Role of Company Secretary in Small Business

Appointing a professional company secretary isn’t a legal necessity and whether you want to hire one or not depends on your personal choice. That being said, many company directors tend to hire a reliable secretary for their business. It is a matter of fact that for bigger businesses with a lot of administrative responsibilities, hiring a professional secretary is imperative. But, what about small businesses? Do you need to hire secretarial services from a corporate secretarial firm for your small business?

Whether your business is big or small – a qualified and experienced company secretary can help take your business to the next level. A secretary can play a supportive role, handling critical tasks, including statutory compliance, shareholder communication, general administration, and corporate governance. S/he can pose to be a virtual connector between your organization, your shareholders, and other parties, making sure that all the necessary data is shared conveniently and seamlessly in an efficient manner.

The duties and responsibilities of a secretary happen to be multifaceted. Hence, in order to realize if you need a secretary for your small business, you first need to have a clear idea of the roles played by a professional company secretary.

Some of the important roles of a company secretary are discussed below:

Taking Care of Important Legal Documents

The company secretary takes care of the accuracy and security of the important legal documents of the company. These documents generally include – service contracts of the director, reports of any alteration made in the company name, the seal of the company, stock transfer and share reports, among others.

The company secretary may also need to sign certain legal paperwork as a representative of the company.

Maintaining Statutory Records

Any modifications made to the company’s structure have to be noted in the statutory registers of the company. This usually consists of – Register of Members, Register of Shareholders, Register of Directors, Register of Charges, Register of Secretaries, Register of Transfers, Register of Allotments, minutes of board and general meetings, and indemnities of directors.

Communicating with the Shareholders

The secretary of the company poses like a connector between the company and its shareholders. This implies that the critical announcements made must be communicated officially. The company secretary would even have to notify about board meetings and shareholder meetings if and when conducted.

Filing Annual Returns

The secretary of a company would take over the responsibility of filing returns from the director of the company. This implies that the secretary completes and submits the annual returns of the company in a timely manner.

Conveying Amendments to Companies House

The company secretary has to convey Companies House of potential modifications from time to time. These modifications may include any changes made in – the director’s name, the share capital or the shareholders, the important appointments, and the registered address of the office. The secretary also has to make sure that these modifications are conveyed to the shareholders, customers, and staff of the company.

Compliance

One of the most important company secretarial activities is compliance. The secretary of a company has a clear idea of the legal guidelines governing the company’s internal management. Hence, it is the responsibility of a secretary to make sure that the business works in compliance with the legal rules and regulations at all times.

The Takeaway

From the above discussion, it is quite clear that no matter how big or small your company is, hiring company secretarial services from a well-established and reputed corporate secretarial firm is necessary for your company’s growth and well-being. There are many important secretarial tasks that can only be handled by a qualified professional company secretary. Moreover, hiring a company secretary can help the owners or directors of the company to save an ample amount of time and invest the same in more productive and important business activities.

When hiring secretarial services for your business, make sure you make a wise decision. That being said, your prospective company secretarial agency is reliable and credible and houses well-trained and experienced company secretaries. Make sure that the agency is certified and licensed. In addition, you also need to make sure that the agency can deliver the services in a time-efficient manner. Keeping in mind these things will help you in choosing the right secretarial agency and availing the best secretarial services.

Michael Brown is an experienced law marketing specialist working with Ahlawat & Associates (expert mergers and acquisition lawyers).