{"id":90448,"date":"2018-03-27T15:34:52","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T15:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=f5985ee4df62eff5c01eeba2348d0a37"},"modified":"2018-03-27T15:34:52","modified_gmt":"2018-03-27T15:34:52","slug":"news-story-community-interest-companies-cic-needed-to-test-online-filing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=90448","title":{"rendered":"News story: Community interest companies (CIC) needed to test online filing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

We\u2019re developing an online filing service for community interest companies (CICs), so you can file your annual report and accounts online.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a CIC<\/abbr>, or agent who files on their behalf, you can help us by answering a quick survey<\/a> about online filing.<\/p>\n

We also need your help to take part in user-testing at our Cardiff office. User-testing during development will help us make our new service fit for your needs.<\/p>\n

\n

Email us if you\u2019re interested<\/a> in helping with user testing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The testing will only take around an hour, and we\u2019d be grateful for your help.<\/p>\n

\u00a0What CICs are for<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re thinking of starting a business, but want to provide a benefit to the local community, then a CIC<\/abbr> might be for you.<\/p>\n

A CIC<\/abbr> is a company for people wishing to set-up a business as a \u2018social enterprise\u2019. This means the business will trade with a social purpose, or carry out other activities for the benefit of the community.<\/p>\n

Many social enterprises and community organisations are already incorporated as companies. They\u2019re usually limited by guarantee, without shares. Others, such as co-operatives, are registered societies. Many are less formal, with assets held on their behalf by trustees.<\/p>\n

A CIC<\/abbr> is suitable if you want the freedom of a limited company, without either the private profit motive or charity status. They\u2019re more flexible than some other legal forms, and there\u2019s a variety of capital options to meet your needs. CICs aren\u2019t strictly \u2018not for profit\u2019, but returns to investors must be balanced and reasonable, to make sure community benefit is always its purpose.<\/p>\n

How to form or incorporate a CIC<\/abbr>
\n<\/h2>\n

The basic legal structure for CICs is the limited liability company. They can either be incorporated as a new company or converted from an existing company.<\/p>\n

Creating a CIC<\/abbr> has significant legal implications, such as the \u2018asset lock\u2019. This means the assets of the CIC<\/abbr> (including any profits or other surpluses it makes) are used for the benefit of the community. This is a permanent step, which cannot be reversed.<\/p>\n

To register as a CIC<\/abbr>, a company must adopt articles that comply with The \u2018CAICE\u2019 Act<\/a> and CIC<\/abbr> Regulations 2005<\/a>. Existing companies must make changes to their articles and a change of name. A CIC<\/abbr>\u2019s name must end in either, \u2018CIC<\/abbr>\u2019 or \u2018community interest company\u2019, and not \u2018limited\u2019 or \u2018ltd\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The CIC<\/abbr> Regulator<\/h2>\n

Another feature of a CIC<\/abbr> is that they report to the Office of the CIC<\/abbr> Regulator<\/a>. The regulator\u2019s job is to make sure the CIC<\/abbr> is genuinely a social enterprise, and isn\u2019t abusing the trust the public expects to put in a CIC<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

By making the CIC<\/abbr> report to the regulator, the directors can clearly show that the company is a genuine social enterprise venture, and not for private profit.<\/p>\n

If you need further help, the regulator has produced a list of do\u2019s and don\u2019ts<\/a> when completing an application to incorporate a CIC<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

Deciding to form a CIC<\/abbr> is a major step and professional legal advice is recommended.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re inviting CICs and their agents to help user-test the new service we’re developing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90448\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}