Whether you are a business owner or advisor, ensuring company secretarial compliance is a crucial part of operating a company and involves navigating a broad spectrum of areas and tasks.

This responsibility includes filing annual returns, maintaining statutory registers and ensuring adherence to corporate governance standards, among other duties.

Given the complexity and importance of these tasks, it may be worth considering the advantages of outsourcing these responsibilities on an ongoing basis.

By entrusting these tasks to specialised service providers like CFI, you can ensure adherence to regulatory requirements while simultaneously freeing up valuable time and reducing administrative burden.

Advantages of Outsourcing

By outsourcing the company secretary role, companies can gain the following advantages:

  • Save Time: Focus on core client work rather than administrative tasks.
  • Reduce Risk: Minimise the risk of errors, missed CRO deadlines, and non-compliance.
  • Expert Support: Access specialised support without the need to hire or train in-house staff.
  • Stay Compliant: Benefit from up-to-date knowledge of changing regulations.
  • Scalability: Easily adjust to meet changing workloads or client demands.
  • Enhanced Services: Offer secretarial support without added overhead.
  • Cost-Effective: Provide a cost-effective alternative to managing company secretarial tasks internally.

How can CFI help?

While the list of compliance requirements is endless and ever growing, here is what we can ensure as your outsourced company secretary.

Never Pay Annual Return Late Filing Fees or Lose Audit Exemption

As your company secretary, CFI will complete the full annual return process, ensuring it is filed on time and avoiding the consequences imposed by the Companies Registration Office (CRO).

While the CRO Annual Report for 2024 is due to be released soon, here are the penalty fee statistics for late filings from the last three years, with last year being the highest it has ever been and 2024 forecast to be similar:

  • 2021: €6.0 million
  • 2022: €7.9 million
  • 2023: €8.2 million

More importantly, in addition to paying these late filing fees, if late, your company will face the loss of audit exemption. This means that for two consecutive years, it will need to provide a set of fully audited Financial Statements with its annual return submission. The outsourced Company Secretary is ideally placed to ensure this does not happen for your companies as we case manage the entire Annual Return filing process.

Allow your LTD Company to Have a Sole Director

Limited companies can have a sole Director, provided there is a separate Company Secretary. Having an outsourced Company Secretary avoids the necessity of asking family, friends, or colleagues to take up this important role, which carries a lot of responsibility.

Can Execute Documents on a Company’s Behalf

Apart from counter-signing Annual Returns and bank account opening forms/mandates, an outsourced Company Secretary can attend before an Irish Notary Public and execute various documents such as Powers of Attorney and Certificates of Good Standing, as well as arranging for subsequent legalisation or attachment of an Apostille.

Can Assist with Due Diligence Enquiries in a Company Sale

In a company sale or due diligence, the company secretarial records—particularly the company registers—will be requested for inspection. Having an outsourced Company Secretary means that all of these records will be readily available.

Can Provide Wide-Ranging Company Law Support and Guidance

Outsourcing the Company Secretary role gives the Directors of the subject company access not just to one person, but to a team of always-on company secretarial professionals who are at hand to provide guidance and support.

The above highlights just a few of the many advantages of outsourcing the role of company secretary.

If you are considering this option and would like CFI’s assistance, please contact us here for more information.