A missed accounts deadline can create avoidable cost and worry, even where your company is trading well. If you are asking when are company accounts due, the answer depends on whether you mean filing accounts with Companies House, paying Corporation Tax, or submitting your Company Tax Return to HMRC. They are related tasks, but they do not share the same deadline.
For most private limited companies, annual accounts must reach Companies House no later than nine months after the company’s financial year end. Leaving this until the last week is rarely a good idea. Year-end accounts rely on complete bookkeeping, reconciled bank records and clear answers to queries, so a little preparation protects both your compliance position and your peace of mind.
When are company accounts due at Companies House?
A private limited company usually has nine months from its accounting reference date – effectively its financial year end – to file statutory accounts at Companies House.
For example, if your year end is 31 March 2026, your accounts are normally due by 31 December 2026. If your year end is 31 December 2026, the filing deadline will usually be 30 September 2027.
Public limited companies have a shorter deadline of six months after their year end. Most owner-managed businesses and contractors operate through private limited companies, so the nine-month rule will be the one that applies most often.
The deadline is the date by which Companies House must receive acceptable accounts, not the day you begin preparing them. Accounts filed online are normally processed quickly, but a technical issue, a rejected submission or incomplete information can still cause a late filing. Paper filing takes longer and gives you less room for error.
Your first company accounts have a different deadline
First accounts can be more confusing because a new company’s first accounting period may be longer than 12 months. In most cases, first accounts are due the later of:
- 21 months after the date of incorporation; or
- three months after the accounting reference date.
Suppose a company is incorporated on 10 July 2026 and has a first accounting reference date of 31 July 2027. Its first accounts would generally be due by 10 April 2028, which is 21 months after incorporation.
The first period is also where accounting and Corporation Tax dates can become disconnected. Companies House may allow a period longer than 12 months for statutory accounts, but the Corporation Tax accounting period is normally limited to 12 months. This can mean more than one Company Tax Return is needed for your first set of accounts.
Companies House filing is not the same as your HMRC deadline
Company directors often assume that filing annual accounts completes every year-end obligation. In practice, there are usually three separate dates to manage.
Your statutory accounts are filed with Companies House, usually within nine months of the year end. Your Corporation Tax is generally payable to HMRC nine months and one day after the end of your Corporation Tax accounting period. Your Company Tax Return, also known as a CT600, is normally due 12 months after the end of that accounting period.
Using a 31 March year end as an example, Corporation Tax is usually due by 1 January of the following year, while the CT600 is usually due by 31 March. The Companies House accounts deadline is 31 December. The tax payment deadline therefore arrives first.
This distinction matters for cash flow. A business can file its accounts on time at Companies House but still incur interest and potential penalties if Corporation Tax has not been paid by the HMRC deadline. Equally, paying the tax does not remove the need to submit the CT600 and statutory accounts.
For larger companies, Corporation Tax may be payable by instalments, rather than under the usual nine-month-and-one-day rule. Associated companies can also affect the thresholds. If your business is growing quickly, this is worth reviewing early rather than treating tax as a year-end calculation.
What happens if company accounts are late?
Companies House automatically issues a late filing penalty when private company accounts are filed after the deadline. The penalty increases according to how late the accounts are:
- up to one month late: £150;
- more than one month but no more than three months late: £375;
- more than three months but no more than six months late: £750;
- more than six months late: £1,500.
If accounts are late for two consecutive financial years, the penalty is doubled. Companies House has limited discretion, so being busy, changing accountant or experiencing internal staffing issues will not normally be accepted as a reason to cancel the charge.
More importantly, repeated late filing can affect how customers, lenders, suppliers and potential investors view the company. Public records showing overdue accounts can raise questions about financial control, even when the underlying business is sound.
Late HMRC submissions and unpaid Corporation Tax carry their own consequences, including penalties and interest. For directors, the real cost is not simply a fine. It is the disruption of trying to rebuild records under pressure while managing normal trading commitments.
How to find your exact company accounts due date
Your filing deadline is shown on the Companies House register for your company. This is a useful starting point, particularly if you have changed your year end previously or inherited a company with an established accounting reference date.
However, do not rely on that date alone as your internal timetable. Set a preparation date several months earlier. For a typical small limited company, the accounts process works best when bookkeeping is up to date throughout the year and the year-end work begins soon after the period closes.
You should also check whether the deadline relates to a shortened or extended accounting period. A company can change its accounting reference date in certain circumstances, but the rules are specific and changes cannot simply be made whenever a deadline becomes inconvenient. Shortening a period may be useful when aligning group companies or moving to a more practical year end; extending one can affect filing dates and tax administration.
A better way to prepare for year-end accounts
The accounts deadline is only the final point in a process. Good records make that process quicker, more accurate and more useful to you as a business owner.
Start by ensuring all bank and credit card accounts are reconciled, sales invoices and supplier bills are recorded, and payroll and VAT figures agree with your accounting system. Review unpaid customer invoices too. This is not just an accounting task: it tells you what cash is genuinely available and where debt collection action may be needed.
Next, gather year-end information early. This may include finance agreements, asset purchases, stock figures, mileage records, pension contributions, director loan transactions and details of dividends. The exact information needed depends on your business, but delays often arise because transactions have not been explained or supporting documents cannot be found.
Digital bookkeeping gives you a clearer view throughout the year, but it still needs regular attention. Bank feeds and receipt capture reduce data entry, yet they cannot always identify whether a cost is allowable for tax, whether a payment is personal, or how a director loan should be treated. Professional review remains valuable because the decisions behind the entries matter.
Do dormant companies still need to file accounts?
Usually, yes. A dormant company normally still needs to file dormant accounts with Companies House and submit a confirmation statement each year. If HMRC considers the company dormant for Corporation Tax purposes, it may not require a Company Tax Return, but this should not be assumed where the company has traded, received income or has other taxable activity.
A company that has stopped trading can still have filing obligations until it is formally dissolved. Ignoring those obligations can result in penalties and, in some cases, action against the company or its directors. A planned closure is far less stressful when final accounts, tax returns and company records are dealt with in the right order.
Give yourself time to use the numbers
Accounts should not be treated as a document produced solely because Companies House requires it. Prepared early, they can help you assess profitability, identify rising costs, plan tax payments and decide whether the business has capacity to invest, recruit or increase drawings.
Stewart Accounting Services helps business owners turn year-end compliance into clearer financial decisions, with practical support that keeps deadlines visible and records under control. The earlier your accounts work begins, the more time you have to act on what the figures are telling you – rather than simply filing them and moving on.