Every company registered in the UK should prepare and file annual company accounts with the companies house every year. If you are a director of a small company in the UK, it is your responsibility to file the annual accounts, and you may have to pay a penalty if you fail to do so. As a small business owner, you should remember three things.
Due date to file the first accounts – 21 months after the date your company is registered
Subsequent annual accounts – 9 months after your company’s financial year end
Penalties if you don’t file your company’s accounts before due date.
Depending on the delay, you will have to pay the penalies.
When you don’t file your company accounts by the due date, you will have to pay a penalty. Depending on the delay, the penalty goes up. If you don’t file the accounts within 6 months after the accounting date, you may even lose your company. This is because, companies house has powers to close your company and freeze the bank account.
When you consult us to prepare your accounts, we take care everything. We will remind you in good time before your accounts are due. We will gather all the necessary information required to prepare the accounts and guide you through ins and outs of your transactions.
There are mainly two types of accounts.
Full Accounts include detailed profit and loss account along with the balance sheet of the company. You will have to file the full accounts with the company tax return to the HMRC. Filleted Accounts include only the balance sheet of the company. Since the filleted accounts do not include profit and loss account, most of the accountants including us advise their clients to file the filleted account with the companies house.
Our service includes preparation of both these sets of accounts and their filing with the companies house and the HMRC before their due date.
Yes, you still need to file your company’s accounts even if your company has not traded during the year. When your company has not traded, it can be classed as a dormant company. In this case, you can file Dormant Accounts instead of filleted or full accounts. Our fees to prepare Dormant Accounts in only £100 plus VAT.
First of all, you will need to know about the accounting reference date of your company. If you are unsure about your company’s accounting reference date, you can check it on the companies house database by clicking here.
The accounts will need to be filed with the companies house within 9 months after this accounting date. So, if your company’s accounting reference date is 31st March, you will need to file the accounts before 31st December.
The director of the company will sign the accounts. If there are more directors of the company, only one can sign on behalf of all the directors.
Absolutely yes. For very small companies with a few transactions, the accounts should not be very complex. You can file your company’s accounts on the companies house website here