The unavoidable, fixed costs of running a UK limited company are small and knowable: £100 to incorporate the company, £50 a year for the confirmation statement, and corporation tax at 19% or 25% on your profit. Those are the figures you can pin down to the pound. The bigger spend is the variable side — an accountant, business insurance, bookkeeping or payroll software and a business bank account — and these genuinely depend on your company, so the honest answer is a range, not a fixed price. A single-director consultancy with simple books spends very differently from a company with staff, stock and VAT to manage. Below we split the two cleanly: the fees you can state precisely, and the costs you should budget for indicatively and then get a real quote on. We also answer the question underneath the question — at what point the running cost is worth it versus staying a sole trader, and when it honestly isn't.
Figures are for the 2026/27 tax year and sourced to gov.uk and Companies House; fees and rates change, so check the current figure before you budget. General guidance, not personal advice.
What fixed costs can you pin down precisely?
A handful of costs are set by Companies House and HMRC, so you can budget them to the pound. Forming the company costs £100 to incorporate online with Companies House — that fee rose from £50 on 1 February 2026 (Companies House fees). After that, every company must file a confirmation statement once a year to confirm its registered details are up to date; the digital fee is £50 a year (gov.uk), which also rose — from £34 — on 1 February 2026. If you want the detail of what that annual filing involves, see our guide on what a confirmation statement is and how to file it.
The largest fixed cost is corporation tax on your profit. For 2026/27 the rate is 19% on profits up to £50,000 and 25% on profits over £250,000, with Marginal Relief tapering between the two — so profits in the £50,000–£250,000 band are effectively taxed at about 26.5% (gov.uk). It's a real cost of running the company, but it's charged on profit rather than turnover, and only when you make a profit — so it scales with how well the business does, unlike the flat filing fees.
If you run a payroll — paying yourself or staff a salary — you'll also operate PAYE, which is free to register for but adds the admin (and usually the software or accountant) to run it. The fee itself isn't a cost; the time or service to do it properly is, which takes us to the variable side.
What are the variable costs — and what do they depend on?
This is where a single national figure would mislead you. Four costs vary enough that we'll only give indicative ranges and then point you to a real quote.
Accountancy is usually the biggest ongoing cost. Online accountants compete openly on monthly price, and fees depend on whether you need full accounts, bookkeeping, payroll, VAT and a director's Self Assessment — a dormant or very simple company costs far less to look after than a VAT-registered company with staff. We won't quote a fixed monthly price as fact, because the figure that's right for a sole director on simple books is not the figure for a growing company, and a price pulled from a competitor's homepage tells you nothing about your situation. Whether you even need one is a fair question — we cover it in do you need an accountant for a limited company.
Business insurance depends entirely on what you do. A contractor on a client site may need professional indemnity and public liability cover; an e-commerce company has different risks again. Some clients and agencies require specific cover before they'll engage you, so this can be non-negotiable for the work itself rather than optional.
Bookkeeping and payroll software ranges from free tools to monthly subscriptions, depending on whether you keep the books yourself or your accountant includes software in their package. Since Making Tax Digital pushes record-keeping towards software, most directors end up paying for it one way or another.
A business bank account is a practical necessity because the company is a separate legal entity and its money must be kept separate from yours — some accounts are free, others charge a monthly fee, and we don't recommend a specific bank or quote a fee as fact. We explain why the account itself isn't optional in does a limited company need a business bank account. And if your turnover crosses £90,000, VAT registration becomes mandatory and adds its own admin — see when a limited company needs to register for VAT.
Here's the split at a glance:
Cost
Type
2026/27 figure
Incorporation
Fixed
£100 (one-off, online)
Confirmation statement
Fixed
£50 per year
Corporation tax
Fixed rule
19% / ~26.5% / 25% on profit
Accountant
Variable
Depends — get a quote
Insurance, software, bank
Variable
Depends — indicative only
Is a limited company worth the running cost versus staying a sole trader?
The honest answer is: only when the tax efficiency and the other benefits outweigh the extra admin and cost — and that isn't always the case. A limited company carries running costs and obligations a sole trader doesn't have: the annual confirmation statement, statutory accounts, a corporation tax return, often payroll, and usually an accountant to keep it all right. A sole trader can run on a Self Assessment return and, in principle, a personal bank account.
At lower profit levels, those extra costs can swallow most of the tax saving, and the admin step-up isn't worth it. If you're making a modest profit, working a single short contract, or testing whether the business has legs, staying a sole trader is often the sensible call — and we'll say so rather than push you to incorporate. The advantage of going limited tends to grow as profits rise, when the salary-and-dividends structure and the lower corporation tax rate start to outweigh the running cost. There's no single profit figure that flips the decision for everyone, because it turns on your other income, how much you draw versus retain, and whether contracts sit inside or outside IR35. The full comparison is set out in sole trader vs limited company.
The running-cost question we get asked most is whether an accountant is worth it. Honestly, for most trading directors the tax saved tends to cover the fee — but it depends on your numbers, and we'd rather match you to a partner who can run your actual figures than promise a saving we can't stand behind.
The simplest saving is not over-buying. You don't need premium software, a managed payroll for a single director, and several insurance policies on day one — match what you pay for to what the company actually does, and add services as it grows. The fixed fees (£100, then £50 a year) are unavoidable and small; it's the variable stack where directors overspend by buying for a business they don't yet have.
A good accountant is the cost that often earns its keep. Claiming the right allowable expenses, paying yourself efficiently and avoiding penalties usually recovers more than the fee for a profitable company — though that's indicative, not guaranteed, and at very low profit the maths can go the other way. If you want to start trading quickly without the formation wait, an off-the-shelf (ready-made) company is an alternative to forming from scratch; we explain the trade-offs in what an off-the-shelf company is.
Go Limited doesn't run your company or sign off your accounts — we're the connector. We help you size up the real cost, decide whether limited is right for you, and match you with a trusted partner accountant who can give you a quote built on your numbers rather than a headline price. For the partner side, see our accountancy page.
The real cost of a limited company isn't a single number on a price page — it's a small, fixed core you can budget exactly, plus a variable layer that only makes sense once someone looks at your figures.
How much does it cost to run a limited company?
The fixed costs are small and set by Companies House and HMRC: £100 to incorporate, £50 a year for the confirmation statement, and corporation tax of 19% or 25% on profit for 2026/27. On top of that you'll usually pay for an accountant, business insurance, bookkeeping or payroll software and possibly bank charges — these vary by company, so budget them indicatively and get a real quote.
What are the ongoing costs of a limited company?
The recurring statutory cost is the £50 annual confirmation statement, plus corporation tax on any profit and the filing of statutory accounts and a tax return each year. Most directors also pay ongoing accountancy fees, software and insurance, and run PAYE if they take a salary. The fixed items are fixed; the rest depend on your set-up.
Is it expensive to have a limited company?
The unavoidable fees are modest — a one-off £100 and £50 a year. What makes it feel expensive is the variable layer (accountant, insurance, software) and the corporation tax on profit. For a profitable company the tax efficiency often offsets the running cost; at low profit it may not, which is why the decision depends on your numbers.
Is a limited company worth it for the cost?
It's worth it when the tax efficiency and other benefits outweigh the extra admin and cost — typically as profits rise. At lower profit, a short contract, or while you're testing the idea, staying a sole trader is often the better call. There's no universal profit threshold; it depends on your income, how you draw it and your IR35 position.
Do I have to pay for an accountant?
No — there's no legal requirement to use an accountant for a limited company. But statutory accounts, a corporation tax return, payroll and VAT are easy to get wrong, and for most trading directors a good accountant recovers more than the fee in tax saved and penalties avoided. We can match you with a partner who'll quote on your actual figures rather than a headline price.
The unavoidable, fixed costs of running a UK limited company are small and knowable: £100 to incorporate the company, £50 a year for the confirmation statement, and corporation tax at 19% or 25% on your profit. Those are the figures you can pin down to the pound. The bigger spend is the variable side — an accountant, business insurance, bookkeeping or payroll software and a business bank account — and these genuinely depend on your company, so the honest answer is a range, not a fixed price. A single-director consultancy with simple books spends very differently from a company with staff, stock and VAT to manage. Below we split the two cleanly: the fees you can state precisely, and the costs you should budget for indicatively and then get a real quote on. We also answer the question underneath the question — at what point the running cost is worth it versus staying a sole trader, and when it honestly isn't.
Figures are for the 2026/27 tax year and sourced to gov.uk and Companies House; fees and rates change, so check the current figure before you budget. General guidance, not personal advice.
What fixed costs can you pin down precisely?
A handful of costs are set by Companies House and HMRC, so you can budget them to the pound. Forming the company costs £100 to incorporate online with Companies House — that fee rose from £50 on 1 February 2026 (Companies House fees). After that, every company must file a confirmation statement once a year to confirm its registered details are up to date; the digital fee is £50 a year (gov.uk), which also rose — from £34 — on 1 February 2026. If you want the detail of what that annual filing involves, see our guide on what a confirmation statement is and how to file it.
The largest fixed cost is corporation tax on your profit. For 2026/27 the rate is 19% on profits up to £50,000 and 25% on profits over £250,000, with Marginal Relief tapering between the two — so profits in the £50,000–£250,000 band are effectively taxed at about 26.5% (gov.uk). It's a real cost of running the company, but it's charged on profit rather than turnover, and only when you make a profit — so it scales with how well the business does, unlike the flat filing fees.
If you run a payroll — paying yourself or staff a salary — you'll also operate PAYE, which is free to register for but adds the admin (and usually the software or accountant) to run it. The fee itself isn't a cost; the time or service to do it properly is, which takes us to the variable side.
What are the variable costs — and what do they depend on?
This is where a single national figure would mislead you. Four costs vary enough that we'll only give indicative ranges and then point you to a real quote.
Accountancy is usually the biggest ongoing cost. Online accountants compete openly on monthly price, and fees depend on whether you need full accounts, bookkeeping, payroll, VAT and a director's Self Assessment — a dormant or very simple company costs far less to look after than a VAT-registered company with staff. We won't quote a fixed monthly price as fact, because the figure that's right for a sole director on simple books is not the figure for a growing company, and a price pulled from a competitor's homepage tells you nothing about your situation. Whether you even need one is a fair question — we cover it in do you need an accountant for a limited company.
Business insurance depends entirely on what you do. A contractor on a client site may need professional indemnity and public liability cover; an e-commerce company has different risks again. Some clients and agencies require specific cover before they'll engage you, so this can be non-negotiable for the work itself rather than optional.
Bookkeeping and payroll software ranges from free tools to monthly subscriptions, depending on whether you keep the books yourself or your accountant includes software in their package. Since Making Tax Digital pushes record-keeping towards software, most directors end up paying for it one way or another.
A business bank account is a practical necessity because the company is a separate legal entity and its money must be kept separate from yours — some accounts are free, others charge a monthly fee, and we don't recommend a specific bank or quote a fee as fact. We explain why the account itself isn't optional in does a limited company need a business bank account. And if your turnover crosses £90,000, VAT registration becomes mandatory and adds its own admin — see when a limited company needs to register for VAT.
Here's the split at a glance:
Cost
Type
2026/27 figure
Incorporation
Fixed
£100 (one-off, online)
Confirmation statement
Fixed
£50 per year
Corporation tax
Fixed rule
19% / ~26.5% / 25% on profit
Accountant
Variable
Depends — get a quote
Insurance, software, bank
Variable
Depends — indicative only
Is a limited company worth the running cost versus staying a sole trader?
The honest answer is: only when the tax efficiency and the other benefits outweigh the extra admin and cost — and that isn't always the case. A limited company carries running costs and obligations a sole trader doesn't have: the annual confirmation statement, statutory accounts, a corporation tax return, often payroll, and usually an accountant to keep it all right. A sole trader can run on a Self Assessment return and, in principle, a personal bank account.
At lower profit levels, those extra costs can swallow most of the tax saving, and the admin step-up isn't worth it. If you're making a modest profit, working a single short contract, or testing whether the business has legs, staying a sole trader is often the sensible call — and we'll say so rather than push you to incorporate. The advantage of going limited tends to grow as profits rise, when the salary-and-dividends structure and the lower corporation tax rate start to outweigh the running cost. There's no single profit figure that flips the decision for everyone, because it turns on your other income, how much you draw versus retain, and whether contracts sit inside or outside IR35. The full comparison is set out in sole trader vs limited company.
The running-cost question we get asked most is whether an accountant is worth it. Honestly, for most trading directors the tax saved tends to cover the fee — but it depends on your numbers, and we'd rather match you to a partner who can run your actual figures than promise a saving we can't stand behind.
The simplest saving is not over-buying. You don't need premium software, a managed payroll for a single director, and several insurance policies on day one — match what you pay for to what the company actually does, and add services as it grows. The fixed fees (£100, then £50 a year) are unavoidable and small; it's the variable stack where directors overspend by buying for a business they don't yet have.
A good accountant is the cost that often earns its keep. Claiming the right allowable expenses, paying yourself efficiently and avoiding penalties usually recovers more than the fee for a profitable company — though that's indicative, not guaranteed, and at very low profit the maths can go the other way. If you want to start trading quickly without the formation wait, an off-the-shelf (ready-made) company is an alternative to forming from scratch; we explain the trade-offs in what an off-the-shelf company is.
Go Limited doesn't run your company or sign off your accounts — we're the connector. We help you size up the real cost, decide whether limited is right for you, and match you with a trusted partner accountant who can give you a quote built on your numbers rather than a headline price. For the partner side, see our accountancy page.
The real cost of a limited company isn't a single number on a price page — it's a small, fixed core you can budget exactly, plus a variable layer that only makes sense once someone looks at your figures.
How much does it cost to run a limited company?
The fixed costs are small and set by Companies House and HMRC: £100 to incorporate, £50 a year for the confirmation statement, and corporation tax of 19% or 25% on profit for 2026/27. On top of that you'll usually pay for an accountant, business insurance, bookkeeping or payroll software and possibly bank charges — these vary by company, so budget them indicatively and get a real quote.
What are the ongoing costs of a limited company?
The recurring statutory cost is the £50 annual confirmation statement, plus corporation tax on any profit and the filing of statutory accounts and a tax return each year. Most directors also pay ongoing accountancy fees, software and insurance, and run PAYE if they take a salary. The fixed items are fixed; the rest depend on your set-up.
Is it expensive to have a limited company?
The unavoidable fees are modest — a one-off £100 and £50 a year. What makes it feel expensive is the variable layer (accountant, insurance, software) and the corporation tax on profit. For a profitable company the tax efficiency often offsets the running cost; at low profit it may not, which is why the decision depends on your numbers.
Is a limited company worth it for the cost?
It's worth it when the tax efficiency and other benefits outweigh the extra admin and cost — typically as profits rise. At lower profit, a short contract, or while you're testing the idea, staying a sole trader is often the better call. There's no universal profit threshold; it depends on your income, how you draw it and your IR35 position.
Do I have to pay for an accountant?
No — there's no legal requirement to use an accountant for a limited company. But statutory accounts, a corporation tax return, payroll and VAT are easy to get wrong, and for most trading directors a good accountant recovers more than the fee in tax saved and penalties avoided. We can match you with a partner who'll quote on your actual figures rather than a headline price.
