Statutory preparation
Financial statements prepared from your digital bookkeeping records under the rules that fit the company's size category.
Year-end accounts
Statutory year-end accounts, filed on time.
What the accounts you sign are used for
Year-end accounts are the legal record of your company's financial year. They dictate your Corporation Tax liability and prove to HMRC that your dividend extractions were legally supported by available profit.
We prepare the accounts under the rules that fit the company: the rules for the smallest companies (micro-entity) for the simplest cases, and the small-company rules above that. We reconcile your balance sheet, so issues like an overdrawn Director's Loan Account (DLA) are identified and resolved before they trigger the 33.75% S455 tax charge that applies if a director's overdrawn balance is not cleared within nine months of year-end. Where there are capital allowances to claim, we advise on timing and structure so you claim the relief available rather than missing it.
Want the figures before the year closes? A year-end report tells you what happened months ago. Many clients pair it with our management accounts service so the position is known throughout the year, not reconstructed at the close.
Three deadlines that follow your year-end date
Missing any of these is a breach of director duties and triggers automatic penalties. The filing dates are recorded in our practice management system, and the file is prepared before the deadline when the records and approvals are with us in time.
- Accounts filing
- After the company's financial year ends. Strict automatic penalties for late filing.
- Corporation Tax payment
- After the end of the accounting period. Paid to HMRC separately from the return itself.
- CT600 return
- After the end of the accounting period to file the formal Corporation Tax return.
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Companies House
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months
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HMRC
9
months
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HMRC
12
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What year-end accounts show
Year-end accounts are used to calculate the company's Corporation Tax bill and confirm that dividends were paid from available profits.
They also give HMRC a clear starting point if there is ever an enquiry.
Outside tax, they can support finance applications, show lenders how the business is performing, and give a buyer or investor a clear view of the company.
- Profit overstated
- If costs are missed off, profit looks higher than it was, and the Corporation Tax bill follows it up. The company ends up paying tax on profit it never earned.
- Reserves overstated
- Distributable reserves overstated mean the dividends already voted against them were unlawful. The company can claim them back, and the directors are personally liable for the shortfall.
- Balance sheet misclassified
- A misclassified balance-sheet position turns a routine HMRC compliance check into a full enquiry. The fix is preparing accounts knowing what each line is being used to prove.
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A clean set of accounts gives you reliable numbers for the following year.
What's covered at year-end
Corporation Tax return
Accurate preparation and submission of CT600 returns to HMRC, ensuring all capital allowances are correctly applied to reduce your bill.
Director Self Assessment
Your personal Self Assessment based on the same set of figures: the dividends declared and the salary run through PAYE, so the two returns line up rather than telling different stories.
Distributable reserves check
Reviewing your balance sheet to evidence that past dividends were legally supported by distributable reserves, with any shortfall flagged before it becomes an unlawful distribution.
Companies House filing
Submission of your accounts to the public register, prepared and signed off ahead of the 9-month statutory deadline rather than against it.
ACSP authorisation
As an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, we assist with mandatory ECCTA director identity verifications alongside your standard filings.
Year-end accounts questions
When must year end accounts be filed?
Year end accounts must be filed with Companies House within nine months of your company's financial year end to avoid automatic penalties.
What happens if accounts are filed late?
Companies House penalties for late filing start at £150 and rise to £1,500 for accounts filed more than six months late. We record the filing dates and prepare the accounts before the deadline, provided the records and approvals are with us in time.
Are year end accounts different from management accounts?
Yes. Year end accounts are statutory, backwards-looking documents formatted for HMRC and public record. Management accounts are internal reports prepared during the year to help directors make informed commercial decisions.
What is the difference between a micro-entity and a small company?
They are two different size categories under UK company law, and they decide how much detail your accounts have to disclose.
Micro-entity is the smallest tier: very simplified accounts, minimal notes, and no requirement for a directors' report on the public file. A company qualifies as a micro-entity if it meets two of these three: turnover not more than £1m, balance-sheet total not more than £500k, and not more than 10 employees on average.
Small company is the next tier up: more notes, a fuller balance sheet, but still abridged information on the Companies House public file. A company qualifies as small if it meets two of: turnover not more than £15m, balance-sheet total not more than £7.5m, and not more than 50 employees on average.
We confirm which category applies before each year-end and prepare the file to the right level.
What is an overdrawn Director's Loan Account (DLA)?
If you take more money out of the company than you have put in or are owed through salary or dividends, your DLA becomes overdrawn, effectively the company has lent you money. If the overdrawn balance is not repaid within nine months and one day of the company's year-end, S455 of the Corporation Tax Act applies a 33.75% temporary tax charge on the outstanding balance.
The charge is refundable once the loan is repaid, but the cash stays with HMRC until then. We review the DLA closely during account preparation, flag any overdrawn balance well before the deadline, and explain the options to clear it (a dividend declaration, a salary top-up, or a personal repayment).
Do I need to do anything before my year-end?
If your bookkeeping is up to date on cloud software, very little. We reconcile your records, review the balance sheet, and prepare everything. If you use our management accounts service, the year-end file is already close. Directors who maintain their own records should ensure bank feeds are connected and receipts are captured before year-end to avoid delays.
Keep reading
Plan your year-end before the deadline.
Starting from your accounting reference date, we go through what is still open before the year closes: timing of expenditure, capital allowance claims, director extraction, and any iXBRL or disclosure issues HMRC tends to flag.
Request a filing quote
Locations
Sheffield and Mansfield
Year-end and statutory accounts for UK limited companies in South Yorkshire, the East Midlands and across the UK, with the work run through secure cloud records and scheduled calls.