A Scottish charitable company limited by guarantee is incorporated at Companies House and has company-law responsibilities as well as the charity-law responsibilities that apply to it. Charity registration with OSCR is a separate process. A Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) is a different legal form registered with OSCR rather than Companies House.

CharityReg Scotland is the company-formation route, not a SCIO formation service. Tell Coddan what the organisation will do and whether its legal form has been decided. Your personal manager can help clarify the appropriate service before you place a company-formation order.

Company formation and Scottish charity-registration assistance cover different stages. Companies House incorporation creates the company; OSCR separately assesses the application for entry in the Scottish Charity Register. CharityReg Scotland combines company-document preparation, review and agreed incorporation submission with the agreed Scottish charity-registration preparation and OSCR submission assistance.

Provide accurate company and organisation information and identify who may approve the documents and submission. Coddan clarifies questions, prepares and reviews the agreed company application, obtains approval and handles the agreed Companies House submission. We also prepare the agreed Scottish application information and supporting documents and assist with the applicable OSCR submission. Each authority decides its own application.

Charitable purposes describe what the organisation exists to achieve. Public benefit concerns the benefit it provides to the public in carrying out those purposes. Under the Scottish charity test, an organisation must have only charitable purposes and provide public benefit; its governing document must also meet the applicable restrictions. Operating on a non-profit basis or incorporating a company is not enough on its own.

Explain the intended activities, who will benefit and how the organisation will operate. Coddan helps prepare the agreed Scottish application information and supporting material from your facts and decisions. OSCR applies the charity test and decides charity registration; the package does not purchase a favourable decision.

A registered office is the company's official address for receiving communications and notices. A company incorporated in Scotland must have an appropriate registered office in Scotland, and the address appears on the public company register. It is distinct from an individual director's service address and does not itself establish charity registration.

Provide a suitable Scottish registered office or ask Coddan about a separately arranged address service before incorporation. CharityReg Scotland does not automatically include a registered office, individual service address, forwarding or continuing support subscription. Your personal manager can clarify the address service, scope and charges needed for the proposed company.

A governing document sets out an organisation's purposes, structure and operating rules. For a charitable company, its articles of association are its governing document. They address matters such as charitable purposes, membership, decisions and the use of assets. A SCIO uses a different form of governing document, a SCIO constitution.

Give Coddan any existing constitution, draft articles or adviser-prepared documents, and explain the arrangements the founders want to approve. Coddan can identify the document preparation needed within the accepted Scottish company-formation and charity-registration instruction. Further drafting or changes outside that instruction require separate agreement.

Charity trustees are the people responsible for the charity's overall control and management. In a charitable company, its directors also act as charity trustees and have company-law duties. Guarantor-members hold membership rights under the articles and company law and undertake the stated guarantee. One person may hold both capacities, but membership alone does not make that person a director or trustee.

Tell Coddan the proposed roles, governing arrangements and who may approve the work. An organiser may coordinate information without authority to decide for every founder, and payment alone does not confer that authority. Director and charity-trustee eligibility must be considered for the actual appointments; PSC status depends on the control arrangements and is separate.

After successful incorporation, the included digital PDFs comprise the certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles of association. The certificate confirms the company's legal existence and incorporation details; the memorandum records the subscribers' agreement to form it; the articles set its governing rules. These company documents do not establish OSCR charity registration or HMRC charity recognition.

Keep the digital set for the company's records and tell your personal manager about any particular document request. Membership certificates, minutes, prepared registers, printed or authenticated sets, notarisation and apostille are not automatically included. Coddan can identify the relevant purpose, format, available work and separate charges.

AML customer checks are Coddan's customer due diligence for its anti-money-laundering obligations. Companies House identity verification is a separate process for individuals in relevant company roles, such as directors and PSCs. Being a guarantor-member or charity trustee alone does not make every person subject to that company-role verification. The required checks depend on the actual roles and status.

Accepted existing Companies House verification and the free official route remain available; they do not replace Coddan's AML checks. If Coddan carries out Companies House verification, we review the evidence and submit the ACSP confirmation when satisfied; Companies House issues the individual's Personal Code. Verification and the code's use for a company role are separate steps. Follow the secure process for identity evidence and confidential codes.