Companies House Number

Why Unlock the Power of Your Company Registration Number?

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What is Companies House Number?

A company registration number is used to identify a company to verify that they are registered with Companies House. The number consists of a unique combination of numbers, and letters in some cases. It is specific to every company that is registered in the UK.

Company registration numbers apply to businesses registered at UK Companies House. Such as limited companies and limited liability partnerships. Sole traders do not have company registration numbers as they are not incorporated in this way.

 

Who needs a company registration number?

Only businesses and organisations incorporated or registered at Companies House. Search companies house are provided with a company registration number.

This includes companies limited by shares, companies limited by guarantee, public limited companies (PLCs), limited liability partnerships (LLPs), and limited partnerships (LPs).

 

When is a Company Registration Number Needed?

There are a range of circumstances when you will need, or be asked to provide, your company registration number, such as:

  • When contacting Companies House.
  • Submitting your annual confirmation statement.
  • Reporting changes to your company’s details.
  • Filing annual accounts.
  • Registering your company as an employer to set up PAYE.
  • Sending PAYE reports to HMRC.
  • Applying for a company bank account.
  • Applying for a loan or lease in your company name.
  • Registering with HMRC for my tax account or Corporation Tax and VAT.
  • Changing details of a company director or company secretary.
  • Communication with shareholders like issuing share certificates.
  • Allotting shares or other changes to the company’s capital.
  • Dissolving the company.

How do you use companies house?

You can find your company number in companies house, including:

  • The certificate of incorporation issued by Companies House to companies upon incorporation.
  • Letters, emails, and other statutory documentation received from Companies House
  • Online, within your company listing on the official public register of company information, via Companies House Service
  • Most company-related correspondence received from your accountant or company formation agent (if applicable)
  • Through FZCO Accountants Limited free Online Company Manager – you can register a free account with us, even if you’re not a client
  • On a change of name certificate, if you have changed your company name after incorporation

To find your company registration number online. Simply visit Companies House Service, type the full company name into the search box, and click on the search icon.

What is the format of a Company Registration Number?

However, Companies House uses a special reference to distinguish between English and companies house Scotland by allocating different prefix to the digits. For example, for the companies which are registered in Scotland. It will have prefix SC with the digits while for the companies which are registered in England and Wales will have eight digits. Companies registered in Wales don’t have any special reference number in their registration number to distinguish them from their English counterparts. However, they have an option to replace the word Limited or Ltd with either cyfngedig or cyf.

CRNs are always 8 characters long. These can be either 8 digits or 2 letters followed by 6 digits.

  • English and Welsh companies have 8-digit CRNs beginning with 0 or 1.
  • Scottish companies have CRNs with the letters ‘SC’ followed by 6 digits.
  • Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) have the letters ‘OC’ followed by 6 digits.
  • Scottish LLPs have the letters ‘SO’ followed by 6 digits.
  • Northern Irish companies have the letters ‘NI’ followed by 6 digits.
  • Northern Irish LLPs have the letters ‘NC’ followed by 6 digits.

 

Is a company registration number the same as a company tax number?

This is a common misconception, but a company registration number is not the same as a company tax number.

CRNs are issued by Companies House as unique identifiers for individual companies on the public register, whereas company tax numbers are unique 10-digit codes that HMRC assigns to companies to track their tax records.

Officially, a company tax number is referred to as a company’s Unique Taxpayer Reference, or ‘UTR’. Sometimes, it will simply be called a ‘tax number’ or ‘tax reference’.

  • Is my company number the same as my tax number?
  • Do UK companies have a TIN number?

You don’t have to apply for one – HMRC is notified by Companies House when new companies are formed. So, your company’s UTR will be automatically generated and sent to your registered office a few weeks after incorporation.

Likewise, do not confuse your company registration number with UK VAT number, employer PAYE reference number, Government Gateway User ID, company authentication code, or any other number or reference that your company may be provided with.

What happens if I lose my company registration number?

If you forget or lose your registration company number, there’s no need to worry. You can find it in any of the places outlined at the beginning of this post, including:

Our Online Company Manager service is available to clients and non-clients alike.

  1. Existing customers can simply enter their login details to access their company data, including their company registration number
  2. Non-clients can create an account free of charge, import an existing company and manage it online

You can access this free facility at any time to view and update your company details, download company documents, report changes to Companies House, and much more.