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Organising your year end accounts can seem a bit overwhelming, especially for first-year limited company owners! In fact some of you might not even realise you need to submit yearly accounts until the scary looking reminder arrives. To help you avoid the unwanted bolt from the blue about overdue accounts (along with any hefty fines) we explain what your limited company needs to do and when, at year end.
Your limited company has reporting requirements that it must meet each year. You’ll need to:
You’ll need to send a set of statutory annual accounts and a confirmation statement to Companies House each year.
A confirmation statement ensures that the company’s information is kept up-to-date on the Companies House register. You can submit it online, or through the post, to reconfirm key information about your business. This includes who is part of the company, what the business does, and who the owners are.
Annual accounts are made up of four sections, which we explain in the table below.
A statement of financial position (also known as a balance sheet) | This details the value of everything the company owns, owes, and is owed by others. Learn more about balance sheets. |
Profit and loss account | Detailing the company’s sales, running costs and profit or loss over the financial year. Read our article about profit and loss reports. |
Notes on your accounts | For instance, the details of any advances, financial commitments, contingencies or guarantees. |
A director’s report | Unless you fall under the category of a micro-entity |
As well as sending this information to Companies House, you’ll need to:
The information that you submit to Companies House will be made available online to the public.
Dormant companies still need to submit accounts, though you won’t need to file a company tax return or pay corporation tax. Phew!
Send your first set of accounts to Companies House | 21 months from the date the company registered with Companies House. |
After that, send annual company accounts | 9 months after the end of the company’s financial year. |
As well as submitting information to Companies House, limited companies must submit a Company Tax Return to HMRC each year.
This includes the details of the company’s income and costs, as well as copy of your annual accounts. HMRC use this information to calculate how much corporation tax the company owes.
The deadlines for submitting a Company Tax Return and paying Corporation Tax are actually different.
Pay your Corporation Tax bill, or tell HMRC that the company does not owe tax | 9 months and 1 day after the end of the company’s tax accounting period. |
Submit a Company Tax Return to HMRC | 12 months after the end of the company’s tax accounting period. |
There are penalties if you’re late submitting company returns to either HMRC or to Companies House. There are different fines depending on how late you submit, and what type of return it is.
Up to 1 month overdue | £150 |
1 – 3 months overdue | £375 |
3 – 6 months overdue | £750 |
More than 6 months overdue | £1,500 |
These penalties are doubled if your accounts are late 2 years in a row.
1 day overdue | £100 |
3 months overdue | an additional £100 |
6 months overdue | a 10% penalty in addition to the tax bill estimate given by HMRC |
12 months overdue | an additional 10% of unpaid tax |
Do you need help managing the accounts for your limited company? Get an instant quote for our online accounting services.Â
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