Limited Liability Partnership FAQs

A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership with limited liability for its members. It has the flexibility of a partnership and is taxed as a partnership. In other respects, it is similar to a private company.

In some professions you may require something a little more customised than a limited liability company with a set structure. An LLP is a formal structure that requires a written partnership agreement and usually comes with annual reporting requirements depending on your legal jurisdiction.

You will often find for example that your accountant, solicitor, or dentist will have the acronym LLP after a list of names as in “Howser, Hunter & Smith, LLP.”

Professionals who use LLPs tend to rely heavily on reputation. Most LLPs are created and managed by a group of professionals who have a lot of experience and clients between them. By pooling resources, the partners lower the costs of doing business while increasing the LLP’s capacity for growth. They can share office space, employees and so on. Most important, reducing costs allows the partners to realize more profits from their activities than they could individually.

What is included in Company Formation MadeSimple's LLP package?

The LLP package includes:

Quick and simple online formation
Includes free LLP Agreement
Printed certificate of incorporation
Free domain name from Websites MadeSimple
Free business bank account referral

How long will it take to set up an LLP?

3 working hours, excluding bank holidays and weekends. We will email your company number and certificate as soon as your company is incorporated.

What are the legal requirements of an LLP?

An LLP must have a minimum of two people (members) who have the intention of starting lawful trade and to (or intending to) make a profit. A member can be a person or a company, known as a 'corporate member'.

There is no maximum number of people that can join an LLP. A partner need not be a UK resident. An LLP also requires a PSC register, a registered office address that must be based in the UK and cannot be a PO Box or otherwise.
All members must carry out their legal responsibilities set out in their LLP agreement.

What documents are required to set up an LLP?

No documents are required when setting up your LLP with us as you will complete the registration online. However, you will need to have:

a registered office address - this will be public
at least two members: full name, address, date of birth, country of residence
service and/or residential address
for each member: the first three letters of the town of birth, last three digits of the telephone number, First 3 letters of Mother's Maiden Name
name restriction support documents (only applicable if using a sensitive word)
LLP agreement

Are they any responsibilities with an LLP?

Yes, each member must:

register for the business for Self Assessment with HMRC and register separately with HMRC
register the partnership for VAT - if you expect your business to turnover more than £85,000 a year
keep accounting records
sending accounts
send a confirmation statement to Companies House.

Designated members have more responsibilities than ordinary members, they must:
tell Companies House about any changes, eg, to registered office, name, or address
act for the LLP if it's wound up and dissolved.

What is limited liability?

The LLP is a separate legal entity, and while the LLP itself will be liable for the full extent of its assets, the liability of the members will be limited.

How are LLPs governed?

In the United Kingdom, LLPs are governed by the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 (in England and Wales and Scotland) and the Limited Liability Partnerships Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 in Northern Ireland.

Do you provide an LLP Agreement?

Yes, the LLP Agreement will be a template which we will send to you once your company is incorporated. You will need to sign and complete. Alternatively, you can find a copy via your account, go to Dashboard > Statutory Forms.