File your Companies House accounts early and online to avoid penalties

News article

If you’re due to file accounts with Companies House by the end of September 2023, allow plenty of time before your deadline.

All limited companies, whether they trade or not, must deliver annual accounts to Companies House each year. This includes dormant companies.

Your responsibilities

It’s the directors’ responsibility to file a company’s accounts. Even if an accountant files your company’s accounts on your behalf, it’s still your responsibility, as director, to make sure they’re filed on time. You need to understand your role as a director, the importance of remaining compliant, and how late filing could affect your company.

Missing your filing deadline could affect your credit score or access to finance. It can affect how others view your company and whether they want to do business with you. You could get a criminal record, a fine, or disqualification if you do not deliver your accounts on time.

File online before your deadline.

File online

Companies House online services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - and there are inbuilt checks to help you avoid mistakes.

It can take as little as 15 minutes from start to finish and you’ll know your accounts have been delivered on time as Companies House will send you an email to confirm they've received your accounts and another email when they've registered your accounts.

To file online, you’ll need your company authentication code. If you need to request a new code, you should allow up to 5 days for this to arrive at the company’s registered office.

File your accounts online

Software filing

Over 65% of companies use software filing as their preferred method.

There are a variety of software providers that offer a range of accounting packages to prepare and file accounts. Most types of accounts can be filed using software, depending on the functionality of the software package you’re using.

Future changes to filing

In the future, as part of new legislation brought about by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, you’ll only be able to file your accounts using software. This means you’ll no longer be able to file accounts on paper or using Companies House online services. Find out more about software-only filing.

After the Bill achieves Royal Assent and becomes an Act, Companies House will let you know the timetable for the phased roll-out of the change to software-only filing. They’ll make sure that if you don’t already file using software, you have time to make the change before it’s a legal requirement.

Avoid rejections

You should only send paper accounts if your company cannot file online. Accounts filed on paper need to be manually checked. Companies House can only check them during office opening hours, and they can take over a week to process.

If you need to file your accounts on paper, you should send them to Companies House well before the deadline. This will give you plenty of time to correct your accounts and resend them if they are rejected.

It’s also important to make sure you send all documents to the correct Companies House office. This will help avoid any delays, as your documents may be re-directed and they’ll take longer to reach Companies House.

Companies House will not accept postal delays as a reason to appeal a late filing penalty.

Guidance and support

Register for email reminders to know when your accounts are due. You can also check your filing deadline on the Companies House find and update company information service.

Watch Companies House YouTube videos for guidance on how to use their online services.

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First published 5 September 2023