Startup funding: what to put in a quote schedule

This startup funding guide sets out the cost items a founder in England has to budget for, from preparation and filings to legal and tax work, platform charges, management time, grant contribution, debt service, dilution and post-funding reporting. Where an official fee or a lender's published terms exist, it gives them; where they do not, it shows the quote schedule to use instead. Costs vary by route and transaction, so use a dated public fee or a signed quote instead of an unsupported average.

What to take away

Dated public fees

The official Companies House fee table, updated on 2 July 2026, lists £100 for online company incorporation and £50 for an online confirmation statement within the relevant payment period. It also lists separate fees for services such as registering a charge, certified copies and same-day work.

These are company-administration examples, not the full cost of raising money. Check which filings the actual transaction needs, and confirm the fee on the table before you pay.

Debt pricing

Compare interest, fees, repayment schedule, security, guarantee and default terms. Government guidance for the Start Up Loan, the scheme delivered through the British Business Bank, states that eligible applicants can borrow from £500 to £25,000, pay a fixed annual interest rate of 7.5 per cent and face no application or early-repayment fee. It also states that the product is an unsecured personal loan and requires a credit check.

Those terms describe that product on the fact-check date. They are not a benchmark for every business loan. Calculate total scheduled payments and test them against a slower-revenue case.

Equity transaction costs

Build a quote schedule for company legal work, investor counsel where the company pays it, accounting, tax, valuation, due diligence, platform or introducer charges and filing. Separate fixed, hourly, subscription, success and tail fees. Add the tax and company-secretarial items that sit around a UK equity round: HMRC advance assurance for the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) or the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), a valuation for an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) share-option grant, and the return of allotment at Companies House on form SH01. Confirm whether each fee is quoted net or gross of VAT, whether the company can recover that VAT, and how VAT is applied to a platform or introducer charge.

Model dilution as an economic effect rather than a cash invoice. Use the fully diluted cap table before and after the round, including option-pool changes and convertible instruments. Rights and governance also matter, even though they do not fit a single percentage cost.

Grant application and delivery cost

List staff time, specialist review, partner coordination, unsupported activity, match contribution, procurement, evidence and reporting. Ask which costs the scheme treats as eligible, what share of them the company must fund itself, and when reimbursement arrives. Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, publishes applicant guidance that links process and competition material, but the individual opportunity and its grant agreement control eligible cost and the match contribution.

Do not value an award at its headline amount while ignoring the company's contribution or cash gap. Keep ordinary operating costs separate where the grant does not cover them.

Management time and delay

Record founder, finance, technical and board hours by task. Add the value of delayed sales or product work only with a stated method; do not pretend opportunity cost is an invoice.

Create base, delayed, partial and failed funding cases. Some preparation remains useful after failure, while transaction-specific work may not. Mark non-refundable commitments and the last date at which the company can stop safely.

Build a source-led cost table

For each item, record the payer, supplier, unit, quantity, net amount, VAT, gross amount, payment date, refund position and evidence date. Separate a published fee from an estimate and an estimate from a signed quote. Show a range only when the supporting quotes or terms justify both ends.

Check whether a success fee applies to gross or net funding and whether it reaches later tranches or investors first introduced during a tail period. For debt, distinguish a fee withheld from the advance from a later cash payment. For equity, keep ownership effects beside cash costs so readers do not add unlike units.

At completion, compare budget with invoices, time and net proceeds. Explain the largest variances and archive the source. This gives the next funding decision evidence without turning one company's cost into a market average.

Before you act

Common questions

What costs should be included in startup funding beyond interest or adviser invoices?

Include preparation, filings, legal and tax work, platform charges, management time, grant contribution, debt service, dilution and post-funding reporting. Costs vary by route and transaction, so use dated terms and quotes instead of an unsupported average.

What are the terms of the Start Up Loan according to government guidance?

The Start Up Loan is delivered through the British Business Bank. Eligible applicants can borrow from £500 to £25,000, pay a fixed annual interest rate of 7.5 per cent and face no application or early-repayment fee. It is an unsecured personal loan and requires a credit check. These terms describe that product on the fact-check date.

How should dilution be modelled in an equity funding round?

Model dilution as an economic effect rather than a cash invoice. Use the fully diluted cap table before and after the round, including option-pool changes and convertible instruments. Rights and governance also matter, even though they do not fit a single percentage cost.