A Guide to Companies House Compliance
A Quick Recap on Companies House
Companies House is a UK legal body and acts as a general registry for company information, which is made available to the public. All incorporated businesses within the UK are legally registered at Companies House, allowing the company to become a legal entity.
Public access to company information helps promote transparency and credibility, and allows for users to view the company’s directors, shareholders and company status as well as its financial position.
Filing Expectations
Once incorporated, companies have a legal obligation to make certain returns to Companies House each year. In this section we will discuss the forms that limited companies are required to submit to Companies House after incorporation.
In order to stay compliant with Companies House you need to first take note of the filing requirements and of course, file by the deadlines! Although this sound onerous, for most small and micro companies with a little planning these requirements are easy to comply with.
Annual Accounts
After incorporation, limited companies are required to submit a set of first year accounts to reflect their first accounting period. In the proceeding periods, annual company accounts are required to be submitted to Companies House by all limited companies, whether the company is trading or non-trading.
All of the information recorded in the company accounts will be available for the public to view on the Companies House website.
The type of company accounts you need to file will depend on the size of your company. If you would like, you can check out our article on the differences between micro and small entities, and the criteria needed to be met in order to file as one, here: Micro and Small Entities Accounts' Differences
Both micro and small entities are expected to file annual abridged accounts to Companies House, which includes the Balance Sheet only. Unlike with HMRC, you will not need to submit an Income Statement (Profit and Loss) which is included in the full company accounts.
Confirmation Statement
As well as company accounts, all UK registered companies are also required to submit an annual Confirmation Statement (CS01 form) to Companies House. The Confirmation Statement ‘confirms’ up to date company details for the Companies House register.
Once submitted, the Confirmation Statement will update the new company information reported on the Companies House view including the company’s registered office address, persons with significant control (directors and secretaries), SIC code and company's principal activity.
Filing Deadlines
Company Accounts: First year accounts are expected to be filed to Companies House within 21 months after the date of incorporation. Then for subsequent annual accounts, these will need to be submitted within 9 months after the end of the company’s accounting period.
For example: If a company incorporated on the 15th January 2023, then their first-year company accounts, period ending 31st January 2024, would be due on the 15th October 2024 (21 months after the incorporation date). For the following year, the annual accounts for period 1st February 2024 – 31st January 2025, would be due on the 31st October 2025 (9 months after the period end date).
Confirmation Statement: The Confirmation Statement's period will typically need to be made up to 12 months after the incorporation date or 12 months after the last confirmation statement was filed. This must be filed within 14 days after the end date.
Example continued: Using the example from above, where the company was incorporated on the 15th January 2023, their first confirmation statement would need to be made up to the date 14th January 2024 (12 months after the incorporation). This would then be due on the 28th January 2024 (14 days after the end of the period).
If you are still unsure of the deadline dates, you can view these on your Companies House page under the 'Overview' section.
Updates and Future Plans
As of March 2024, Companies House have implemented changes affecting the Confirmation Statement which will now need to state 'the intended future activities of the company are lawful'. They also require a valid email address which is regularly checked by Persons with Significant Control within the company as they further digitise communications.
Companies House also have plans to update how annual accounts are submitted. Both Small and Micro entities will no longer be required to submit abridged annual accounts, but expected to submit full company accounts instead, including a Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet.
This will then allow the public to view the company's Profit and Loss Statement, increasing their transparency.
The introduction of software only filing for Company Accounts also came into effect in October 2023 as part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, to be gradually phased in. Companies House are still working on the exact timetable of these expected changes.
Filing Through Our Software
Within our software, we support both the submission of company accounts and confirmation statement to Companies House. In your Easy Digital account, you will be able to add the relevant Companies House filings, by selecting the ‘ADD FILING’ button within your account and selecting ‘Company House templates’ under the show me box.
If you are looking to submit both company accounts and confirmation statement, you can add these separately to your account! So, in total 3 different filings will be added to your account; Micro/Small Company Accounts, Companies House Submission and Confirmation Statement templates.
Completing and submitting accounts can be difficult for newly incorporated companies. If you require any assistance when filling out the templates, we have a variety of Knowledge Base articles to help as well as a 'Chat with us' function inside your account, where our support team are ready to help answer your questions!
File Confidently with Companies House
Hopefully this article has helped you gain a better understanding Companies House’s compliance as well as highlighting the importance of meeting deadlines to avoid any penalities.
We specialise in helping companies file taxes and accounts, ensuring that they meet their legal obligations and file on time using our simple, intuitive software. Try for free on Easy Digital Filing or send us a message and we will be happy to assist you.
