Bookkeeping,
Company Secretary &
Incorporation in Medway

UK company formation is regulated under the Companies Act 2006 and administered by Companies House (Cardiff for England and Wales). For a private company limited by shares — the most common structure for Medway SMEs, construction firms, creative and digital companies, logistics operators, and contractors — the process involves: (1) Company name search via the Companies House WebCHeck database to verify availability and screen for prohibited and sensitive words (words such as 'Medway', 'Rochester', 'British', 'Group', 'Holdings', 'Royal' may require approval or supporting evidence); (2) Drafting Memorandum and Articles of Association — most Medway clients adopt the Model Articles for Private Companies Limited by Shares, with customisation for share-class structures, founder vesting, and pre-emption rights where companies plan to raise investment; (3) Form IN01 submission via Companies House WebFiling (electronic, £50 standard fee) or paper (£71, 8–10 working days) with registered office address (must be a physical UK address — we provide a Chatham, Gillingham, or Rochester registered office where required), first directors, shareholders, share capital structure, SIC codes, and PSC declaration. Online incorporations are typically approved within 24 hours, with automatic HMRC Corporation Tax registration.

Medway is one of the boroughs in the Thames Gateway development scheme and is the focus of major waterfront regeneration — large-scale projects including Rochester Riverside, Chatham Centre and Waterfront, Temple Waterfront, Strood Riverside, and Medway Gate are creating thousands of new homes and significant commercial space — which supports a large and active construction, property, and building-trades sector. Construction and property accounting has distinctive requirements: (1) The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) — registering as a contractor and/or subcontractor, verifying subcontractors with HMRC, applying the correct deduction rate (0%, 20%, or 30%), and filing monthly CIS returns; (2) The VAT Domestic Reverse Charge for construction services, which shifts responsibility for accounting for VAT on most B2B construction work to the customer; (3) Contract and project revenue recognition under FRS 102 Section 23, with accurate treatment of stage payments, retentions, and contract variations; (4) Work-in-progress valuation and cost-to-complete estimates; (5) Property development accounting — distinguishing trading stock from investment property, and handling development finance and Stamp Duty Land Tax considerations; (6) For landlords, accurate treatment of rental income and the restriction on finance-cost relief; (7) CIS deduction reconciliation against PAYE and Corporation Tax. We keep clean, lender-ready construction and property books and handle the full CIS monthly cycle for the firms working Medway's regeneration.

Medway has a growing creative and digital sector — the Chatham Historic Dockyard now operates as a business hub home to around 200 businesses including the video-game developer Dovetail Games, the wider sector is coordinated by Creative Medway, and the area benefits from the talent pipeline of Universities at Medway and MidKent College. Creative and digital accounting is distinctive: (1) Project and intellectual-property revenue recognition under FRS 102 Section 23 — recognising income across the right period rather than simply on invoice, and handling licensing and royalty income correctly; (2) The UK Creative Industry Tax Reliefs — for example, video-game development can qualify for the Video Games Expenditure Credit, and other creative activities have their own reliefs; (3) R&D tax relief — software and technical development frequently qualifies under the merged R&D Expenditure Credit (RDEC) scheme; (4) SEIS and EIS investment-readiness — we help digital companies obtain HMRC Advance Assurance, structure share classes correctly, and keep the clean cap-table records investors expect; (5) EMI share-option scheme accounting to attract and retain talent; (6) Freelance and contractor crew cost treatment; (7) Capitalising or expensing development costs correctly. We keep creative and digital businesses' books investor-ready and relief-claim-ready.

Medway's location — on the A2 and M2 corridors, with the container port of Thamesport on the Isle of Grain, port and wharf facilities on the River Medway, and the Medway City Estate industrial area — makes it a natural base for logistics, transport, warehousing, courier, and freight operators. Logistics and transport accounting has distinctive requirements: (1) Fleet and vehicle asset accounting — capitalising vehicles, calculating depreciation, and planning capital allowances including Full Expensing and the Annual Investment Allowance; (2) Fuel, mileage, and running-cost treatment, and the correct VAT recovery on fuel; (3) Driver and crew payroll, including the treatment of subsistence and overnight allowances; (4) Contract-revenue recognition for scheduled, ad-hoc, and contracted haulage, warehousing, and courier work; (5) Sub-contractor and owner-driver cost treatment, and the employment-status questions that go with it; (6) Margin and cost-per-mile or cost-per-pallet analysis so operators can price work correctly; (7) VAT, including the place-of-supply rules for international freight and port-related services. We help Medway logistics and warehousing operators keep accurate, real-time books and understand the true profitability of each contract.

Medway has a broad service-based economy with a strong base of professional-services firms — consultancies, recruitment and staffing businesses, technical and engineering practices, and agencies — a large number of independent contractors, and a substantial retail and hospitality sector across the Medway Towns and at the Historic Dockyard heritage attraction. The accounting needs differ by activity: for professional services and contractors — time-based and project revenue recognition under FRS 102 Section 23, work-in-progress valuation for unbilled time, IR35 / off-payroll working rules central to the borough's many personal service companies, efficient owner-director salary / dividend planning, allowable expenses, and quarterly management accounts; for retail and hospitality — multi-channel revenue reconciliation across till, online, and marketplace platforms, inventory valuation and stock-turn analysis under FRS 102 Section 13, payment-processor fee treatment, VAT categorisation (zero-rated vs standard-rated, the £90,000 registration threshold, and the hospitality distinction between standard-rated and zero-rated food and drink with tronc scheme setup), and simple FRS 105 micro-entity accounts for the smallest businesses. We maintain specialist chart-of-accounts templates and keep books clean, lender-ready, and HMRC-ready.

We offer two specialised bundles for Medway businesses because the area's economy has two broad pillars that need different accounting expertise. (1) Construction, Property & Logistics Bundle (£2,350 / year) is purpose-built for Medway construction and property firms driving the Waterfront regeneration, building trades, and logistics and transport operators. It includes Companies House formation, 12 months of company secretary, 12 months of bookkeeping with construction contract and retention accounting or logistics fleet accounting, the full CIS monthly cycle and subcontractor verification, VAT Domestic Reverse Charge handling, property development accounting, capital-allowance planning including Full Expensing, year-end FRS 102 / FRS 105 accounts, and Corporation Tax CT600 filing. (2) Creative, Digital, Professional Services & Retail Bundle (£2,150 / year) is tailored for Medway creative and digital companies, professional-services firms and contractors, university spin-outs, and retailers. It includes Companies House formation, 12 months of company secretary, 12 months of bookkeeping with creative / IP-based revenue recognition or professional-services time-and-WIP accounting or multi-channel retail reconciliation, the UK Creative Industry Tax Reliefs and R&D tax credit support where applicable, SEIS / EIS investment-readiness, IR35 / off-payroll guidance, year-end FRS 102 / FRS 105 accounts, and Corporation Tax CT600 filing. Both bundles carry a single fixed annual fee, a single point of contact, and no surprise bills — and both are priced to deliver genuine 50–70% savings versus traditional UK accountancy firms.