How to Liquidate a Company

Friel Stafford > How to Liquidate a Company

We understand that liquidations are very stressful for people. We can help remove some of the stress by explaining how to Liquidate a Company. We can expertly deal with all issues, including employee claims. We can advise on all the necessary steps to place a Company into a liquidation. We can also act as liquidators. We have extensive experience of all types of liquidations (from companies limited by guarantee to Public Limited Companies) and also experience of all types of industry ranging from construction, hospitality, to services and manufacturing.

We provide a free consultation to directors seeking advice on their options for dealing with insolvent companies.

There are 3 stages to placing a company into Liquidation:

  1. Pre-liquidation planning.
  2. The Creditors meeting.
  3. Post Liquidation activities.

If  the Revenue Sherriff or another Sheriff is threatening to seize assets then the proposed liquidator should contact the Sheriff. For further guidance on how to deal with the sheriff please click on the following link: Dealing with the Sheriff.

The first step is to agree on the appointment of a Liquidator. We can provide a fee quotation for any liquidation, and provide full advice on how to liquidate a company.

We can prepare the documents for the formal meetings of the directors, shareholders and the Creditors.

A meeting of the shareholders needs to be held to put the Company into liquidation and to appoint the Liquidator.  The shareholders meeting is normally held just before the Creditors meeting. 51% of the shareholders  must vote in favour of the resolution placing the company  into liquidation.

Notices of the meeting of creditors must be sent to the creditors at least 10 days before the date of the meeting.

Notice of the creditors meeting must also be advertised in two daily newspapers circulating in the area of the registered office or principal place of business of the Company. The advertisement must be placed at least 10 days before the date of the meeting.

The Directors should ensure they control the Registered Office of the Company (i.e. have access to the post) as the proxy forms may be sent back by Creditors to that address.  If the Directors do not control the Registered Office, it should be changed to an address the Directors control.

Between the date of the decision to liquidate and the appointment of the Liquidator, the Directors should undertake the following steps.

The Company must decide if it will continue trading up until the liquidation date, or cease trading immediately.  In certain cases, the Company may decide to finish certain contracts in order to maximise realisations.

The position of the employees needs to be carefully considered. If there is  a Trade Union involved then it should be consulted. With the Covid Emergency we are now assisting Companies to hold Zoom calls to advise employees on their employee entitlements. For further information on employee entitlements  please click on the following link: employee entitlements.

The employees redundancy entitlements may be calculated using the online redundancy calculator at the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

The Company may be faced with Creditors calling to enforce Retention of Title (ROT) clauses over stocks. As ROT can be a complex legal matter, the Directors should take legal advice before agreeing to any ROT claims or alternatively leave it to the Liquidator. For further information on Retention of Title please click on the following link: Retention of Title

Perishable stocks should probably be returned to suppliers. If suppliers are not prepared to accept the stock back then it should be safely disposed of. Perishable food stocks that cannot be quickly sold may be donated to the charity Food for Ireland for distribution to people in need. Click here for their website: Foodcloud .

No monies should be paid from the Company’s bank accounts other than payments required to safeguard the Company’s assets.

VAT and PAYE returns should be brought up to date.

The Director’s should prepare a statement which gives an outline of the history of the company and reasons for its failure. This should be as detailed as possible.

The Statement of Affairs should show the Preferential creditors. For further information on Preferential Creditors please click on the following link: Preferential Creditors.

The Statement of Affairs will show the book values of the company’s assets with the Directors’ estimated realisable values in a liquidation. It is important to include all creditors such as the Revenue Commissioners and utility suppliers.

By following our guidance on how to liquidate a Company , the Directors will go a long way to organising an orderly Liquidation which will help them to meet their legal obligations and remove some of the stress involved.

We are experts at advising directors on to how to liquidate a Company. We have had practical experience of liquidating over 1,000 companies and there is not an issue that we do not have a solution for.

For further information as to how to prepare for  creditors meeting, and to review what questions are likely to be asked at the creditors meeting please click on the following link: creditors meeting.

Given Covid, all creditors meetings are presently being held virtually. For further information on virtual meetings please click on the following link: virtually.

For further information on liquidations please click on the following link: Liquidations

For information on Turnaround, Schemes of Arrangement, Receivership, Examinership or Members Voluntary Liquidation please click on the following links:

Turnaround

Schemes of Arrangement

Receivership

Examinership 

Members Voluntary Liquidation

Why do accountancy firms/Solicitors refer their clients to us for liquidations and other services?

We have become one of the leading insolvency practices in Ireland by being trusted by accountancy firms/solicitors with their clients. We set out below the factors behind our success.

Experience

We have been appointed as Liquidators/Receivers and Examiners to over 1,000 companies across a range of industries. Our experience means that we know what pitfalls to avoid, and enables us to organise all liquidations professionally.

Professionalism

We are acknowledged experts in our field. We regularly present training courses on insolvency for CAI, ACCA  and CPA.

Expertise

We are experts on advising on how to liquidate a company. We are trusted by creditors to maximise realisations from property and asset sales, and to maximise recovery of debtors. We are particularly strong on debt collection. Indeed, over the years we have provided Debt Collection courses to over 3,000 credit managers. (See our affiliated web site www.creditmanagement.ie)

Access

Unlike larger firms, accountants/solicitors and their clients will be dealing directly with an experienced Practitioner, before and after any appointment, and not with some delegated junior staff member.

Relationships

As General Practitioners, we understand that accountancy firms/solicitors may have lost a valuable client if it goes into liquidation.  We understand the subtlety of the relationship that exists between accountancy firms/solicitors and their clients.

Publicity/Confidentiality

We do not seek out press coverage for our work before or after any appointment. We recognise that the liquidation of a company can be a traumatic event for its directors.

Teams

Because we have conducted so many cases our teams are very experienced.

Clarity

We conduct our work in a transparent way so that accountancy firms/solicitors and their clients will know the principles that we work under from the start.

Fees

If required a fixed fee arrangement can be discussed and  agreed in advance.

We do not poach clients

We provide a guarantee that we will not offer audit or tax services to any client that is referred  to us.

If you need advice on how to Liquidate a Company or need a free fee quotation, please contact Jim Stafford, Tom Murray or Andrew Hendrick on 01 661 4066 or

jim.stafford@frielstafford.ie

tom.murray@frielstafford.ie 

andrew.hendrick@frielstafford.ie