UK Accounting · Company Accounts
Company accounts for UK limited companies
UK limited companies must prepare annual statutory accounts each year, file them with Companies House, and file a Company Tax Return (CT600) with HMRC. The accounts are due at Companies House normally within nine months of your year-end, and the tax return within twelve months. Every company must file — even dormant or loss-making ones — and missing the Companies House deadline brings automatic penalties. For US-owned UK companies, these filings sit alongside US obligations such as Form 5471.
Every UK limited company has to prepare annual statutory accounts — the formal year-end financial statements that record how the company performed. These accounts do two jobs: they are filed with Companies House for the public register, and they underpin the Company Tax Return (CT600) filed with HMRC to work out Corporation Tax.
The point that trips people up is that these are two separate filings, to two different bodies, with two different deadlines. Filing one does not satisfy the other. Most companies must do both, every year — and the Companies House deadline in particular carries an automatic penalty if missed, with no need for HMRC to chase you first.
The obligation applies even if your company is dormant or made no profit. A company that exists on the register must account for itself. Smaller companies may qualify to file simpler small-company or micro-entity accounts, which we handle where they apply.
Company accounts at a glance
- Filed with
- Companies House + HMRC
- Tax return
- CT600
- Companies House
- ~9 months after year-end
- Tax return
- ~12 months after year-end
- Dormant companies
- Still must file
- Smaller companies
- Simpler accounts possible
Who needs company accounts
- Directors of UK limited companies of any size
- Contractors and freelancers operating through a limited company
- SMEs and owner-managed businesses
- US citizens and green card holders who own a UK company
- Startups that have recently incorporated
- Dormant companies that still sit on the register
The two filings explained
Companies House accounts. These go on the public register. Depending on your company’s size, they range from full accounts to abridged or micro-entity formats — the smaller the company, the less detail that has to be made public.
HMRC Company Tax Return (CT600). This calculates the Corporation Tax your company owes, supported by accounts in HMRC’s required format. It is a different submission from the Companies House filing, with its own deadline — and any tax due is payable on its own timetable, which for most companies falls before the return itself is due.
Deadlines and penalties
For a private company, accounts are normally due at Companies House within nine months of the accounting year-end, and the tax return within twelve months. Companies House penalties for late accounts are automatic and escalate the longer you are late, so the single most valuable thing an accountant does here is simply keep you comfortably ahead of the dates.
Common mistakes we see
The recurring ones: missing the Companies House deadline and triggering an automatic penalty; assuming the tax return and the accounts are the same filing; forgetting that dormant companies still file; leaving Corporation Tax payment to the return deadline when it is actually due earlier; and — for US owners — handling the UK side well while overlooking the US filings that run alongside it.
For US owners of UK companies
This is where being a US–UK firm matters. If you are a US person who owns a UK limited company, your UK statutory accounts are only half the picture — you may also need Form 5471 and to consider GILTI on the US side. We prepare both together, so the two systems line up and nothing falls through the gap between them.
How we handle it
Accounts prepared, filed, and coordinated
Gather & reconcile
We pull together your records and reconcile the year, flagging anything that needs attention.
Prepare accounts
We prepare statutory accounts in the right format for your company size — full, small or micro-entity.
File both sides
We file with Companies House and prepare the CT600 for HMRC, keeping the two consistent.
Coordinate cross-border
For US owners, we align the UK accounts with US filings such as Form 5471 so both systems agree.
Frequently asked questions
Statutory company accounts (also called annual accounts or year-end accounts) are the formal financial statements a UK limited company must prepare each year. They are filed with Companies House, and the figures also support the Company Tax Return (CT600) filed with HMRC. They typically include a balance sheet, and depending on company size, a profit and loss account and notes.
Yes. Every UK limited company on the register must file annual accounts with Companies House, even if it is dormant or made no profit. Dormant companies can usually file simpler dormant accounts, but the filing obligation itself does not go away. Missing it leads to automatic penalties.
They are two separate filings. The annual accounts go to Companies House and are placed on the public register. The Company Tax Return (CT600), together with accounts in a specific format, goes to HMRC to calculate Corporation Tax. Most companies must do both each year, and the two have different deadlines.
The deadlines run from your company’s accounting year-end. Accounts are normally due at Companies House within nine months of the year-end for a private company, and the Company Tax Return is normally due to HMRC within twelve months of the year-end — though any Corporation Tax owed is payable earlier. We confirm your exact dates and keep you ahead of them.
Yes, potentially a great deal. Alongside UK statutory accounts, a US owner of a UK company may have to file IRS Form 5471 and consider rules such as GILTI. The UK and US obligations are separate but interact, and handling them together — as we do — avoids both UK penalties and severe US ones.
Yes. Smaller companies may qualify to file simpler accounts under the small-company or micro-entity regimes, reducing what is placed on the public record. We assess whether you qualify and prepare the appropriate format, while still giving you the full management picture for your own use.
Need your company accounts prepared and filed?
Whether you run a UK company or own one as a US person, book a consultation and we'll make sure your accounts are accurate, on time, and coordinated across both tax systems.