What are year end accounts for a limited company?
Year end accounts, also called statutory accounts, are the financial statements a limited company must prepare after the end of each accounting period. They typically include a balance sheet, notes to the accounts, and for small and medium companies a profit and loss account, and must be filed with Companies House and usually submitted to HMRC alongside your CT600.
The format required depends on your company's size. Most small limited companies qualify as either a micro-entity or a small company, which lets them file a simplified version of their accounts rather than full statutory accounts.
How much do year end accounts cost for a small limited company?
Our fee for micro-entity accounts, which include the CT600, starts from £549 + VAT. If your company is a small company preparing accounts under FRS 102 1A rather than the micro-entity regime, our fee starts from £749 + VAT, also including the CT600.
The exact fee depends on the complexity of your company's transactions and records; we confirm the price before you commit to anything.
When are my limited company accounts due at Companies House?
Private limited company accounts are due at Companies House 9 months after the end of your company's accounting period. Missing this deadline results in an automatic late filing penalty, which starts at £150 for filing up to 1 month late, rising to £375 for 1–3 months, £750 for 3–6 months, and £1,500 for more than 6 months, doubling if you file late in two consecutive years.
We build in time before the 9-month deadline to prepare, review and get your sign-off, so accounts are filed comfortably ahead of the cut-off.
What is the deadline for my first accounts after incorporation?
Your first set of accounts after incorporation is due 21 months after your date of incorporation, rather than 9 months after a year end, because your first accounting period doesn't finish until Companies House sets your accounting reference date.
After that first filing, the normal 9-month rule applies to every subsequent set of accounts. It's easy to miss this first, longer deadline simply because it doesn't follow the usual pattern, so we flag it early for new companies.
What is the difference between statutory accounts and management accounts?
Statutory accounts are the formal, legally required financial statements filed with Companies House and used as the basis for your CT600, prepared under a recognised accounting standard such as the micro-entity regime or FRS 102. Management accounts are informal financial reports, often produced monthly or quarterly, used internally to track performance and are not filed anywhere.
Year end accounts are always statutory accounts. If you also want regular management accounts to help run the business during the year, that's a separate, optional service.
Micro-entity and small company thresholds
For periods starting on or after 6 April 2025, a company qualifies as a micro-entity if it meets two of three conditions: turnover of £1 million or less, a balance sheet total of £500,000 or less, and 10 or fewer employees on average.
A company qualifies as small if it meets two of three conditions: turnover of £15 million or less, a balance sheet total of £7.5 million or less, and 50 or fewer employees. We check which regime applies to your company as part of preparing your accounts.
Changes to company accounts filing you should know about
Director identity verification has been required at Companies House since 18 November 2025, and from April 2028 accounts filing will move to software-only submission, with small and micro companies required to file a profit and loss account (though they can opt out of it being made public) and abridged accounts being removed as an option.
We are an independent firm of Chartered Accountants, not Companies House or HMRC.