Check when a UK company's accounts and confirmation statement are due at Companies House.
Every UK company registered at Companies House must file annual accounts and a confirmation statement. Missing these deadlines results in automatic penalties and can lead to the company being struck off the register.
Companies House automatically issues penalties for late filing: up to 1 month late is £150 (private) / £750 (public); 1 to 3 months is £375 / £1,500; 3 to 6 months is £750 / £3,000; and over 6 months is £1,500 / £7,500. Penalties are doubled if accounts are filed late in two consecutive years.
A confirmation statement (formerly the annual return) must be filed at least once every 12 months. The due date is calculated from the date of incorporation or the date the last confirmation statement was made up to, plus 12 months. You then have 14 days after the due date to file it with Companies House.
The confirmation statement verifies that the following details held at Companies House are correct and up to date: registered office address, directors and secretaries, statement of capital and shareholders (for companies with shares), SIC codes (nature of business), and Persons with Significant Control (PSC register).
Confirmation statements can be filed online through the Companies House WebFiling service. The filing fee is £13 when filed online (£40 on paper). If nothing has changed since the last filing, you can simply confirm that all information is still correct. If details have changed, you must update them as part of the filing.
Unlike annual accounts, there is no automatic financial penalty for late confirmation statements. However, Companies House may take action to strike off the company if a confirmation statement is significantly overdue. Directors of a company that fails to file can also be prosecuted, facing a fine of up to £5,000.
For most private limited companies, annual accounts are due within nine months of the company's accounting reference date (its year-end). Public companies have a shorter window, generally six months. A company's very first accounts follow different rules and are usually due some months after incorporation.
A confirmation statement (formerly the annual return) confirms that key company details held at Companies House are up to date. It must be filed at least once every 12 months, with a short window of a few days after the review date to submit it. There is a small filing fee.
Companies House issues automatic penalties for late accounts, which increase the longer the accounts are overdue and are higher for public companies than private ones. Penalties can be doubled if accounts are filed late in two consecutive years. Persistent failure to file can also lead to the company being struck off.
Unlike late accounts, there is no automatic financial penalty for a late confirmation statement. However, an overdue confirmation statement can lead Companies House to take steps to strike the company off, and directors can face prosecution, so it should still be filed promptly.
Not usually. The accounts deadline is based on your accounting reference date, while the confirmation statement is based on your incorporation date or the date of your last statement. They often fall at different points in the year, so it is worth tracking both separately.