Scroll down for more information

New Business Set Up

There’s much to consider when you’re starting up in business, not least the ‘vehicle’ you use to trade. Our team will help you decide and guide you through the process, with expert support and advice. 

Contact Stuart Petrie

  • Stuart Petrie
    Meet the team

    The team

  • Small Businesses. Start-ups. SMEs.

    Who we can help

  • Accounts & Tax Compliance. Business Tax Planning. Employee Share Schemes. Management Accounts. Outsourced Business Services.

    How we can help

THE BEST BUSINESS STRUCTURE FOR YOU

Starting a new business means there’s plenty to think about. An early and important decision to make is what type of trading vehicle will be right for you. For some, the simplicity of being a Sole Trader or even a partner in a Partnership will be ideal. For others, a Limited Company or Limited Liability Partnership will best suit their needs. Your choice will impact your tax liability, so we’ll talk you through the pros and cons of each route, to help you decide.

Should you want to set up a company, we provide a fast and efficient company formation service. We can set up your new company or Limited Liability Partnership within 24 hours, with all the associated legal documents completed for you.

STARTING AND GROWING YOUR BUSINESS

Once you’ve decided on your business structure, you’ll need a business bank account. We have strong relationships with many banks that we can introduce you to. It may be possible to open an account that’s fee-free for the first year.

By discussing your goals and how you want to operate, we’ll help you formulate a practical business plan. Whether now or later, it’s also highly likely your business will need to raise funds – to hire staff, develop new products or services or for larger premises. We can advise on your best options for financing and through our many connections, put you in touch with potential funders.

DON’T BE A SLAVE TO YOUR ACCOUNTS

By providing our bookkeeping and accounting services, we can help you maintain essential cashflow and maximise profits – not least by freeing up more time for running your business.

Although you may feel you’ll have more control by keeping your accounting in-house, that may not be true or cost-effective. Our cloud accounting services will give you greater visibility and timely information that helps you address issues before they become problems.

Going a step further, our virtual finance function takes care of all your accounting needs and gives you access, through a single point of contact, to the combined expertise of all our experts whenever you need it.

TAX AND EMPLOYMENT COMPLIANCE

Unless you’re setting up an accountancy business, you don’t need to be a tax expert – especially since our specialists are on hand to give you the answers. Along your business journey, we’ll advise on aspects such as VAT registration, and if it would benefit you to register before you reach the threshold.

We’ll help you with all the tax issues involved with employees, including whether aspects such as IR35 off-payroll working and the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) apply to your business and how to deal with them. Failing to comply with HMRC’s complex employment tax regulations can result in substantial penalties, so our advice can save you money and headaches.

ONCE YOU’VE STARTED, LOOK FURTHER AHEAD

It might seem strange to be talking about business exit when you’re only just setting up, but the sooner you have a clear picture in mind of how you would like to exit the business (sell outright or pass it on to the next generation) and what you want to want to do on retirement, the better.

Some people will want a comfortable, well-funded retirement; others find it hard to lose the business habit and will want to re-invest their wealth in other people’s new ventures. It’s only right you should have those options, as your reward for all the many hours you’ve invested in building your business. By helping you with planning for your personal wealth, your pension, and inheritance and succession planning, we’ll help you realise the future you envisaged.

  • I instructed AAB to investigate a fraud which had occurred at a remote subsidiary of my institution. They acted promptly and with persistence in researching the financial background, providing me with excellent oral and written reports.

    Director, Charitable Institution

  • I cannot recommend AAB highly enough from my extensive experiences of their services which has included dissolving a partnership, becoming a sole trader and then subsequently incorporating the business, tax and general accountancy service and advice.

    Stephen Bonsor, The Dental Practice

  • People do business with people and AAB’s people are friendly, helpful and professional. The charities team have been tremendously supportive and has continued to give us guidance and advice that far surpasses any contractual requirement.

    Thane Lawrie, SCARF

  • Routine monthly processing has been faultless and my dealings with the payroll team over the year end have been excellent. A breath of fresh air to be dealing with such an excellent service.

    James Thom, Scotia Instrumentation

#Updates See all updates

Sign up to updates

  1. Blog11th Mar 2024

    Michaela McCombie, author of blog about PAYE tax codes

    New Tax Year, New Tax Code?

    With the new tax year approaching and ever-changing income tax rates and allowances, there is an increased importance of ensuring your PAYE Tax Code is correct.   PAYE AND TAX CODES Every employee registered in an organisation’s payroll system will…

    By Michaela McCombie

    View more
  2. Blog13th Feb 2024

    Gillian Rushton, author of blog about HMRC One To Many Campaign

    HMRC’s ‘One to Many’ Campaign – Targeting Undeclared Dividend

    HMRC are now issuing letters to business owners under a ‘One to Many’ Letter campaign to target undeclared dividends payments. HMRC have been looking at company reserves and have noted that some are reducing but no dividends are being declared…

    By Gillian Rushton

    View more
  3. Blog21st Dec 2023

    James Hunt, Gunhild Dam, Lynn Wilson, Lauren McIlroy, Stuart Petrie, Graeme Allan, Paula Fraser, Jill Walker, Gordon Steele, David Purse

    2023 Business Unit Year In Review

    Oxford recently released their word of the year for 2023 and it was “rizz”. If we had to pick a word for our year it would be ‘growth’. You might have heard us talk about our growth journey a time…

    View more
  4. Blog16th Sep 2023

    Michaela McCombie, Business Advisory Services Assistant Manager

    Do you have a legal remuneration strategy?

    Each year it is important for business owners to review the company remuneration strategy to determine the most tax-efficient way to withdraw money from the business. Unfortunately, a number of business owners view the contents of the business bank account…

    By Michaela McCombie

    View more

See all updates

Our accreditations