Companies urged to file accounts early and online to avoid penalties
If you’re due to file accounts with Companies House by the end of December, use our online services where possible and allow plenty of time before your deadline.
Running your own company can be exciting but also challenging. Directors have lots of responsibilities including keeping company records up-to-date and making sure they’re filed on time.
All limited companies, whether they trade or not, must deliver annual accounts to us each year. This includes dormant companies.
File early
It’s the directors’ responsibility to file a company’s accounts. You could get a criminal record, a fine or disqualification if you do not deliver your accounts on time.
Even if an accountant files your company’s accounts on your behalf, it’s still your responsibility to make sure they’re filed on time.
File your company’s accounts online before your deadline.
We’ll send you an email to confirm we’ve received your accounts. We’ll send you another email when we’ve registered your accounts.
If you’re a small company, you cannot file abbreviated accounts anymore. Find out your accounts filing options for small companies.
File online
Our 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.
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.
Avoid rejections
You should only send paper accounts if your company cannot file online.
Accounts filed on paper need to be manually checked. We 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 us well before the deadline. This will give you plenty of time to correct your accounts and resend them if they are rejected. You should also consider using a guaranteed next day delivery and note any industrial disputes or other factors, which may make it difficult for a carrier to deliver on time.
We cannot 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 our Find and update company information service.
Watch our YouTube videos and recordings of previous Companies House webinars for guidance on how to use our online services and information about directors’ responsibilities.
More information about:
- preparing your accounts
- filing your Companies House information online
- filing Companies House accounts and late filing penalties
- applying for more time to file your company’s accounts
Companies House introduced the new WebFiling account in September.