IN01
Incorporation
The company exists from the date on the certificate. Every other deadline is measured from that date, not from the day you started trading.
Once, at the start
Cost of missing it: None, but a rejected application costs you the date
ManchesterNotebookSince 2026
Your company filesfive things a year.The belt does not stop.
Field notes from an accountant who files for people who have never set foot in the UK. Dates, forms, and what it cost when one of them slipped.
01
The whole line
A UK company is a schedule with a company attached. Five filings ride the same belt every year, in the same order, whether or not you traded a single pound.
02
The lens comes down
Companies House checks form, not intention. A confirmation statement filed for the wrong review period is rejected the same way as one filed by the wrong person.
Source: gov.uk, running a limited company
03
The counter runs on its own
Late accounts cost 150 pounds up to one month, 375 to three, 750 to six and 1,500 after that. The figure doubles if you were late the year before as well.
Source: gov.uk, penalties for late filing
04
What actually leaves the building
Registered office, directors, people with significant control, SIC code and share capital. Once filed they are public, and the old version stays public too.
Source: gov.uk, confirmation statement
05
The cabinet is open to everyone
A bank reads the register before it reads your application. When a filing goes overdue, the line that says so is the same line they can see.
Source: Companies House register
06
Then it starts again
The review period resets the day after you file. Same belt next year, same lens, same counter, and the only thing that changes is how much of it you saw coming.
The year on the belt
Five filings, two recipients, one order that never changes. Every rule below is quoted from GOV.UK with the page it came from.
CS01
Confirmation statement
The review period ends 12 months after the confirmation statement date on your last statement, or 12 months after incorporation if this is your first one. Filing early starts a new review period.
Within 14 days of the end of each 12 month review period
Cost of missing it: Fine of up to 5,000 pounds and the company can be struck off
AA
Annual accounts
Companies House sets the accounting reference date as the last day of the month you were registered in, one year later. Your first accounts therefore cover more than twelve months.
21 months after registration for the first set, then 9 months after each financial year end
Cost of missing it: 150, 375, 750 or 1,500 pounds depending on how late, doubled if you are late two years running
CT600
Company Tax Return
An accounting period for Corporation Tax cannot be longer than 12 months, so a first set of accounts that covers more than a year needs two returns.
12 months after the end of the accounting period
Cost of missing it: Separate HMRC penalty regime, on top of the Companies House one
CT PAY
Corporation Tax payment
The money is due three months before the return that works out how much it was. Small companies pay first and file second.
9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period
Cost of missing it: Interest from the day after the deadline
YOUR DATES
None of this starts on the same day for you
Every date above is measured from the certificate of incorporation, so two companies formed a month apart have nothing in common in the calendar. Put your own date in and read the six deadlines off.
The counter runs whether you look at it or not
Companies House issues a late filing penalty automatically. Nobody rings first, and the notice arrives after the money is already owed.
Up to 1 month late
£150
1 to 3 months late
£375
3 to 6 months late
£750
More than 6 months late
£1,500
The penalty doubles if accounts are late two years in a row. Filing late for long enough also gets the company struck off, which is a different and worse problem. Source: gov.uk/annual-accounts/penalties-for-late-filing
Work out your own dates
Put in the date on the certificate. The six deadlines that follow from it are calculated by the same rules Companies House and HMRC publish.
Dates are worked out from the published rules on GOV.UK, checked 2026-09-04. Companies House can move an accounting reference date on application, and a first Corporation Tax period longer than twelve months splits into two returns.
Four things that are different when you do not live here
Most guidance is written for a director with a UK driving licence and a UK address. These four are the ones that catch everybody else.
A biometric passport from any country is accepted
Identity verification runs through GOV.UK One Login. A biometric passport issued anywhere works. You verify once, get a personal code, and every director needs their own.
VAT registration is not optional at 90,000 pounds for you
If you are based outside the UK, your business is based outside the UK and you supply goods or services to the UK, you must register for VAT regardless of turnover. The 90,000 pound threshold is for UK established businesses.
An accountant or solicitor can verify you instead
An Authorised Corporate Service Provider can verify your identity on your behalf. That is the route when the One Login app cannot read your documents from where you are.
Your email address goes on the confirmation statement, not on the public register
Companies House needs a working email and expects you to read what it sends. The address itself is not published.
From the notebook
Entries go up on the date shown. Each one is a filing, a date and what came back.
Due 2026-09-10
Can a non resident open a UK limited company
What the forms actually ask a director who has never been to the UK, and which answer gets an application rejected.
Due 2026-09-11
A UK business bank account when nobody lives here
Why the register is read before the application, and what a bank does with a company that has an overdue filing.
Due 2026-09-12
How long Companies House registration really takes
The published service times, the identity verification step in front of them, and where the days actually go.