If you wish to obtain a Certificate of Good Standing for your private limited company, you must ensure that your company has at least one ‘natural’ director, that all statutory filing requirements are up to date, and that any changes to your company’s registered details have been reported to Companies House.
Key takeaways
- Ensure your company has a natural director and meets filing requirements to obtain a Certificate of Good Standing.
- Use a Certificate of Good Standing to enhance credibility with banks, clients, and investors.
- Certificates are valid for only three months; obtain a recent one for ongoing compliance needs.
What is a Certificate of Good Standing?
A Certificate of Good Standing is a document you can request from Companies House to confirm that your limited company has been in continuous existence since the date of its incorporation, that it has adhered to all statutory filing requirements and paid all necessary fees and charges, and that no action is currently being taken to strike the company off the register.
Why would I need a certificate of good standing?
A Certificate of Good Standing is usually required in the following circumstances:
- To open a UK business bank account for a company with only overseas directors
- To open an overseas business bank account for a UK limited company
- To trade overseas or set up an overseas branch or office
- To satisfy lenders, potential clients, suppliers and investors
- To check the credibility of another company
What information is provided on the certificate?
A Certificate of Good Standing will contain the following details:
- Directors’ names
- Secretaries names (if applicable)
- Registered office address
- Date of company formation
- Verification that the company is up-to-date with all statutory filing requirements
- The company’s objects (if applicable)
Why would a Certificate of Good Standing be refused?
Companies House will not issue a certificate in the following circumstances:
- A company is not up-to-date with its annual confirmation statement (previously called an annual return) and annual accounts
- A company has supplied insufficient information to Companies House about its ownership or constitution
- A company does not have at least one natural (human) director
Certificates are only valid for 3 months from the date of issue. After this time, organisations and authorities will usually expect a more recent certificate.
If you have any questions, please leave us a comment below and we’ll come back to you as soon as possible.
Join The Discussion
Comments (14)
Hi Rachel, I have a company in Belize and would like to know if it is possible to get a Certificate of good standing with Apostille in the UK and if so how much would it be.
Thanks
Scott
Dear Scott,
We are not experts on non-UK based companies however I do not think you could get a Certificate of Good Standing for a Belize company in the UK as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the UK would not have any information at its disposal to confirm that the Belize company is of Good Standing.
Best regards,
Rapid Formations Team
is a certificate of good standing the same as the company incorporation certificate?
Hi Melissa,
These certificates are entirely different:
The certificate of incorporation is proof of your company’s legal registration as a limited entity – it states the name, registration date and number, etc. Companies House issues one of these certificate to every new company at the time of registration.
A certificate of good is something you apply for to prove that your company is in ‘good standing’ with Companies House – that the business is adhering to its statutory filing and reporting obligations, that it doesn’t’ have any outstanding fees to pay, etc. You would obtain one of these if you were considering applying for a loan, bringing in new investors, bidding on a big contract with a new client, etc – to show that your company is responsible and reliable.
I hope this clarifies matters but please get back in touch if you have any more questions.
Best wishes,
Rachel
Dear Sir
I am a medical doctor. I was wondering if you could get Good Standing Certificate for medical doctor too? I worked in England in the past and now I am planning to work in Germany.
Dear Reza,
I’m afraid I cannot advise on this matter. We can only provide a certificate of good standing for limited companies. You will need to contact the NHS health board with whom you were employed as a doctor in the UK.
Good luck and best wishes,
Rachel Craig
Hello,
I Need a Certificate of Good Standing with Apostille. The adress for this document is Germany. How much does it cost including all fees + vat. ? How Long it will take ?
Kind Regards
Hi Keyvan,
There is a separate charge for each document to be apostilled – could you tell me how many docs you require an apostille certificate for?
Rachel
Hello !
I want to order a good standing certificate for my uk company ! I want it send to sweden ! How much does it cost including all fees?
Tahnks
Dear Albert
Thank you for your message.
The cost of the Certificate depends on whether you need the Express Service £99 + vat or the Standard Service £49 + vat. Also, In term so cost of postage, it depends upon whether you want the document posted by Royal Mail (free) or by courier, and we would need to find out a specific price for that, but can do so if you want to send a specific request (including your address for postage) to our team at info@rapidformations.co.uk
Kind Regards
Hello,
Is It possible to get this document with apostille? How long It will take and How much It will cost?
Hi Jozef
Thank you for your message.
We can arrange for the Certificate of Good Standing to be prepared with all of the information you need and then it can be apostilled at a cost of £90 + vat.
Kind Regards
is it possible to issue a CGS and be sent via courier for an additional charge??
thanks in advance
MS
Hi Marco
Thanks for your message.
We can purchase a Certificate of Good Standing for your UK company and get it couriered to you for the additional charge. If you chose the express service for £99 + vat the document would arrive with us in 1/2 days and we would courier the document to you the same day.
Regards
Rachel