Annual accounts
What accounts does my company have to file, and what goes in them?
Annual accounts are the yearly record of what your company earned and spent, and what it owns and owes. These entries explain which accounts your company files, what goes in them, and how they are filed.
Each entry below answers one question and lists the official sources it rests on.
Which regime applies
Is my company a micro-entity?
The three size limits for a micro-entity, how to measure each one, and why one year over the limits does not change your status.
Published
What is the difference between micro-entity and small company accounts?
How micro-entity accounts differ from small company accounts: the size limits, what each prepares, and what each files.
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What are dormant company accounts and who can file them?
What makes a company dormant for Companies House, what dormant accounts contain, and who can use form AA02.
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Which accounting standard applies to my company?
FRS 105 or FRS 102 Section 1A: who can use each, and how they change the figures and notes in your accounts.
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What the accounts contain
What do micro-entity accounts have to contain?
The balance sheet, profit and loss account, notes and statements that micro-entity accounts must have, and which parts you file.
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What is the audit exemption and what must I state to claim it?
Which companies need no audit, and the statements your balance sheet must carry to claim the exemption.
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How items are treated in micro-entity accounts
Can my company use the micro-entity accounting rules, or should it use the small company rules?
The three size tests for the micro-entity rules, who is excluded, and how they differ from the small company rules.
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What must a micro-entity's balance sheet, profit and loss account and notes contain?
The set layouts for a micro-entity's balance sheet and profit and loss account, the four notes, and how the accounts are signed.
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How are a micro-entity's fixed assets measured, and can it revalue them?
How a micro-entity records equipment and property at cost, depreciates it, writes it down, and treats depreciation for tax.
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How should a micro-entity account for intangible assets and goodwill?
How a micro-entity shows bought licences and goodwill, why home-made brands and logos are never assets, and how both are written off.
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How do I value my company's stock and unfinished work?
How a micro-entity values unsold stock and unfinished work at the year end, what counts as cost, and when to write stock down.
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How do I show money customers owe, bad debts and provisions?
How a micro-entity records money customers owe, writes down bad debts, and when a provision is allowed.
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How do accruals and prepayments work in my company's accounts?
How a micro-entity puts costs and income in the right year, including wages, holiday pay, bonuses, rent and customer deposits.
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How do I show a loan between my company and me in the accounts?
How a micro-entity records loans to and from its director, the note it must give, and when a loan to a director brings extra tax.
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How do I show a lease in my company's accounts?
How a micro-entity shows finance and operating leases, rent-free months and future lease payments in its accounts.
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How do I show a government grant in my company's accounts?
When a micro-entity records a government grant, how it spreads grants for costs and for assets, and how grants affect tax.
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Why do micro-entity accounts show no deferred tax?
Why a micro-entity's tax line holds current tax only, and what happens when depreciation and capital allowances differ.
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How do dividends show in my accounts, and how much can my company pay?
How a dividend reduces a micro-entity's reserves, when it becomes a debt, and how the law limits what your company can pay.
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Does a micro-entity have to disclose related party transactions?
Why micro-entity accounts need no related party note, and how to show a loan to a director.
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How do going concern and events after the year end affect a micro-entity's accounts?
When accounts assume your company will carry on, and which events after the year end change the figures.
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What happens when my company starts or stops using the micro-entity rules?
How to move onto the micro-entity rules, and why one year over the limits does not take you off them.
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Can a dormant company use the micro-entity accounting rules?
How a dormant company uses the micro-entity rules, what its accounts say, and when it stops being dormant.
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Filing at Companies House
When are my annual accounts due each year?
How to work out your accounts deadline to the day, what counts as filed, and when you can get more time.
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First accounts after incorporation
When are my first accounts due at Companies House?
How to work out the deadline for your company's first accounts, and what changes if you shorten or extend the first period.
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From other topics
Is my company dormant for Corporation Tax, for Companies House, or both?
The two meanings of dormant, how to tell HMRC, and what you still file with Companies House.
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What are the Companies House late filing penalties?
The four penalty bands for late accounts, the doubling rule, and how to avoid them.
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In preparation
Nothing is published under these headings yet.
- Software-only filing changes
Related topics
Every topic in TaxpediaDeadlines and penalties
The main filing and payment deadlines, and what happens if one is missed.
Corporation Tax
How the tax on your company's profits is worked out, reported and paid.
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These pages explain the rules in general terms. They are not advice about your company's own figures. When something here matters to a decision, check the official source we link to.