Your company's first accounts: why the first year is longer, and what's due when.

Why the first accounts are longer

A company's first accounts usually cover more than 12 months: from the day it was set up to the accounting reference date Companies House set.^{(source 1)} GOV.UK's example: a company set up on 11 May has an accounting reference date of 31 May the following year, so its first accounts cover 12 months and 3 weeks.^{(source 2)}

When the first accounts are due

First accounts: due at Companies House 21 months after the company was registered.^{(source 3)}

After that, each year's accounts follow the ordinary rule:

Every year's accounts after that: due at Companies House 9 months after the company's financial year ends.^{(source 4)}

Why there may be two tax returns

Because a Corporation Tax accounting period can't be longer than 12 months, the first accounts may need 2 tax returns, each with its own payment deadline.^{(source 5)} A company that traded from the day it was set up files 2 returns: one for its first 12 months and one for the rest of the period its first accounts cover.^{(source 6)}

A company can be dormant for Corporation Tax between being set up and starting to trade.^{(source 7)} HMRC write with the dates of the first accounting period after you add Corporation Tax to the company's business tax account.^{(source 8)}

Which of those fits your company depends on when it started to trade and what HMRC's letter says. GOV.UK's guide works through each case with dates, and it's worth reading with your own dates beside it.

A word on first accounts and penalties

Companies House say an appeal may not succeed if these were the company's first accounts, if it's dormant, or if the reason is that someone else, the accountant included, was responsible.^{(source 9)}

In other words, being new is not usually accepted as a reason for lateness. The missed deadline guide has the amounts.

Getting the first year right

• Keep the company's money in its own bank account from the start.
• Keep every receipt and invoice from the first day, including set-up costs.
• Note the date the company started to trade. Several of the first-year rules turn on it.
• Write down the accounts deadline and the tax deadlines as soon as you know them.

The company's money must be kept separate from the owners' and directors' own, because the company is a separate legal entity.^{(source 10)}

How standing.tax helps in the first year

• When you set up, you give your company's number and we read its details from the Companies House register, so its dates are the register's own.
• Your company's deadlines with HMRC and Companies House in one place, and what each one still needs from you.
• An email reminder 30 days and 7 days before your accounts, confirmation statement and Corporation Tax deadlines.
• Annual accounts for a micro-entity, dormant or trading, drawn up from your books for you to read and approve.
• Import a statement downloaded from your bank as a CSV file, or a PayPal export, and say what each line was for.
• Upload a PDF or a photo of a bill or receipt and type in its figures. Nothing reaches your books until the sums add up and you've approved it.