Before you and your team start using the company secretarial software there are a few steps
that, when completed, will enable you to get the most out of the system.
Adding any Remaining Companies
To add any companies that did not upload in the initial batch upload, firstly open the Upload
Report (attached to the Upload Confirmation Email ) to identify which companies still need to be
uploaded. Next:
- Login into the software and go to: Company (located on the top menu bar) > Add a
Company > Download from Companies House
- Enter in the Company Number
- Enter their Filing/Authentication Code
- Select company type (optional)
- Click View
- Check all the information displayed is correct and click Download
Check All Companies Have The Authentication (E-Filing) Code
If a company’s authentication E-Filing code has not been provided the system will only be able
to show basic data. This includes:
- Company Name
- Registered Office
- Company Category
- Key Dates and Due Dates
- Confirmation Statement
- Sic Code
No information on shareholders or officers will be included.
To check which companies are missing their E-Filing code go to:
- Select All > Companies > Live Companies
- Here you will be presented with a table showing all of the live companies on your system
- If a company has a E-Filing Code it will be marked as “Yes” in the E-Code Column
(If the code is listed but there are no officers or shareholders attached to that company, this
indicates that the code is wrong or no longer valid.)
To enter in a missing E-Filing Code firstly select a company:
- Company > Select Company
- Select a company from the drop down menu bar and click Select
- Next go to Company on the main menu bar and click E-Filing Authority Code
The content of this document is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a
commitment by [The Cosec House]. [The Cosec House] assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors made whilst using this guide.
- Enter the E-Filing Code and Click Save
Once the E-Filing code is present, you can re-upload the company
- Company > Add a company > Download from Companies House
- Tick the Compare a company already on Company Secretarial at the top of the
screen
- Enter the Company Number and E-Filing Code
- Click View
- Check the information looks correct
- Click “Overwrite- not recommended”
The company will then be re-uploaded with all of the shareholder and officer information.
It is important to note that when you start working on a company on the system it is highly
recommended NOT re-upload a company as you can overwrite work that you have done and
create numerous errors to the information on that company.
Set up the Office Details
When you first log in to the system it is important to enter in your office’s details. To do this go to:
- My Office > Details
From here you will be able to fill in all of your office details, including:
Presenter ID and Presenter Authentication Codes.These codes enable you to do E-Filing
and are given to you by Companies House. These codes allow them to keep track of your
e-filing activity and bill you office accordingly. To find out more about E-Filing and how to apply
for the codes go to: Filing > Get started with E-filing.
Deadline Notice Periods. Here you can select how many days' notices you would like before
the system notifies you of any statutory filing that needs to be completed. For example if you
would like to be notified 30 days before account filings 30 days before this date applicable
companies will appear in your deadline report (located at the top of the Action Station table
simply click Deadlines)
After you have selected how many days before the deadline you would like to be notified you
can choose to automatically add the deadline to your workflow or not. Added it to your workflow
will allow the deadline to appear in your workflow table (which is almost like your cosec To Do
list). If these fields are blank the default is 60 days.
If you don't want certain deadlines to be reported at all for you or a particular staff member
simply untick the relevant boxes in staff member details. You can do this by going:
- My office > Staff > Staff details.
- Select the relevant staff member by clicking the green pencil next to their name.
- Scroll down to “Events to be Prompted For” and untick the relevant box/es
Adding Staff
To add a staff member the first thing you must do is add them as a person on the software. To do
this go to:
- Person > Add a Person
- Click Add
- From here you can enter their details. The minimum amount of details required are their
First and Last Name and their email address. Everything else can be filled in by the staff
member themselves at a later date.
- After you have entered their details click Save (if you have only entered their name and
email the software will notify you that there is missing information. Click Fix it Later
- Now that they have been added to the system they can be added as a staff member. Go
to
- My Office > Staff > Select Staff from People List
- Here you will be presented with a list of every person loaded on to the system. Scroll
down the list until you find the person you would like to allocate as a staff member and
click on their name.
- After you have clicked on their name the software will require you to add in their
username (and email if not provided when adding them as a person).
- Their username will enable them to (along with a password) login into the system, it must
be a unique username inorder to avoid clashing with another user. The username can
contain any spaces. We recommend you try firstname.surname
- Click Check
- If this username has already been taken try firstname.surname.company name (or
anything else that would make it unique e.g adding a number to the end)
- After you have successfully created a unique username you will be taken to a page to
enter in their staff details including:
- Password
- Role structure (Staff, Manager, Partner)
- Staff Reference - This can be their initials but it must be unique e.g you cant have two
AE but you can have an AE and an AE1 (staff reference helps allocate companies to this
individual by enabling the filter option ((located at the top of many of the systems
screens)
- Access Rights - How much access they have on the software e.g can they make
changes to information or just look at it but make no changes.
- After all of this is done click Add Staff
- We suggest level 5 for all the staff members that will be actively using the system with a
couple of level6 Admin users, who can change other users Login IDs or passwords
Resolving Duplicate People
The main reason duplicate people can arise is because of a legacy issue with Companies
House where they would require initials for some people and full names for other so in short
John R Smith and John Robert Smith will be seen as two different people.
It is important to resolve duplicate people as it can affect a multitude of things on the software
including PSCs and people dividends. To resolve this issue go to:
- Person > Resolve duplicate person
- You will then be presented with a table with every person from every company.
- If you begin to scroll you may notice that some people have been highlighted in Green or
Red
- If an individual is highlighted in Green it means that the software is positive that this is a
possible duplicate person.
- If someone is highlighted in Red, the software is positive that this is a duplicated person.
- If a person is highlighted Green you will notice that the software will tell you why it thinks
it’s a duplicate person underneath the name e.g “first and last name are the same”
- Select one of the duplicates as the Master (this is the version with the most information
e.g shareholdings, connected companies etc. )
- It is important to check if there are any details (middle names, email, residential address)
from the Secondary profile (the one that you have not selected as Master) that are not
in the Master profile, as these will have to be re-entered after you resolve the
duplication. It is important to remember the main purpose of resolving duplicate people is
not to combine their details but to combine the information e.g shares, the companies
they are connected to, their dividends and so on.)
- After the Master is selected next, select the Secondary profile from the list of people.
You will notice that the version that you selected as Master has the word Master next to
it.
- Click Resolve.
Check Share Classes are Correct
You must identify voting and non-voting share classes for PSCs and for any Group Share
Ownership charts you may produce. PSCs are usually determined by their shares or
guarantee/LLP membership and voting rights and this is automated in the system. To check
globally if voting/non-voting have been applied correctly go to:
Menu > Select All > Voting share classes
Here you will be presented with a table. Scroll down the table and check for any shares marked
with a “yes?” & “no”
When you read the prescribed particulars of the share you can then decide if the setting should
be changed to “voting” or “not Voting”
Only companies which have more than one share class are listed and if it needs to be adjusted
click on the share itself (located in the second column) and you will be taken directly to that
share class details where just above the description of the share you can tick or untick the box
for voting on non voting.When you are in a given company in a connection page you will also
see that marking under Share Classes.