If convicted, a director could end up with a criminal record and a potentially unlimited fine for each offence. This is separate from any late filing penalty imposed on the company. There are also a variety of software providers which offer a range of accounting packages to prepare and file accounts.
If you have prepared micro-entity or small company audit exempt accounts you may be able to file them using the Company accounts and tax online CATO service. The joint filing option will allow you to submit audit exempt accounts of the following types to both organisations:. If filing on paper, you must get your accounts to us in plenty of time before your filing deadline - you will not be given any extra time if they are rejected.
You can also include the name and number on any cover sheet delivered with the accounts. You must include the printed name of the person who signed the balance sheet - even if the signature is legible.
Companies House will reject your accounts if you do not meet these requirements. If you prepare accounts in another language, you must also send with them a certified translation into English.
If the company is registered in Wales, you can choose to send your accounts in Welsh without an English translation. Companies can also send voluntary certified translations in an official language of the EU. A voluntary translation must include a completed form VT There are 3 classifications of company size to consider when preparing your accounts - small, medium or large.
To determine whether your company is a micro-entity, small or medium-sized, there are thresholds for:. Any companies that do not meet the criteria for micro-entities, small or medium are large companies. Large companies must prepare and submit full accounts. Micro-entities can prepare and file a balance sheet with less information than for a small, medium or large company. Additionally, a micro-entity can benefit from the exemptions available to small companies such as:.
Micro-entities still need to send accounts to their members and file accounts at Companies House. If you think your company qualifies as a micro-entity, you may wish to consult a professional accountant before you prepare micro-entity accounts.
You cannot prepare and submit micro-entity accounts if your company is or was at any time during the financial year :. Generally, a company qualifies as a micro-entity in its first financial year if it meets the conditions in that year. In any following years, a company must meet the conditions in that year and the year before.
If a company qualified as a micro-entity in one year, but no longer meets the criteria in the next year - it may continue to claim the exemptions available in the next year. If that company then reverts back to being a micro-entity by meeting the conditions in the following year the exemption will continue uninterrupted. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the micro-entity provisions. It should also appear in the original accounts - not only the copy sent to Companies House.
A micro-entity may claim audit exemption as a small company. If it meets the qualification criteria for the exemption, it may submit unaudited accounts. Some companies must have an audit and cannot take advantage of audit exemption.
A small company can prepare and submit accounts according to special provisions in the Companies Act and the relevant regulations. This means they can choose to disclose less information than medium and large companies. For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January , a small company must meet at least 2 of the following conditions:. You cannot prepare and submit small company accounts if the company is, or was at any time during the financial year:.
Generally, a company qualifies as small in its first financial year if it meets the conditions in that year. If a company qualified as small in one year, but no longer meets the criteria in the next year - it may continue to claim the exemptions available in the next year.
If that company then reverts back to being small by meeting the conditions in the following year the exemption will continue uninterrupted. For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January , a group of companies must meet at least 2 of the following conditions to qualify as small:. Generally, a group qualifies as small in its first financial year if it meets the conditions in that year.
In any following years, a group must meet the conditions in that year and the year before. If a group qualified as small in one year, but no longer meets the criteria in the next year - it may continue to claim the exemptions available in the next year.
If that group then reverts back to being small by meeting the conditions in the following year the exemption will continue uninterrupted. If you choose not to deliver a copy of the profit and loss, the company must state this on the balance sheet. You can find more information on the detailed format and content of accounts for small companies in the relevant regulations.
The Companies, Partnerships and Groups Accounts and Reports Regulations introduced abridged accounts - and ended abbreviated accounts. This means that abbreviated accounts cannot be prepared and filed for accounting periods starting on or after 1 January Abridged accounts contain a balance sheet with a sub-set of the information included in a full balance sheet.
The profit and loss account may also contain a sub-set of the information included in a full profit and loss account. Companies must now prepare and file the same set of accounts for its members and Companies House.
This means that a company will decide when preparing the accounts whether or not to abridge them or to prepare micro entity accounts. Previously a company would prepare full accounts for its members, and would then decide whether or not to abbreviate them for Companies House.
If you choose to file an abridged balance sheet, profit and loss account, or both - you must include a statement on the balance sheet that:. The members have agreed to the preparation of abridged accounts for this accounting period in accordance with section 2A. It does not have to contain a business review or strategic report or a statement of the amount the directors recommend be paid by way of dividend.
Small companies can also usually claim exemption from audit and submit unaudited accounts - if they meet the qualification criteria. In this case they must make the following disclosures in the notes to their accounts:. A parent company does not have to prepare group accounts or submit them to Companies House if the group qualifies as small and is not ineligible.
If you prepare group accounts, they must contain a statement on the balance sheet above the signature and printed name confirming that:.
If a company qualifies as a micro-entity, it also qualifies as a small company - so it can also take advantage of this exemption. For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January , to qualify for audit exemption a company must qualify as small during that financial year. Even if a small company meets these criteria, it must still have its accounts audited if demanded by:.
The demand for the audit of the accounts should be in the form of a notice to the company, deposited at the registered office at least one month before the end of the financial year in question. If a small company qualifies for audit exemption, it can submit unaudited accounts to Companies House. Previously, there were different thresholds for audit exemption for Northern Ireland charitable companies.
Companies with financial years beginning on or after 1 January may claim audit exemption if they meet the same criteria as other UK companies. This replaces the previous thresholds for Northern Ireland charitable companies for financial years beginning on or after 1 January For financial years beginning before 1 January , the thresholds to claim audit exemption for a small Northern Ireland charitable company remain:.
Alternatively, for financial years beginning before 1 January , a charity may be partially exempt from the requirement for an audit if there is a suitable accountants report to the accounts and the company meets both the following conditions in respect of a financial year:.
Charitable companies in England and Wales or Scotland will qualify for audit exemption under company law in the same way as any other company.
Check with The Charity Commission for more information about audit requirements. A medium-sized company can prepare accounts according to special provisions applicable to medium-sized companies. It can also choose to submit reduced information to Companies House. If you think your company might qualify as medium-sized, you should consider consulting a professional accountant before you prepare accounts.
A company cannot be treated as a medium-sized company if it is, or was at any time during the financial year:. Generally, a company qualifies as medium-sized in its first financial year if it meets the conditions in that year.
If a company qualified as medium-sized in one year, but no longer meets the criteria in the next year - it may continue to claim the exemptions available in the next year. If that company then reverts back to being medium-sized by meeting the conditions in the following year the exemption will continue uninterrupted.
A medium-sized company must deliver all of the component parts of their accounts to Companies House. Also a medium-sized company which is part of an ineligible group can still take advantage of the exemption from disclosing non-financial key performance indicators in the business review or strategic report. Medium-sized companies preparing Companies Act accounts may omit disclosure with respect to compliance with accounting standards and related party transactions from the accounts they send to their members.
Medium-sized companies preparing Companies Act accounts may choose to file a slightly reduced version of the profit and loss account see regulation 4 of The Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups Accounts and Reports Regulations Some subsidiary companies may be exempt from audit if they meet the conditions for subsidiary company audit exemption.
There are no special rules for medium-sized groups. A medium-sized parent company must prepare group accounts and submit them to Companies House. A significant accounting transaction is one which the company should enter in its accounting records. Dormant companies may claim exemption from audit in accordance with section of the Companies Act A dormant company is exempt from audit for that financial year if it has been dormant since its formation.
A company is also exempt from audit if it has been dormant since the end of the previous financial year and meets the following conditions:. In certain circumstances, a dormant company that is also a subsidiary can claim exemption from preparing accounts, filing accounts at Companies House, or both. Unaudited dormant accounts are much simpler than accounts for a trading company, but must contain:.
A private company that qualifies as small should also include the following statement on the balance sheet:. File your dormant accounts online. There are built-in checks which include all the required statements and prevent common errors. How to file your dormant accounts online. If your company is dormant and has not traded since incorporation, you can also file a paper form AA02 - but it takes much longer to process paper documents sent to us by post. The paper AA02 form is not suitable for every dormant company.
For example, dormant subsidiary companies cannot file a form AA02 - the form does not include the specific details they have to submit. This form is also not suitable for companies that became dormant after trading.
In this case, you will need to prepare dormant accounts. You have the same time allowed to file dormant accounts as for other accounts. The same late filing penalties apply to dormant accounts. If this happens, you might have to submit full accounts for the financial year in which the company ceased to be exempt - and the directors might need to appoint auditors for the company. However, the company might qualify for exemptions as a small company.
You can also claim exemption from audit as a subsidiary company. Some parent or subsidiary companies must have an audit and cannot take advantage of audit exemption. The parent company can file a package of supporting documents for its subsidiaries instead of sending us accounts. The package consists of 3 documents:. The agreement is a written notice of consent that all members of the subsidiary company agree to the exemption for the financial year. It must clearly show the:.
Form AA06 is a statement from the parent company that it guarantees the subsidiary for the financial year. The guarantee is made under either:. The exemption takes effect when we accept all 3 documents. Currently, you can only file these documents on paper. To help us get your documents to the correct team and avoid processing delays, you could include a covering letter to explain:.
A parent company or subsidiary company qualifies for audit exemption if one or more of the following applies:. In certain circumstances, a subsidiary may claim exemption from audit if its parent is established under the law of any part of the UK.
The statement must also include details of the section of the Companies Act under which the guarantee is being given:. The guarantee has the effect that the parent undertaking guarantees all outstanding liabilities that the subsidiary is subject to at the end of the financial year.
The subsidiary company must include statements on the balance sheet of its individual accounts to the effect that:. An auditor must be appointed for each financial year, unless the directors reasonably resolve otherwise on the ground that audited accounts are unlikely to be required. The rules are different for public and private companies.
For public companies, the directors appoint the first auditor of the company. The auditor then holds office until the end of the first meeting of the company, where the directors lay its accounts before the members. At that meeting, the members of the company can re-appoint the auditor, or appoint a different auditor, to hold office from the end of that meeting until the end of the next meeting at which the directors lay accounts.
For private companies, the directors appoint the first auditor of the company. An audit includes examination of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the directors in preparing the financial statements. The auditors must sign and date the report they provide to the company upon completion of the audit. They must also print their name. They must also date the signature.
An auditor must be independent of the company. This means you cannot appoint a person as an auditor if they are:. Not all members of a recognised supervisory body are eligible to act as an auditor. The appropriate supervisory body will be able to tell you whether a particular individual or firm has a current audit-practising certificate. The Professional Oversight Board recognises these bodies as having rules designed to ensure that auditors are of the appropriate professional competence.
Each recognised body has strict regulations and a disciplinary code to govern the conduct of their registered auditors. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Subject again to those ethical standards, there is nothing to stop a company employing an auditor for other purposes such as keeping the books or compiling the tax return if they do not take part in the management of the company.
The members of a company may remove an auditor from office at any time during their term of office. They or the directors must give 28 days notice of their intention to put to a general meeting a resolution to remove the auditor. The company must register a form AA03 at Companies House within 14 days of the resolution being passed to remove the auditor.
Although a company may remove an auditor from office at any time, the auditor may be entitled to compensation or damages for termination of appointment. For a private company, the members can prevent the reappointment of an auditor by ordinary resolution. The notices must be received before the end of the accounting reference period preceding the deemed reappointment. We also have templates covering declarations of beneficial ownership; these can be accessed here. You will be asked what you want to do with the file.
It is recommended that you save the document to a location of your choice prior to viewing. Statutory Register of Members. Register of Members basic. The Register of Members must state: the name and address of each member; the date on which each person was registered as a member; the date on which any person ceased to be a member; number and class of shares held by each member, and the amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid on the shares of each member.
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