File Company Accounts

Filing with Companies House & HMRC Guide

Now you have your new business up and running you will be keen to ensure you are well organised to effortlessly file your first set of statutory format company accounts to both Companies House & HMRC and do not fall foul of any key filing dates thereby avoiding unnecessary costly fines. Our guide below will help point you in the right direction to smoothly declare everything that is required on time and with minimum stress.

Format of company accounts

All UK registered companies must place a copy of accounts on the companies house publicly available register each year showing a snapshot of the companies assets and liabilities and in some cases the profit and loss account detailing the companies performance for the year.

The accounts must be filed in a prescribed statutory format even if your company was dormant or not trading during the year. The formats small companies can adopt are know as FRS 105 (Micro-entities) and FRS 102, Section 1A (Small Entities Regime).

Both formats afford limited financial disclosure and we will ensure that financial information publicly available is kept to the minimum necessary to meet your statutory requirements.

Micro-entities: Turnover of less than £632,000, assets worth less than £316,000 and fewer than 10 employees.

Small companies: Turnover of under £10.2 million, assets under £5.1 million and fewer than 50 employees.

Medium and large companies: If your company is in excess of the above criteria you will need to file full accounts with more disclosure requirements.

A professional accountancy can help ensure you choose the correct format for the accounts and correctly calculate your corporation tax and capital allowances available to you so you can avoid costly mistakes.

Make sure the firm you use is a member of the CCAB (Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies). This means they should be regulated by one of the following 5 bodies namely ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS and Chartered Accountants Ireland. Members of these bodies are required to have adequate professional indemnity insurance in place.

The Online Accountants are a member of the ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

Timeline for filing company accounts

When it comes to filing your company accounts you need to be aware that both Companies House and HMRC have differing due dates which can catch some directors out.

Companies House have a due date of within 9 months of your companies financial year end date. Please be aware that your first years accounts will be due earlier, 9 months of the formation date of the company.

We can change your year end date by extending or shortening the first or next period if you prefer to align things with the fiscal or calendar year.

HMRC require the accounts and corporation tax return form CT600 to be filed within 12 months of the year end date but beware that the corporation tax confusingly has a due date of 9 months from the end of the period to avoid having to pay interest on the tax calculated.

If you miss the deadlines you will be subject to fines dependent on how late you eventually file the accounts. We highly recommend you register for the Companies House email reminder service.

Companies House Fines

Not more than 1 month late: £150 penalty

More than 1 month but not more than 3 months late: £750 penalty

More than 6 months late: £1,500 penalty

Please note that these penalties will be doubled if accounts are filed late in 2 successive financial years.

HMRC Penalties

1 day late: £100

3 months late: Another £100

6 months late: HMRC will estimate your Corporation Tax bill and add a penalty of 10% of the unpaid tax

12 months late: Another 10% of any unpaid tax

How to file your company accounts online

The simplest way to file your company accounts is to engage an online firm of accountants such as us - obviously!

You will need to ensure your bookkeeping is in satisfactory order. If you have used professional software to record your income and expenses this should be checked to ensure the reports produced for profit and balance sheet items are as expected.

You should also ensure that all your bank accounts agree to the statements provided by your bank throughout the year. Any discrepancies should be investigated and corrected, if necessary by engaging a qualified bookkeeper.

We do not expect your bookkeeping to be perfect and can make minor amendments for you where necessary but the basics should be in place such as vat returns filed, bank accounts balanced, fixed assets added and that the trade debtors and creditors agree to the relevant control accounts.

By engaging an accountant, you minimise the risks of filing accounts that simply do not make sense as we check for any obvious errors in your underlying bookkeeping records.

Company directors need to ensure the accounts are accurate and give a true and fair view of the companies performance. Enlisting the help of a fully qualified accountant will help ensure the accounts you file meet the guidelines and adhere to the accounting standards as laid our by the FRC (Financial Reporting Council).

From 1 April 2027 the Companies House WebFiling Service is being phased out so you will need to use digitally enabled iXBRL software to file your company accounts successfully. Profit and loss accounts will also be required for small and micro-entity companies.

These changes are being introduced as part of a broader reform package under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.