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Work out what changes if you go from sole trader to limited company

Someone's told you to "go limited". Get a plain-English picture of what actually changes day to day, what to ask your accountant and the GOV.UK pages to read, before you decide.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

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The prompt · ChatGPT

Help me understand what changes if I go from sole trader to limited company.

My business: [what you do, rough income]
Why I'm thinking about it: [e.g. tax, a client wants it, risk]
Staff: [none, or how many]
How I pay myself now: [details]

First ask me up to 4 short questions. Wait for my answers.

Then:
1. A side-by-side table: paying myself, filing, bank accounts, admin time, privacy, liability, costs to check.
2. What a director must do, in plain words, including verifying my identity with Companies House, with the GOV.UK links.
3. Twelve questions for my accountant.
4. The practical switch-over steps if I go ahead (bank, customers, insurance, HMRC).
5. The GOV.UK pages to read, named and linked.

Not tax or legal advice. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts or figures. UK English.

For GOV.UK pages on setting up and running a limited company, use web search and name the page you used. If it doesn't search on its own, open View all tools and choose Search.

Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.

A short example

Fill the blanks, then paste. what you do, rough income: a short note you already have. e.g. tax, a client wants it, risk: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.

This does not give tax advice. The books stay in the accounting system.

The prompt · Claude

Help me understand what changes if I go from sole trader to limited company.

My business: [what you do, rough income]
Why I'm thinking about it: [e.g. tax, a client wants it, risk]
Staff: [none, or how many]
How I pay myself now: [details]

First ask me up to 4 short questions. Wait for my answers.

Then:
1. A side-by-side table: paying myself, filing, bank accounts, admin time, privacy, liability, costs to check.
2. What a director must do, in plain words, including verifying my identity with Companies House, with the GOV.UK links.
3. Twelve questions for my accountant.
4. The practical switch-over steps if I go ahead (bank, customers, insurance, HMRC).
5. The GOV.UK pages to read, named and linked.

Not tax or legal advice. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts or figures. UK English.

For GOV.UK pages on setting up and running a limited company, use web search if you can and name the page. If you can't search, say what I should check myself.

Stay in this Claude chat. Do not use a connector, and do not open a project that already holds someone else's files.

A short example

Fill the blanks, then paste. what you do, rough income: a short note you already have. e.g. tax, a client wants it, risk: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.

You describe your business, income and why you're thinking about it.

The assistant asks about staff, risk and how you pay yourself now.

You get a side-by-side of daily life as a sole trader and as a company, the questions for your accountant and the official pages.

GkGrok ClClaude ChChatGPT GeGemini CoCopilot

What happens

Use Claude to work out what changes if you go from sole trader to limited company

Someone's told you to "go limited". Get a plain-English picture of what actually changes day to day, what to ask your accountant and the GOV.UK pages to read, before you decide.

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