Deadlines & Responsibilities you need to be aware of after starting a limited company
For many, starting a new company will mean a new set of deadlines for paying tax and the first time preparing accounts for a company, not to mention all the new responsibilities of being a company director.
Here are the key events you need to be aware of in the first few months of you starting your new company:
- Filing Statutory Accounts at Companies House.
- For the first period, you must file the accounts within 21 months after the date you registered the company
- After this, the accounts will be due for filing at Companies House within 9 months of your year end.
- You can easily check the deadlines on the Companies House Register by looking up your company details and Companies House will also write to you about the filing date.
- Filing a Corporation Tax Return.
- Your company will have to declare its results on a Company Tax Return, known as a CT600. This is based on the company’s financial year end and there are two important dates you need to be aware of:
- Corporation Tax is payable 9 months and 1 day from the year end
- The CT600 is due for filing 12 months from the year end
- Your company will have to declare its results on a Company Tax Return, known as a CT600. This is based on the company’s financial year end and there are two important dates you need to be aware of:
However, as with the company accounts, the deadline for your first period may be different if the period is longer than 12 months, or if you did not start to trade on the same day your company was set up. If this is the case, it is best to ensure you check the deadline information provided by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) or speak to an accountant. You must also ensure you update HMRC if you start to trade on a date other than the day you set up the company.
- Confirmation Statement
- Around the anniversary of setting up your company, you will need to file a Confirmation Statement with Companies House and pay a filing fee of £13.
- The Confirmation Statement confirms the following:
- Directors and if applicable, company secretary
- Shareholders
- Persons with significant control
- Record-Keeping
- As a director you are required to maintain records and it is important you start to do this straight away. You can start with excel spreadsheets or use cloud accounting software, such as Xero.
- Bank Account
- You need to open a company bank account as soon as possible. If you are used to using your personal account for business expenses you will need to ensure you keep a record of these until you are able to use the company bank account.
- Set up a Government Gateway for the company
- This will ensure you can access the company Corporation Tax information and as your business grows you can add VAT services and so on.
Author: Helen Griffiths, Accounts and Audit Manager, Plus Accounting
Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal, belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of Plus Accounting. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site
Date published: 16 August 2021
Here are some useful links:
https://www.gov.uk/topic/company-registration-filing/running-company