Filing Accounts with Companies House
A practical guide to filing your company accounts on time with Companies House and avoiding penalties.
Every limited company in the UK must send a set of annual accounts to Companies House, regardless of how much it traded or whether it traded at all. This is a separate obligation from your Company Tax Return to HMRC, even though the underlying figures overlap. Missing the deadline triggers an automatic penalty that grows the longer you leave it, so understanding what to file, by when and through which method is one of the most important parts of running a company. This guide walks through the practicalities and sits alongside the wider year-end and annual accounts hub .
What You Must File and When
The accounts you file are your statutory accounts, prepared under UK GAAP. The exact contents depend on your company’s size: a small company filing under FRS 105 as a micro-entity files far less detail than a medium-sized company. Most owner-managed companies qualify as small or micro and can file abridged or simplified accounts, which keeps commercially sensitive detail off the public register. See our guide to preparing statutory accounts for what each set must contain.
Your filing deadline runs from your accounting reference date (ARD), the date your financial year ends. Companies House sets this automatically when you incorporate, usually the last day of the month of your first anniversary, though you can change it.
First-Year and Subsequent Deadlines
The first year is the common trap, because the deadline is calculated differently from later years.
| Filing | Deadline (private companies) |
|---|---|
| First accounts | 21 months from the date of incorporation |
| Subsequent accounts | 9 months after the accounting reference date |
Because a first accounting period is often longer than 12 months, the 21-month rule can fall sooner than you expect. After the first year, the rhythm settles into the familiar 9 months after your year end. Public companies have shorter windows. If your filing deadline lands on a weekend or bank holiday, it is not extended, so plan to file early rather than on the day itself. Building these dates into a year-end close checklist removes the risk of forgetting.
Online Filing Methods
Companies House actively encourages digital filing, and for most companies it is now the only sensible route. There are three broad options:
- Web filing through the Companies House online service, using your authentication code.
- Software filing directly from compatible accounts-production or bookkeeping software.
- Joint filing with HMRC, where one digital submission feeds both Companies House and your Company Tax Return.
Paper filing still exists for a small number of account types but is slow, error-prone and increasingly being withdrawn. Digital submissions are processed far faster and give you an immediate acknowledgement.
Web Filing Versus Software Filing
Both routes are valid, but they suit different situations.
Web filing is free and works well for dormant companies and very simple micro-entity accounts. You log in, key the figures into an online form and submit. The trade-off is that you re-enter data manually, which is fine for a handful of lines but tedious and risky for anything more detailed.
Software filing pulls the numbers straight from your bookkeeping records, formats them to the required standard and submits them electronically. This reduces transcription errors, keeps a clear audit trail and is far quicker once your records are clean. If you already maintain digital records for Making Tax Digital, software filing is the natural extension. Our overview of choosing accounting software covers what to look for.
Upcoming Software-Only Changes
Companies House is reforming how accounts are filed as part of wider changes under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. The headline change is a move towards software-only filing: over a transition period, the web and paper routes for accounts are expected to be retired in favour of submission through commercial software. Alongside this, small and micro-entity companies will be required to file more standardised, tagged accounts.
The practical takeaway is to choose filing software sooner rather than later, so the change is a non-event when it arrives. Maintaining tidy digital record keeping now puts you in a strong position.
Late Filing Penalties
Late filing penalties are automatic and apply even if your company is dormant or made a loss. The penalty rises the later the accounts are, and it doubles if you file late in two consecutive years.
| How late after the deadline | Penalty band |
|---|---|
| Up to 1 month | Lowest band |
| 1 to 3 months | Second band |
| 3 to 6 months | Third band |
| More than 6 months | Highest band |
Persistent failure to file is a criminal offence for directors and can lead to the company being struck off the register. If you genuinely cannot file on time because of an exceptional event, you can apply to extend the deadline, but you must do so before it passes, not afterwards.
Amending Filed Accounts
If you spot an error after filing, you can submit amended accounts. These must cover the same financial year and be clearly marked as amended or corrected, replacing the original on the public register. There is no penalty for filing a corrected version, provided the original reached Companies House on time. It is far better to file on time and amend later than to miss the deadline while chasing perfection.
Dormant Company Accounts
A company that has had no significant accounting transactions during the financial year is dormant for Companies House purposes. Dormant companies still must file, but the requirements are minimal: typically a simple balance sheet and the related notes. Web filing handles dormant accounts well and at no cost. Keep in mind that a company can be dormant for Companies House yet still have HMRC obligations, so confirm both positions each year. For broader administrative duties, see our company operations guides .