the company card processor (in this case Cardnet) then still chase for the chargeback from the director/s?

Any help would be appreciated in this quite stressful time

yourimage2canvas · #6 (**permalink**) 15-09-2008, 13:29

Ive just been talking to my accountent about the same thing and it all seems quite straight forward even if youve got debts. they basically get wiped clean the only down for is that you cant set up another company for 2 years so if your thinking bowt it then get another one set up first then close the old one down. sorry to hear your having troubles though hopefully every thing will turn out ok for you.

Peter W · #7 (**permalink**) 15-09-2008, 13:36

This is a complicated area, and there is far too much to cover on a forum like this. If you are not ready to get professional advice at this stage, you could start by doing some reading on the Insolvency Service website.

Paragon · #8 (**permalink**) 15-09-2008, 13:38

I've been reading that an authorised insolvency practitioner has to be appointed and they need to be paid for too...
Does anyone know or used such a service? Been trying to find one in Basingstoke area and they seem to be in short supply, I'd have thought that would have been one of the growth industries in the current climate