Capium Support - Click here for help

The My Office menu is where you set up your practice in the Company Secretarial (CoSec) module and keep track of everything that needs your attention. This article walks you through each area of My Office in the order it appears on the menu.

By following this article, you will be able to:

• Use the Action Station to monitor deadlines, pending items and Companies House notices
• Add and track your own jobs in Workflow
• Set up your practice details, presenter ID, ACSP unique identifier and templates
• Add, manage and set permissions for staff members
• Create a QR code for your registered office list
• Find user guides and contact the support team

Before you begin

• Check your access level. Several settings can only be changed by an administrator (a level 6 user). If you are not an administrator, a message at the top of the Settings section tells you so, and you will need to ask your administrator to make the changes.
• Have your filing credentials ready. Your administrator will need your Companies House presenter ID and presenter authentication code, and your ACSP unique identifier (UID) if your practice is registered as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider.
• Have your logo to hand if you want to brand your letterheads, emails and client checklists.
• To add a new staff member, they must first be added as a person in the Person area. This is covered in the People management article.

Part 1: Using the Action Station

The Action Station is the screen you land on when you log in, and the first item on the My Office menu. It gives you a snapshot of today, looking back at anything missed and forward to what is coming up. It updates daily.

Read and hide system messages

Navigation: My Office > Action Station

1. When you log in, check the top centre of the screen for a message. These messages highlight new features and key updates, so read them before continuing.
2. To hide a message once you have read it, select Action Station from the My Office menu.

Change the date range

Navigation: My Office > Action Station > Show More / Show Less

Click Show More to extend the number of days shown, or Show Less to reduce it.

Understand the Action Station sections

Navigation: My Office > Action Station

Strike-off notices from the London Gazette always appear at the top. Below them are confirmation statements, pending items, other events (actions not yet filed), account deadlines and PSC personal code notification dates.

When reading the Action Station:

• Items shown in red are overdue or failed.
• A red notice appears when a director has no unique identification number entered on the system (an Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) requirement).
• Any text shown in blue is a hyperlink. Click it to go straight to that company.

Note: The CoSec module does not process accounts. It only displays Companies House accounts deadlines. Late filing penalties can be up to £1,500, so keep an eye on this section.

Confirmation statement and accounts deadlines are synced with Companies House, so you can rely on the dates shown. When your account is first set up, your company details are uploaded from Companies House using each company's last confirmation statement (CS01). After that, only dates are synced. Other company details are not updated automatically.

Filter the Action Station

Navigation: My Office > Action Station > filter bar (top of the screen)

Use the grey filter bar at the top of the screen to view specific data. You can filter by:

• Deadlines assigned to a particular staff member
• Reports for a particular partner
• Practice references

You can also search all searchable fields. For example, searching for Manchester shows only the companies linked to Manchester.

Important: The filter bar is a sticky filter. Once you apply a filter, it stays in place on every page you move to in the system. If you think you are not seeing everything you should, open the filter bar and click Show All to clear the filter.

To close the filter bar when it is in the way, click Hide.

Part 2: Tracking jobs in Workflow and Pending Events

While the Action Station checks the software and Companies House for anything missed or coming up, Workflow is where you add your own jobs. Logging tasks centrally means your practice does not rely on individuals' personal notes or diaries, so nothing gets missed.

Add a job

Navigation: My Office > Workflow > Add a job

1. From the My Office menu, select Workflow.
2. Click Add a job at the top of the page.
3. Select the company.
4. Choose the type of job from the list of options (for example, appointing a director), then click Next.
5. Select the stage the job is currently at (for example, waiting on the client for information).
6. Add any notes, for example, what information you are waiting for.
7. Set the deadlines:
   • Stage deadline: when the current stage should be complete.
   • Final deadline: when the whole job must be complete.
8. If you wish, allocate the job to a member of staff.
9. Click Add job to save it.

The system then tracks the number of days left until both the stage deadline and the final deadline.

Tip: The Workflow page uses a layout you will see throughout CoSec. Add new items using the button at the top, click Edit on the left-hand side of the table to change an existing item, and use the Print and Export options at the top.

Manage pending events

Navigation: My Office > Pending events

You can save details as pending when you want to get information into the system early without it appearing on the registers yet. For example, you might enter a new director's details before they are appointed, or draft a dividend distribution ready to go as soon as the client gives the go-ahead.

1. From the My Office menu, select Pending events.
2. Click Edit next to the item you want to work on.
3. Make any changes needed.
4. When the client is ready, finalise the item.

Note: The Email and Automation settings options on the My Office menu are covered in the CS01 article.

Part 3: Setting up your practice in Settings

The Settings area is where your practice details, filing credentials, security options and templates are set up. Most of these are entered by your administrator during initial setup and then updated when needed.

Enter your practice details

Navigation: My Office > Settings > Details and options

1. From the My Office menu, select Settings, then Details and options.
2. Enter your practice's email address, address and phone number.
3. Set a registered email address. Once added, it appears in a drop-down list during tasks such as CS01 filings, so you can select it instead of typing it each time.

Important: These details are for your own practice, which files on behalf of your client companies. Do not enter a client company's details here.

Enter your presenter ID and authentication code

Navigation: My Office > Settings > Details and options, or My Office > Settings > eFiling Presenter ID

Your administrator must enter your Companies House presenter ID and presenter authentication code in Details and options. These:

• Tell Companies House that your practice is filing through the software
• Make sure all Companies House filing fees stay within your account

Important: You cannot file anything until your presenter ID and authentication code have been entered.

The eFiling Presenter ID option on the Settings menu is a quick link back to this section.

Enter your ACSP unique identifier

Navigation: My Office > Settings > Details and options > ACSP unique identifier

Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA), any accounting or legal practice filing on behalf of clients must be registered as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). Once registered, you will receive a unique identifier (UID). Enter it in the ACSP unique identifier field in Details and options.

Set up two-factor authentication options

Navigation: My Office > Settings > Details and options

Two-factor authentication is mandatory when signing in. By default, users sign in with a password and a memorable phrase. As an alternative, users can receive a passcode by email.

1. A level 6 user (administrator) enables the email passcode option in Details and options.
2. Each user can then choose to use either a memorable word or an email passcode in their own settings.

Warning: We recommend using a memorable word or phrase where possible. The email passcode option is less secure, because anyone who gains access to your email inbox could bypass two-factor authentication.

Set your deadline notice periods

Navigation: My Office > Settings > Details and options > deadline notice periods (bottom of the page)

At the bottom of Details and options, you can set how many days in advance you are notified of each deadline. The default is 60 days.

One of these settings relates to ECCTA. It sets how many days in advance you are notified that a unique identification code needs to be entered. The notification then appears on the Action Station at the relevant time.

Note: Reports only show deadlines up to your notice period. For example, if your notice period is 30 days, the associated report only shows 30 days ahead. To produce a report for a full year:

1. Change the notice period to 365 and save.
2. Run the report.
3. Return to Details and options and change the notice period back to your usual setting.

Update addresses in bulk when your practice moves

Navigation: My Office > Settings > Details and options > Moving practice address

If your practice changes address, the Moving practice address tool updates all affected companies in one go.

1. In Details and options, click Moving practice address.
2. Enter the date of change at the top.
3. Enter your old address and your new address.
4. The software finds every company using the old address as its registered office, updates it to the new address and creates an AD01 (change of registered office address) form for each one.
5. File all the AD01 forms together.

Important: Address matching is sensitive to formatting, such as spacing, postcodes and how the first line of the address is written. You may need to run the process more than once, using different versions of the old address, to capture every company.

Customise your templates

Navigation: My Office > Settings > Templates

Templates control your branding and the wording on documents the system produces.

Upload your logo

There are three logo options, for letterheads, emails and client checklists. Adding your logo reinforces your brand and reassures clients that communications genuinely come from your practice.

1. From the Settings menu, select Templates.
2. Click Edit next to the logo option.
3. Click Add and upload your logo.

Edit document wording

You can customise the text on documents to match your firm's tone and terminology, or to add your own instructions. For example, to edit the client checklist:

1. Click Edit next to Client checklist.
2. At the bottom, click Edit wording.
3. Make your changes and save.

Warning: Do not delete or change the placeholders. These appear in capitals and insert information automatically, so deleting one removes that content from the document. Click the light bulb icon at the top to see a list of placeholders.

Warning: Avoid special characters such as £, & and @. They can interfere with filings and may cause Companies House to reject them. Use words instead, for example "GBP" or "pounds".

Share certificates and dividend vouchers

You cannot upload your own branded share certificate or dividend voucher files. If you want to use your own format, you will need to set the position of each item manually. Have a printout of your own version and a ruler to hand, as the system asks for measurements such as how many millimetres from the left the date appears. If you are happy with the standard templates, you do not need to change anything here.

View your account

Navigation: My Office > Settings > My account

The My account section shows your current pricing band and the percentage of your allowance you have used. To move up or down a band, contact your account manager.

Part 4: Managing staff

You can add as many users as you need at no extra cost. Every action a user takes in the software is date-stamped against their name.

Add a new staff member

Navigation: My Office > Staff > Select staff from people list

1. Add the person to the people list in the Person area. You only need their name and email address at this stage.
2. Go to the staff list and click Select staff from people list.
3. Click the person's name to assign them as a staff member.
4. Follow the wizard to set their username, password and access level.

Once a staff member is set up, you can edit their details in the staff details area. Staff can also edit some of their own settings (see below).

Choose the right access level

Navigation: My Office > Staff > select the staff member

Administrators can change a user's access level.

Tip: We recommend giving level 6 access to only one or two people in your firm.

Tip: Rather than deleting a company, archive it. You are not charged for archived companies.

When a staff member leaves

Navigation: My Office > Staff > select the staff member

Important: Do not delete a staff member who has left. Deleting them removes the record of all the activity they carried out in the system, which you are likely to need later.

Instead:

1. Open the staff member's details.
2. Change their password so they can no longer log in.
3. Add a prefix or suffix to their surname, such as "X" or "Left", so it is clear they have left.

Warning: The Deselect staff option permanently deletes the staff member. Use the steps above instead.

Edit your own user settings

Navigation: My Office > Staff > select your own name

Each user can update their own settings, including:

• Login credentials: update your own login details.
• Two-factor authentication: choose between a memorable phrase and an email passcode, if your administrator has enabled this option.

Set up email reminders

1. Choose who you want reminders for:
   • No emails (the default)
   • Companies allocated to you, or to a partner you work with
   • All companies on the system
   • Companies matching a practice reference, company reference, staff reference or account number (for example, Manchester)
2. Choose which events you want reminders for, such as confirmation statement filing dates and accounts filing dates.
3. Choose your eFiling email preference: no emails, rejected submissions only, or all responses. You can also see eFiling results in the software on the eFiling pages.

Note: Companies House offers reminder emails, but sends one email per company per event. CoSec reminders combine everything you need to do into one email.

Unblock a user who is locked out

Navigation: My Office > Staff > Unblock failed sign in

If a user is locked out after too many failed sign-in attempts, an administrator can unblock them using Unblock failed sign in. You do not need to contact the support team.

Allocate staff to companies

Navigation: My Office > Staff > Staff company allocation

Each company can be allocated a partner, a manager and a staff member, or any combination of these. These allocations are usually uploaded from a spreadsheet when your account is set up.

To allocate staff manually:

1. Select Staff company allocation.
2. Click Edit on the left-hand side next to the company.
3. Allocate the partner, manager and/or staff member.

Tip: If you need to allocate staff to a large number of companies, such as hundreds, contact the support team. They will help you re-upload the allocation spreadsheet instead of assigning companies one by one.

View the staff activity report

Navigation: My Office > Staff > Staff activity report

The Staff activity report shows everything each staff member has done in the software, with dates. For example, you can use it to find out who carried out a particular share allotment. Activity is recorded by staff member, not by event.

Part 5: Registered office list and Help

Create a QR code for your registered office list

Navigation: My Office > Registered office list

You must keep a list of all companies registered at your office, easily accessible at your office. CoSec gives you two options:

• Printed list: you will need to reprint it regularly to keep it up to date.
• QR code: anyone can scan it with a phone or tablet to view the list, which is always up to date.

To create a QR code:

1. From the My Office menu, select Registered office list.
2. Tick the box next to Compliance.
3. Click Make QR code.
4. Open the QR code, then print it.
5. Laminate the printout and display it in your office.

Additional Support 

If you get stuck or have a question about using the CoSec module, contact our support team by email at support@thecosechouse.co.uk.

You can also find user guides and training videos by selecting Help from the My Office menu, or by clicking the question mark icon at the top of any page.

Up Next :

Company Secretarial: Managing company deadlines, formations and ID checks

Related Articles 

Company Secretarial: Managing company deadlines, formations and ID checks

Company Secretarial: CS01 submission and client checklist

Company Secretarial: Company record, details and officers

Company Secretarial: Shares, PSC register and dividends

Company Secretarial: Managing Person Records in the System

Company Secretarial: Filing centre, minutes and registers

Company Secretarial: Advanced Functionality