For professional firms

Last updated 4 October 2026 · Official fees checked on GOV.UK 4 October 2026

Who this is for

Accountants, solicitors, company secretaries and formation agents are often the first people a client asks when a foreign bank, registry or counterparty wants a “Certificate of Good Standing”. The work is simple but fiddly: confirm the right entity, check the filings, pick the right certified facts, order, chase, scan and post. UKCOGS takes that errand off your list while the client stays yours.

• Buy-now Companies House documents with a clear official-fee breakdown
• A prompt to check the register before every order, so the summary statement is not refused
• A scan of each document when it arrives, so your client can share it while the original travels
• Quote-only apostille and embassy legalisation when the destination needs it
• Email order references in the format UKC-YEAR-0000 for your files

Prices for firms (ex VAT)

Document	UKCOGS price	Official fee included
Certificate of Good Standing, standard	£79	£22 Companies House
Certificate of Good Standing, express	£129	£65 Companies House
Certified Certificate of Incorporation	£49	£22 Companies House
Certified articles of association	£49	£22 Companies House
Company documents pack	£249–£299	Standard three-document CH fees £66
Filings check	£15	None
Apostille, embassy legalisation, translation	Quote only	FCDO £45 paper / £35 e-Apostille

Official fees from GOV.UK Companies House guidance and GOV.UK legalisation, checked 4 October 2026. Compare direct and agent totals with the free cost estimator.

How an order works for a firm

1. Send the intake details: company name and number, the recipient’s checklist (or a copy of the email), the deadline and whether an apostille is needed.
2. Check the register. Run the free filings checker (or order our £15 filings check). If accounts or the confirmation statement are overdue, file first, because Companies House will not issue the summary statement until filings are up to date.
3. We order from Companies House with the certified facts the recipient wants: summary statement, directors, secretaries, registered office or objects.
4. We scan and send. Standard orders aim to dispatch from Companies House within 10 working days; express orders before 11am go the same day. We usually scan and send within 1 to 3 working days of receipt.
5. Legalisation, if needed, is quoted separately so you know the full cost before anything is spent.

A simple client intake checklist

• Exact registered name and company number (including any SC or NI prefix)
• What the recipient calls the document, word for word
• Which certified facts it wants on the certificate
• How recent the document must be, and from which date it counts
• Paper apostille, e-Apostille, embassy legalisation or none
• Translation requirements and who must do them
• Delivery address and the date the recipient needs the pack

If the client cannot say which document they need, Which document do I need? and the pack builder walk through the options.

Worked example

A practice manager at a 12-partner accountancy firm gets a Friday email: a client’s Portuguese bank needs a Certificate of Good Standing with directors, issued within 90 days, with apostille. She runs the free filings checker, which shows the confirmation statement is due in three weeks but not overdue, so she orders a standard COGS through UKCOGS (£79 ex VAT, including the £22 Companies House fee) and sends us the bank’s email for a quote on the paper apostille (£45 FCDO fee plus courier and handling). The scan goes to the practice as soon as the certificate arrives, and the apostilled original follows. The firm re-invoices the client with the official fees shown separately.

Common mistakes we help firms avoid

• Ordering before an overdue filing is fixed, so the summary statement is refused and the fee is wasted.
• Sending a free register download where a certified document is needed. The FCDO cannot apostille a download.
• Leaving out directors or the registered office when the bank’s checklist asked for them.
• Ordering too early, so the certificate falls outside a 30, 60 or 90-day window. Check with the document freshness helper.
• Quoting an out-of-date e-Apostille fee. The current GOV.UK fee is £35 per document.

What we do not do

We do not file accounts or confirmation statements, give legal, tax, visa, immigration or bank-account advice, or certify documents ourselves. We do not claim to be Companies House, the FCDO or an FCDO partner. Our role is to obtain official documents and coordinate the legalisation stages your client’s recipient asks for.

Read more for practices: white-label Certificates of Good Standing for accountants and advice for formation agents.