Business setup glossary.

Setting up a business · Payments · Energy, water and waste · Telecoms and IT

Setting up a business

Companies House

The UK registrar of companies. Limited companies are registered here, and their details, directors and accounts are public.

Registered office

The official address of a limited company, shown on the public register. It must be an appropriate address where post can be received.

Virtual office

A service that gives you a business address and handles your post, without renting a desk there.

Sole trader

Someone running a business as an individual. Simple to set up, but there is no legal separation between you and the business.

Limited company

A business that is a separate legal entity from its owners, registered with Companies House.

Person with significant control (PSC)

Someone who owns or controls more than 25% of a company. PSCs must be listed with Companies House.

SIC code

A code that describes what your company does, chosen when you register it.

Confirmation statement

A yearly check that a company’s details at Companies House are correct.

UTR

Unique Taxpayer Reference: a 10-digit number HMRC gives you or your company for tax.

VAT registration threshold

The taxable turnover above which you must register for VAT, currently £90,000 a year. You can register voluntarily below it.

Making Tax Digital (MTD)

HMRC’s rules for keeping digital records and sending returns through compatible software. It applies to VAT and is being phased in for Income Tax.

PAYE and RTI

Pay As You Earn is how employers take tax and National Insurance from pay. Real Time Information means reporting it to HMRC each time you pay staff.

Auto-enrolment

The duty on employers to put eligible staff into a workplace pension and pay into it.

Employers’ liability insurance

Cover for claims from employees who are injured or made ill at work. Compulsory for most employers, with at least £5 million of cover.

Public liability insurance

Cover for claims from customers or members of the public who are injured or whose property is damaged because of your business.

Professional indemnity insurance

Cover for claims that your advice, design or service caused a client to lose money.

Payments

Merchant account

An arrangement with a card acquirer that lets your business accept card payments in its own name. Takings are paid out to your bank account.

Acquirer

The bank or company that processes card payments for a business and pays the money to it.

Payment facilitator

A provider that lets many small businesses take cards under its own merchant account. Often quicker to start, with different charges.

Card machine (PDQ)

The terminal you use to take card and contactless payments. Can be countertop, portable or mobile.

EPOS

Electronic point of sale: your till system, which records sales, stock and staff, and often links to your card machine and online orders.

Transaction charge

What a card provider charges on each payment, usually a percentage, a fixed amount, or both.

Settlement or payout

When your card takings reach your bank account. Some providers pay the next working day; faster payouts may cost more.

Chargeback

When a cardholder disputes a payment and the money is taken back from the business while the dispute is looked at.

PCI DSS

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard: the security rules for any business that takes card payments. Providers usually ask for a yearly questionnaire.

Payment link

A link you send by text, email or invoice so a customer can pay by card online.

Pay-at-table

Portable card machines that staff bring to the table, so diners can pay without going to the till.

Direct Debit

A way to collect regular payments from customers’ bank accounts with their permission.

Merchant cash advance

Funding repaid as a share of future card takings. It is not a loan and is not regulated by the FCA.

Energy, water and waste

MPAN

Meter Point Administration Number: the unique number for an electricity supply. The full number has 21 digits, usually shown in a box starting with “S” on your bill; the last 13 digits are the core MPAN.

MPRN

Meter Point Reference Number: the unique number for a gas supply, usually 6 to 10 digits, shown on your gas bill.

kWh

Kilowatt hour: the unit energy is sold in. Your bill multiplies the kWh you use by the unit rate.

Unit rate

The price per kWh. Some contracts have different day, night or weekend rates.

Standing charge

A fixed daily charge for being connected, whatever you use.

Capacity charge (kVA)

On larger sites, a charge for the maximum capacity agreed with the network, whether or not you use it.

Half-hourly meter

A meter that records use every half hour, common on larger sites. Bills reflect when you use energy, not just how much.

CCL

Climate Change Levy: a government tax on energy supplied to businesses, shown on your bill. Some uses and very small users are exempt.

Deemed rates

What a supplier charges when you use energy at a site without a contract, for example after moving in. Usually higher than contract rates.

Out-of-contract rates

What you pay when a fixed contract ends and no new one is agreed. Usually higher than contract rates.

Change of tenancy

Telling the supplier you have taken over a site, with the date and meter readings, so you only pay from when you moved in.

LOA (Letter of Authority)

A signed letter that lets a third party, such as BizUp360, ask your supplier for your usage and contract details. It does not commit you to a new contract.

Contract end date

When a fixed energy contract finishes. Many contracts have a notice window before it, and a new contract can often be agreed months ahead.

Microbusiness

In energy, a small business that gets extra protections from Ofgem’s rules, based on its staff, turnover or energy use.

Third-party intermediary (TPI)

A broker, consultant or other business that helps customers with energy contracts but isn’t the supplier.

Energy Ombudsman

A scheme that looks at unresolved complaints about energy companies and energy intermediaries. BizUp360 is a member (C35ITEA01).

Water retailer

The company that bills a business for water. In England and Scotland most businesses can choose their retailer.

Waste transfer note

A record of waste leaving your business and who took it. Keep them for at least two years.

Duty of care (waste)

Your legal duty to store waste safely and give it only to someone authorised to take it.

Simpler Recycling

Rules in England that require workplaces to separate recycling and food waste from general waste.

Telecoms and IT

PSTN switch-off

The UK’s move away from the old analogue phone network, due to finish by January 2027. Lines, alarms and some card machines need to move to digital.

Full fibre (FTTP)

Fibre to the premises: fibre-optic cable all the way to your building, for faster and more reliable broadband.

FTTC

Fibre to the cabinet: fibre to the street cabinet, then copper to your building. Slower than full fibre.

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol: phone calls over your internet connection instead of a copper line.

Number porting

Moving your existing phone number to a new provider.

Service level agreement (SLA)

A provider’s promise on how quickly it will fix faults, written into your contract.

Static IP address

A fixed internet address for your connection, sometimes needed for CCTV, remote access or some payment systems.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Signing in with a second check, such as a code on your phone, as well as a password.

Cyber Essentials

A government-backed certificate showing a business has basic cyber security protections in place.

Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace

Subscription services for business email on your own domain, calendars, documents and file sharing.

Related

Put these terms to work with the new-business setup checklist, or read how to read a business energy bill from ITEA Limited. Questions about your own bills or contracts? Ask us.

General information for UK businesses, not legal, tax or financial advice. Last reviewed 30 October 2026.