Annual Accounts for UK Businesses: A Complete Guide for Small and Micro Companies

Every UK limited company must file annual accounts with Companies House, whether it traded that year or not, alongside a Corporation Tax return and payment to HMRC. Small and micro companies qualify for a simplified filing regime, but "simplified" still means a real set of statutory obligations with real deadlines.

What has to be filed

Companies House requires a set of statutory accounts, typically a balance sheet with supporting notes, and (depending on size) a profit and loss account. Separately, HMRC requires a Corporation Tax return (CT600) and payment of any tax due. These are two different filings, to two different bodies, on two different (though related) deadlines, which is one of the most common sources of confusion for a first-time filer.

When it is due

Companies House accounts are due a set number of months after your company's financial year end, and the rule is slightly different for a company's very first set of accounts than for every year after. Corporation Tax is due nine months and one day after your accounting period ends, though the return itself has its own separate deadline. Because the exact dates depend on your specific year end and filing history, the safest approach is always to check your company's actual due dates on its Companies House record rather than relying on a rough rule of thumb.

Where owners get caught out

Late filing penalties increase automatically the longer accounts remain outstanding, with no discretion for "we were busy", and persistent late filing is visible on your public record, which lenders, suppliers and credit reference agencies can see. The most common cause is not a genuinely missed deadline but a messy set of records discovered too close to it, turning a routine filing into a rushed reconstruction from bank statements and memory.

How to make it straightforward

Clean, consistent bookkeeping throughout the year is what turns annual accounts from a scramble into a formality, because the figures are already reconciled and ready rather than needing to be pieced together in the weeks beforehand.

This is general guidance rather than advice on your specific filing position: if you would like your annual accounts and Corporation Tax return kept on track throughout the year, our annual accounts service handles both.