Every limited company must submit accounts to HMRC and Companies House each financial year. In this article, we look at what statutory accounts are and how to work out your filing deadlines.
If you are a limited company director, one of your legal obligations is to ensure that your company’s annual accounts are submitted to HMRC and Companies House accurately and on time.
When are my annual accounts due?
When you first incorporate, your Annual Reference Date (ARD) is set to the last day of the month in which you set up your limited company.
So, if you formed your company on January 12, 2025, your ARD would fall on January 31 each year.
Under typical circumstances, after your first accounting period, you must ensure that you submit your company’s annual accounts to Companies House within 9 months of your ARD.
However, the first time you submit your company accounts to Companies House, you must do so within 21 months of the date of incorporation rather than the ARD.
You must send a copy of your statutory accounts to:
- HMRC (as part of your Company Tax Return)
- Companies House
- All shareholders
- Anyone who attends an Annual General Meeting (AGM)
What do the annual accounts consist of?
The complexity of the accounting documents you need to submit depends on the size of your company. Most small companies are defined as ‘micro entities’, and as a result, their reporting requirements are far less complex than those of larger firms.
Statutory accounts – to be submitted to HMRC
The statutory requirements for annual accounts – to be delivered to HMRC as part of your Company Tax Return – include:
- Balance sheet
- Profit and loss account (P&L)
- Notes relating to the accounts
- Signature and name of director(s)
Depending on your company’s size, you may also need to prepare:
- A directors’ report (not required for micro-entities)
- An auditor’s report (not required for small companies or micro-entities)
Accounting information to be submitted to Companies House
Importantly, micro-entity companies can choose to submit simplified accounts to Companies House, and these accounts do not require an audit.
This minimises the amount of financial information that is displayed on the public record. You will not need to submit the P&L or directors’ reports to Companies House – just the balance sheet.
Update (July 2025): The UK government has now reversed plans to require small and micro companies to file profit and loss accounts at Companies House. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds confirmed that the proposal would be dropped to reduce regulatory burdens on SMEs. Read more here.
Is my company a micro entity?
Your reporting requirements are reduced if your business is defined as a ‘small company’, and reduced even further if it is defined as a micro entity.
Your company is a micro-entity if it meets two or more of these conditions:
- turnover must be not more than £632,000
- the balance sheet total must not be more than £316,000
- the average number of employees must be no more than 10
Find out exactly what your company’s accounting requirements are via this comprehensive official guidance.
Can I change the Annual Reference Date?
You, or your accountant, can change the Annual Reference Date online via Companies House Form AA01.
The rules for changing the ARD are complex, so you should always take professional advice before making any changes, and you can’t make changes if the accounts for the current accounting period are overdue.
In general, you cannot extend your company accounting period for longer than 18 months, and can only extend your Annual Reference Date once every five years.
For more information on changing your ARD, or on submitting your annual company accounts in general, refer to this Companies House guide.
What about HMRC and Corporation Tax?
All limited companies are required to complete a Corporation Tax return (CT600) annually. Your company’s statutory accounts must also be attached to this return.
Your Company Tax Return, along with the attached accounts, must be submitted to HMRC within one year of your company’s year-end.
However, confusingly, your Corporation Tax payment must be made within nine months and one day of the year-end.
As a result, your accountant will typically submit your accounts in advance of the nine-month deadline for obvious reasons.
You can read more in our Corporation Tax guide for small companies.
What happens if I submit my annual accounts late?
This should never happen, assuming you have a competent accountant and have provided them with all the necessary accounting information before the deadline.
If, for any reason, your annual accounts are delivered late to Companies House, a penalty of £150 will be applied immediately. The amount increases every few months and reaches £1,500 if your accounts are 6 months late. Find out more here.
If you also deliver your Company Tax Return late to HMRC, a separate set of penalties will apply, starting at £100.
After 3 months, a further £100 penalty applies, and after 6 months, HMRC will estimate your Corporation Tax bill + apply a 10% tax penalty.
If your Return remains overdue after 12 months, HMRC will charge you an extra 10% of your outstanding bill.
In both cases, penalties are increased for repeat offenders, so be sure to meet the deadlines!