If you form a limited company, you will take on a range of duties in your capacity as director. You will be responsible, for example, for fulfilling your firm’s filing obligations, such as delivering its annual accounts to both Companies House and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). To help you file your annual accounts properly, here is Turner Little’s guide to accounting reference dates.
Preparing accounts
We should note that after you create a limited firm, you will be informed of several key dates. The first two are your confirmation statement due date and your annual account due date. The third is your firm’s accounting reference date. You will need this date when preparing your annual accounts, which are designed to relay your business’ financial information to the relevant government bodies.
You must file annual accounts with Companies House and HMRC, whether your business is trading or not. You should submit your first set of accounts to these agencies no later than 21 months, following the formation of your business. The annual accounts that you submit following this initial set are then due at Companies House and HMRC nine months after your business’ accounting reference date.
Account referencing dates
Your firm’s accounting reference date basically informs you of what period your business’ accounts should cover. After a full year has passed since the creation of your business, its first accounts should apply to the period ranging from its incorporation to its accounting reference date. The following accounts should cover the period up to your next accounting reference date and so on.
You may be asking yourself at this point, “how is my accounting reference date decided?” The government automatically assigns your venture’s accounting reference date on the last day of the month of your incorporation. This means, for example, that if your firm was incorporated on the 3rd December, then your accounting reference date would fall on the 31st December.
Useful resources
If you wish to change you accounting reference date you can, but only under certain conditions. You can broaden the date to a maximum of 18 months once every five years, however you can shorten it as many times as you want to. You should send the applicable government form to Companies House if you wish to change your accounting reference date. You should note that if you have accounts which are overdue, you cannot change your company’s accounting reference date.
You will be extremely busy when you become a company director, devoting your time to making the business a success. You may not have time to file your annual accounts by your accounting reference date, but you must do so, or face the legal consequences. However, as part of our corporate services, Turner Little provides business administration services and a company secretary, who can conduct these tasks on your behalf, ensuring you can devote your valuable time to building a successful firm.
Turner Little
Turner Little was founded in 1998 and it has since become a well-established UK based professional Company Registration Agent, Registered Bank Intermediaries and Business Consultants, as well as Trust provider. You can receive our monthly newsletter by signing up using the form below.
