Startups made easy. Sorted.

💸Insights from our experts to your inbox: Get the free 2023 funding playbook

Option Schemes Published: 
Mar 7, 2019
Updated: Nov 29, 2022
3 min read
Expert reviewed

How much does an EMI option scheme cost?

In the bad old days before SeedLegals, you could be looking at spending up to £10,000 on EMI option scheme set-up. Now, if you’re a SeedLegals member, you can create your EMI option scheme for £1,490 (+VAT) and get an HMRC approved EMI valuation for £990 (+VAT).

It used to be complex, expensive and time-consuming to design and implement an EMI option scheme, with months spent creating the paperwork with lawyers and accountants.

Technology and automation have changed that for good. Now, in just a few clicks, anyone can generate the option scheme paperwork and issue equity to their team.

In this post, we run you through a breakdown of the costs involved in setting up your EMI scheme on SeedLegals.

The Enterprise Management Incentive option scheme (EMI for short) is an HMRC initiative that allows UK businesses to give share options to their employees. Issuing share options under the EMI scheme comes with significant tax benefits - both for your employee and the company.

Read more about the benefits and rules of the scheme in our complete guide to EMI option schemes.

How to set up an EMI option scheme online

There are two parts to setting up an option scheme:

  1. Get an HMRC approved EMI valuation – £990 + VAT on SeedLegals
  2. Build the EMI option scheme paperwork, including the scheme rules and options agreements – £1,490 + VAT on SeedLegals

You can get started on both parts in parallel to save time. After you’ve sent off your EMI valuation to HMRC and are waiting for a reply, you can get your scheme rules drafted and ready to go.

When you set up your EMI option scheme through SeedLegals, it’s easy to work through the steps in our guided workflow.

Emi Option Scheme Seedlegals Platform
The SeedLegals EMI option scheme workflow makes it easy to set up your EMI option scheme. And if you get stuck, just hit the chat button at the bottom of the screen - we’re happy to help!

To get started creating your option scheme, simply sign up free to SeedLegals, create your company and select the EMI Option Scheme from your company dashboard.

Follow our step-by-step wizard to generate all the paperwork you need, or if you’d like to see the SeedLegals platform in action, book a demo with one of our EMI experts.

To make the process easier and faster, we’ve added the EMI valuation into our workflow. This is an important step, because it helps guarantee the best-possible share prices for your employees.

You can choose to use our market leading valuation builder tool to generate a comprehensive report for you, or build your EMI scheme without it. You can also just use the EMI Valuation service by itself, without the full EMI scheme.

EMI option scheme: pricing breakdown

First, choose your SeedLegals membership plan
Plus - £999/year for the ultimate package of SeedLegals services, plus exclusive access to discounts and perks
Standard - £49/month or £499/year for balance sheet-friendly flexibility and pay-as-you-go services
Check out our plans

EMI scheme set up: £1,490 one-off fee, create as many EMI schemes as you need

✔ Add up to 250 employees (the EMI scheme limit)
✔ Customise scheme rules
✔ Get unlimited support from our team
✔ Add and remove employees at any time
✔ Manage your scheme online
✔ Your team get their own account so they can track and manage their holdings
✔ All documents included, including board resolution and option agreements

EMI valuation: £990 per valuation, 🚀Plus members only pay £490 for the second and all subsequent valuations 🚀

✔ Build a comprehensive valuation report for the best-possible valuation discount
✔ Access all the documentation needed for valuation approval, supported by the SeedLegals team
✔ We answer any questions from HMRC to agree your valuation

Talk to the options experts

Any questions about EMI option schemes? Need to check any part of the process? Find a time to chat with a SeedLegals equity specialist.


Start your journey with us

  • Beulah
  • Brolly
  • Oddbox Transparent
  • Index Ventures
  • Seedcamp
  • Qured