Sigma Accounting:

Sigma Accounting specialises in providing accountancy and business advisory services to owner managed businesses based on the Isle of Man.

For an informal discussion about how we can help you with the accountancy requirements of your business please contact us.

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SIGMA accounting

Sigma Accounting is registered in the Isle of Man (number 023280B)

and is a member of the ICAEW Practice Assurance Scheme.

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Choosing and registering your business name:

Whether you are a sole trader or you have a limited company, you will need to have a name for your business. If you are going to incorporate a limited company, this is a legal requirement - but even if you’re just going to operate as a sole trader, you still need to call your business something, so that you have an identity which people will recognise. This could just be as simple as just your own name, or of course there is any number of other options.

If you are starting out as a sole trader, it is worth thinking about a name in the context that you might one day want to form a limited company and have the same business name just with ‘Limited’ tagged on the end – no change in the business identity.

In the Isle of Man, unless you are trading under your own real name, you will have to register your business name, even if you are not forming a limited company. Our guide to filing statutory documents gives more details.

Choosing the name

This sounds like it should be easy, in fact you may already have a name in mind that you’ve always wanted to use, but in reality there are some factors to consider before making a final decision.

The first of these, of course, is whether the name is available – as no two businesses can have the same legal name. You will need to search for existing company names that are the same or similar, and you can do this using the Name availability feature on the Companies Registry website.

There are also a number of rules relating to what can not be used as a company name; the Isle of Man Government has produced this useful document which explains the restrictions.

Registering your chosen name

Once you have chosen your name and have determined that it is available, you can then register the name with the Companies Registry. Registering a business name is fairly straightforward and requires submission of a simple form along with a one off payment followed by an annual declaration.

Registering a limited company however is somewhat more complicated requiring the preparation of bespoke incorporation documentation and the filing of various statutory documents both annually and whenever there is a change in the legal set up of your company.

For more details on filing statutory documents  please see our guide.