Two- and three-person companies
Before a handshake becomes a dispute.
When more than one name is on the cap table
Shareholder advice before the handshake becomes a dispute.
Allotments, buy-backs, agreements and the tax that sits underneath them.
Company & shareholder services · Countplus file
Shareholder Advice
- Fee
- Quoted in writing
- The date
- Before the money moves
- Reply
- Same day before 4pm
In the package
- Cap table that is true
- New shares and leavers
- Buy-backs
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Paper that matches the handshake. Tax that does not ambush anyone.
Company & shareholder services3 services in this area
What shareholder advice actually is.
Shares look simple until someone leaves, someone joins, or someone wants a dividend the others cannot afford. We advise SMEs on allotments, transfers, buy-backs and the tax for each person around the table, then coordinate the company-secretarial filings so Companies House matches reality.
Quoted first
Quote
Confirmed in writing before we start. Cancel anytime.
Before the money moves
In the number
- Cap table that is true
- New shares and leavers
- Buy-backs
- Dividend policy
Quoted separately
- The scope, once we have seen the file
- Any catch-up sitting behind the last filed set
- Work that happens once, not every year
What is in the package.
Everything below is included in the quoted fee. Nothing here is billed twice.
4 lines, all included
- Cap table that is true
- Who owns what, fully diluted, with the filings to match.
- New shares and leavers
- Allotments, transfers, good-leaver / bad-leaver mechanics explained.
- Buy-backs
- Companies Act process plus the tax for the seller.
- Dividend policy
- What you can legally pay, and what each shareholder actually keeps.
You probably need this if
Signs you need shareholder advice
- Someone is joining and there is no agreement
- A founder wants to leave with ‘their share’ undefined
- You are about to allot shares on a verbal promise
- Dividends have been unequal and nobody wrote down why
The desk
Company & shareholder services
Reply
Same day before 4pm
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We write the letter
Shareholder Advice
Who it is usually for
Boards allotting shares
The Companies House form is the easy bit. The tax is not.
Buy-backs and leaver events
A process that does not strand the company or the person leaving.
Three steps, start to finish.
No onboarding theatre. We scope it in writing, put a named accountant on it, and tell you the date it lands.
- 01
Map the people
Directors, investors, family, employee options, on one page.
- 02
Choose the instrument
Ordinary shares, growth shares, options. Each has a tax story.
- 03
File and minute
Resolutions, SH forms, PSC updates. The unglamorous bit that makes it real.
In plain English
Shareholder Advice, written properly
The cap table is a relationship document
Shareholder advice is allotments, buy-backs, agreements and the tax underneath them. We work with your solicitor (we do not pretend to be one) so the commercial deal and the filings tell the same story. Most damage is done in the year nobody wrote anything down.
Do this before the money moves
A badly timed buy-back or an undocumented allotment is how you buy a second professional fee. We map the event, the Companies House piece, and the personal tax for each name on the table. Then you sign.
Shareholder Advice FAQs
If there is more than one owner, yes. We are not a law firm. We work with your solicitor and make sure the tax and the accounts match the clauses.
You can. CGT, inheritance tax and control are the three conversations to have first.
Powerful if you qualify. HMRC notification deadlines are short. Talk to us before you promise options in an offer letter.
The notebook
Guides on shareholder advice
Limited companies · 2 min read
Salary vs dividends: how directors actually pay themselves
A small salary, then dividends, is the usual mix. The usual mix is not always the right mix.
Read article →
Both offices
One number. Whichever desk you land on.
01925 670289- Warrington
- Ragan House, 674 Knutsford Road, WA4 1JHMap
info@countplus.co.uk
Monday–Friday, 9:00–17:00. Same-day response before 4pm.
Write to a human
Accounts, tax or consultancy. Pick a topic.
Countplus Accounting, since 2019
Ready to hand shareholder advice to a named accountant?
Get a monthly number in a minute, or book a call. We reply the same day before 4pm.
Get a quote, or call the desk on 01925 670289, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. Write before 4pm and a named person answers the same day.