Annual accounts
Annual accounts due? Micro-entity accounts, drawn up from your own books.
If your company is small enough to be a micro-entity, its accounts can be short. standing.tax draws them up from the books you keep here and asks you the questions the notes need, in plain words.
You can prepare everything now; sending to HMRC and Companies House opens soon.
What annual accounts are
Annual accounts, also called statutory accounts, are prepared from the company's financial records at the end of its financial year.(source 1) They include a balance sheet, a profit and loss account and notes, and a directors' report unless the company is a micro-entity.(source 2) The balance sheet must carry a director's name and a director's signature.(source 3)
Is your company a micro-entity?
A company is a micro-entity if it meets any 2 of these: turnover of £1 million or less, £500,000 or less on its balance sheet, 10 employees or less.(source 4) A micro-entity can prepare simpler accounts and send only its balance sheet, with less information, to Companies House.(source 5)
You don't have to work that out on a calculator. standing.tax checks your company against the limits from its own figures before it draws anything up, and stops if the company is too large.
When they're due
- First accounts: due at Companies House 21 months after the company was registered.(source 6)
- Every year's accounts after that: due at Companies House 9 months after the company's financial year ends.(source 7)
- The accounts and the tax return have different deadlines, but you may be able to send them at the same time.(source 8)
What standing.tax does
- Annual accounts for a micro-entity, dormant or trading, drawn up from your books for you to read and approve.
- Before a trading company's accounts are drawn up, the company is checked against the micro-entity size limits, and you're asked plain questions for the notes the law requires.
- A dormant company's accounts and its Company Tax Return are prepared from its records in the same way, with the questions a dormant company is asked.
- The Company Tax Return (CT600) is built from the accounts Companies House accepted, so the two always match.
- Accounts for a company too large to be a micro-entity aren't something standing.tax prepares.
- An email reminder 30 days and 7 days before your accounts, confirmation statement and Corporation Tax deadlines.
Filing accounts through software
From 1 April 2028, every company must file its accounts with Companies House using commercial software.(source 9) From that date Companies House close their web and paper services for accounts.(source 10) Filing through software needs the company's authentication code.(source 11)
If you have never used the code, or can't find it, our guide on a lost Companies House authentication code explains how to get it again.
If you're unsure where an item belongs in the accounts, that's a judgement about your company, and one for an accountant.
Questions people ask
My company didn't trade this year. Does it still need accounts?
A dormant company still files its confirmation statement and annual accounts with Companies House.(source 12)
Our page on dormant company accounts covers what changes when nothing happened.
Do the accounts go to HMRC as well?
A small company or micro-entity still sends its full statutory accounts to HMRC, as part of the Company Tax Return.(source 13)
What happens if they're late?
The penalty notice comes automatically once accounts are filed late.(source 14)
The amounts are in our guide to a missed Companies House deadline.
Where these rules come from
Each numbered sentence above is our plain-English version of GOV.UK’s own words, which are below with a link to the page they come from.
- 1.
“Your company's annual accounts - called 'statutory accounts' - are prepared from the company's financial records at the end of your company's financial year.”
GOV.UK: Prepare annual accounts for a private limited company - 2.
“Statutory accounts must include: a 'balance sheet', which shows the value of everything the company owns, owes and is owed on the last day of the financial year a 'profit and loss account', which shows the company's sales, running costs and the profit or loss it has made over the financial year notes about the accounts a director's report (unless you're a 'micro-entity')”
GOV.UK: Prepare annual accounts for a private limited company - 3.
“The balance sheet must have the name of a director printed on it and must be signed by a director.”
GOV.UK: Prepare annual accounts for a private limited company - 4.
“Your company will be a micro-entity if it has any 2 of the following: a turnover of £1 million or less £500,000 or less on its balance sheet 10 employees or less”
GOV.UK: Prepare annual accounts for a private limited company - 5.
“If your company is a micro-entity, you can: prepare simpler accounts that meet statutory minimum requirements send only your balance sheet with less information to Companies House”
GOV.UK: Prepare annual accounts for a private limited company - 6.
“File first accounts with Companies House 21 months after the date you registered with Companies House”
GOV.UK: Accounts and tax returns for private limited companies - 7.
“File annual accounts with Companies House 9 months after your company's financial year ends”
GOV.UK: Accounts and tax returns for private limited companies - 8.
“You have different deadlines for sending your accounts to Companies House and your tax return to HMRC, but you may be able send them at the same time.”
GOV.UK: Prepare annual accounts for a private limited company - 9.
“From 1 April 2028, all companies must file their accounts using commercial software.”
GOV.UK: Using software to file your company's information - 10.
“From this date, our web and paper-based services will be closed for accounts filings.”
GOV.UK: Using software to file your company's information - 11.
“To file company documents using software, you'll need: your company authentication code”
GOV.UK: Using software to file your company's information - 12.
“You must file your confirmation statement (previously annual return) and annual accounts with Companies House even if your limited company is: dormant for Corporation Tax dormant according to Companies House”
GOV.UK: Dormant companies and associations - 13.
“You must still send statutory accounts to your members and to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as part of your Company Tax Return if you're a small company or micro-entity.”
GOV.UK: Prepare annual accounts for a private limited company - 14.
“You'll automatically receive a penalty notice if your accounts are filed after the deadline.”
GOV.UK: Prepare annual accounts for a private limited company
