Being a contractor with a limited company comes with a few responsibilities, including filing an annual set of statutory accounts with Companies House and HMRC. Find out more about annual (yearly) accounts and when you are due to complete and file them.
Regardless of whether your limited company is trading, non-trading or dormant, you must file your limited company’s annual accounts with Companies House and HMRC.
Annual accounts for a limited company are also referred to as company accounts, financial accounts or statutory accounts. Small businesses and ‘micro-entities’ like single-director companies are able to have a shortened set of accounts prepared for Companies House, which are abbreviated to include a balance sheet and notes.
Both Companies House and HMRC have different deadlines for filing limited company annual accounts, but you sometimes have the option of filing your annual accounts simultaneously. Here is some information on annual accounts deadlines for an active limited company.
Deadlines for filing annual accounts with Companies House
As a limited company director you are required to file annual statutory accounts with Companies House. These must include a snapshot of summarised financial information as indicated by the Companies Act.
When you first set up and incorporate your limited company, you will automatically be assigned a date for the company’s ‘end of financial year’. This date is the last day in the month that you incorporated your limited company. It gives you a guideline on when you need to file your accounts each year.
For example:
Company A incorporates on 13th October 2022. Therefore, its Accounting Reference Date and end of financial year will be the 31st of October.
For its first year of operation, Company A must file accounts for the dates 13th October 2022 to 31st October 2023. Subsequent annual accounts will be filed for the dates 1st November to 31st October (12 months).
For your first year, you must file these accounts within 21 months of your incorporation date. In the previous example, Company A must file the company’s annual accounts no later than 12th July 2024.
After the first year, you must file your annual accounts within nine months of your Accounting Reference Date. For example, for 2020’s annual accounts, Company A will have to file no later than 31st July 2024 for the period 1st November 2022 – 31st October 2023.
If this is confusing, don’t worry – your accountant will help you keep track of these deadlines and do much of the administration for you, including completing and filing your annual accounts with Companies House (and HMRC).
Some high street accountants may charge hundreds of pounds to file your limited company annual accounts, so shop around for an accountant that can provide you with a more tailored service, especially if you also require services such as payroll, bookkeeping, VAT Returns and Personal Tax Returns.
Deadlines for filing annual accounts with HMRC
Each year you must file a Company Tax Return and pay Corporation Tax to HMRC. Your Company Tax Return (CT600) is due 12 months after your accounting period ends (see the above example). Your accountant will have on record all relevant financial dates for your limited company, however you can access this information yourself for reference.
You must pay your Corporation Tax nine months and one day after your accounting period ends. Company A from the previous example will be due to pay Corporation Tax by August 1st of each year (nine months and one day after 31st October).
Small and micro-entities are still required to submit full annual accounts to HMRC as part of the Company Tax Return process.
A good contractor accountant will be able to submit your Company Tax Return on your behalf, calculate the amount of Corporation Tax that you owe and advise you when you need to pay it by.
What needs to be included in annual accounts?
As previously mentioned, small companies and micro-entities can prepare abbreviated accounts for Companies House. However your accountant will still prepare full statutory accounts for your records, and for the CT600.
Full annual accounts will include:
- Profit and loss account – an indication of sales and costs as well as profit or loss for the fiscal year in question
- Balance sheet – the value of assets and liabilities for your company
- Comments
- Director’s report
- Auditor’s report (depending on the size of your company)
- Name and signature from the director
Contractors with small limited companies (‘micro-entities’) will normally not have to complete a set of full annual accounts like the above for Companies House – but this is required for a Company Tax Return to HMRC. Your accountant will assist with the completion and filing of this.
What is a micro-entity?
A micro-entity (also called micro company) is a class of small business that is quite common among limited company contractors. A company counts as a ‘micro-entity’ if:
- Its annual turnover is £632,000 or less
- It has 10 employees or less
- The balance sheet is valued at £316,000 or less
What if I’m late filing my annual accounts?
Both Companies House and HMRC have separate penalties if you don’t file your accounts by the deadline that each has outlined.
These are the penalties for filing your annual accounts late with Companies House:
| Time after your deadline | Penalty |
| Up to 1 month | £150 |
| 1 to 3 months | £375 |
| 3 to 6 months | £750 |
| More than 6 months | £1,500 |
Here are the penalties for filing your Company Tax Return late with HMRC:
| Time after your deadline | Penalty |
| 1 day | £100 |
| 3 months | Another £100 |
| 6 months | 10% of your unpaid Corporation Tax |
| 12 months | Another 10% of any unpaid Corporation Tax |
Please note that penalties could be doubled if Directors fail to submit accounts late for consecutive years.
For more information about late filing penalties, appealing a penalty and paying a penalty, please visit the government’s website.
If you are worried about filing your annual accounts on time, you can easily avoid this by enlisting the services of a contractor accountant, who can keep track of deadlines and file your annual accounts on your behalf. Fusion Business Services can do this and also estimate what your Corporation Tax bill will be.
Contact Fusion Business Services today
Are you looking to switch contractor accountants? Look no further! Please give us a call on 0800 2294020 or schedule a free consultation to discuss our services and the options available to you for filing your annual accounts.
If you are considering setting up a limited company or would like to discuss our limited company accountancy service, please give our friendly Sales Consultants a call on 0800 2294020 or request a quote and a member of the team will be in contact.
