Companies House: What to File and When

At a glance

• What Companies House does: maintains the public register of UK companies; directors have a legal duty under the Companies Act 2006 to keep it accurate.
• Main filing families: incorporation (IN01), confirmation statement (CS01, annual), accounts (AA or abbreviated), director changes (AP01/TM01), PSC changes (PSC01 etc.), registered office (AD01), share allotments (SH01), charges (MR01), voluntary strike-off (DS01).
• Confirmation statement fee: £50 online (from 1 February 2026 — check GOV.UK for the current fee).
• Incorporation fee: £100 online (from 1 February 2026 — check GOV.UK for the current fee).
• Accounts deadline: 9 months after the accounting reference period end (private companies); 6 months (public companies).
• Late accounts penalty: £150 to £1,500 for private companies, doubling if late two years running.
• Identity verification: mandatory from 18 November 2025 (ECCTA 2023) for new directors and PSCs; existing directors and PSCs phase in through confirmation statements, with an estimated deadline of mid-November 2026 for all affected individuals.

What Companies House is and why it matters

Companies House is the registrar of companies for the United Kingdom. It holds the public register for every limited company, LLP, and certain other entities registered in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The register is publicly searchable — anyone can look up a company's directors, shareholders, accounts, charges, and registered address for free using the Find and Update Company Information service.

Because the register is public, accuracy is not merely administrative. Lenders, suppliers, customers, and counterparties routinely check Companies House before entering contracts. An inaccurate or out-of-date public record creates commercial risk as well as a legal one.

The legal duty to maintain the register falls on the company's directors under the Companies Act 2006. Persistent failure to file is a criminal offence and can also trigger:

• automatic civil penalties (late accounts)
• Companies House issuing a strike-off notice
• referral to the Insolvency Service for director disqualification proceedings

This page covers England and Wales. Some rules differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The main filing families

Companies House filings fall into five broad families. Understanding which family a task belongs to helps you identify the right form and deadline before anything goes wrong.

1. Incorporation

A company comes into existence when Companies House accepts form IN01 and issues a certificate of incorporation. The certificate gives the company its registered number and the date of incorporation, which is the date from which deadlines (including the first accounts deadline and the first confirmation statement review date) start running. From 1 February 2026 the online incorporation fee is £100 — check GOV.UK for the current fee.

Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023), all individuals named as directors or PSCs on an IN01 submitted on or after 18 November 2025 must have verified their identity before or at the point of filing.

2. Confirmation statement (annual review)

Every active company must file a confirmation statement (form CS01) at least once every 12 months. The statement confirms — or corrects — the information Companies House holds about:

• the company's registered office and SAIL address
• directors and secretaries
• the type of company and its SIC code
• the statement of capital and shareholder information
• people with significant control (PSCs)

The confirmation statement has a review date, which is either the anniversary of incorporation or the anniversary of the last confirmation statement. You have 14 days after the review date to file. The current online filing fee is £50 (from 1 February 2026 — check GOV.UK); there is no additional fee for further statements filed in the same payment year.

Nothing about the company needs to have changed for the statement to be required. Even a dormant company with identical details must file one each year or risk being struck off.

3. Annual accounts

Every company must prepare and deliver accounts to Companies House each year. The filing deadline is:

• Private companies: 9 months after the end of the accounting reference period
• Public companies: 6 months after the end of the accounting reference period
• First accounts (private company): 21 months from the date of incorporation

The accounting reference date is set automatically: for most companies it defaults to the last day of the month in which the first anniversary of incorporation falls. You can change it, but only within limits set by the Companies Act 2006.

Late accounts penalties for private companies (check GOV.UK for current amounts):

| How late | Penalty (private company) | |----------|---------------------------| | Up to 1 month | £150 | | 1 to 3 months | £375 | | 3 to 6 months | £750 | | More than 6 months | £1,500 |

The penalty doubles if accounts are filed late in two consecutive financial years. Public companies face higher penalty amounts.

The filing requirements — what the accounts must contain — depend on the company's size. Small companies and micro-entities have simplified options under the Companies Act 2006, but these are separate from the filing deadline obligations.

4. People with significant control (PSCs)

Since April 2016, almost every UK company has been required to maintain a register of people with significant control and to file that information at Companies House. A PSC is broadly any individual (or entity) that:

• holds more than 25% of shares or voting rights in the company
• has the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board, or
• otherwise exercises significant influence or control

The obligation sits in Part 21A of the Companies Act 2006. Changes to PSC information must be notified to Companies House within 14 days of the company confirming the change. The relevant forms are PSC01 (new individual PSC), PSC02 (new corporate entity PSC), PSC04 (change of details), and PSC07 (cessation).

Under ECCTA 2023, PSCs must now also verify their identity with Companies House. See the section on identity verification below.

5. Director, registered office and share capital changes

Most changes to a company's internal structure require a prompt filing:

| Event | Form | Deadline | |-------|------|----------| | Appoint an individual director | AP01 | 14 days | | Appoint a corporate director | AP02 | 14 days | | Director resignation or removal | TM01 (individual) / TM02 (corporate) | 14 days | | Change registered office | AD01 | File promptly; takes effect on registration | | Change company name | NM01 | File promptly | | Allot new shares | SH01 | 1 month | | Register a charge (mortgage over company assets) | MR01 | 21 days from creation | | Second filing to correct an error | RP04 | No fixed deadline, but file promptly |

The 14-day deadline for director changes runs from the date the appointment or termination takes effect — not the date the board resolution is passed. Getting this wrong is a common source of late filings.

Identity verification under ECCTA 2023

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduced mandatory identity verification for individuals who interact with Companies House. This is the most significant change to company registration since it was established in 1844.

What changed and when

• From 8 April 2025: voluntary identity verification opened. Individuals could verify using GOV.UK One Login or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP).
• From 18 November 2025: mandatory verification for new incorporations and new appointments. Any individual named as a director or PSC on a filing made from this date must be verified (or have verification in progress through an ACSP) before or at the point of filing.
• Transition period — through mid-November 2026: existing directors and PSCs are phased in. When you next file your company's confirmation statement, all directors will need to provide their Companies House personal code (obtained after verifying). Companies House estimates that around 6 to 7 million individuals need to verify during this 12-month window.

How to verify

There are two routes:

1. GOV.UK One Login — free, completed online. You will need a passport or UK driving licence and the ability to take a photograph.
2. Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) — accountants, solicitors, and company formation agents can verify on your behalf. A fee may apply.

Once verified, you receive a personal Companies House verification code that you use when making filings or when your company's confirmation statement is due.

What happens if you do not verify

From the point at which verification becomes mandatory for your situation, continuing to act as a director or PSC without complying may constitute a criminal offence under ECCTA 2023. Companies House has the power to annotate the register to flag unverified individuals.

Full guidance is on GOV.UK at Verifying your identity for Companies House.

Filing online versus by paper

Most routine filings can be made through the Companies House online filing service. Online filings are processed significantly faster than paper, and a number of reforms under ECCTA 2023 are being phased in online first. You will need the company's authentication code to file online; if you have lost it, you can request a new one from Companies House.

Paper filings remain available for some forms and situations, but processing times are longer. From 1 February 2026, some paper filing fees are higher than their online equivalents — check GOV.UK for the current fee schedule before choosing how to file.

Correcting mistakes

If a filing contains an error, the correction route depends on the type of form:

• Second filings (RP04): available where the original contained factually incorrect information. Filing an RP04 does not remove the original from the register — both appear publicly.
• Updated versions of the original form: for some changes (such as a director's service address), you simply file a corrected version.
• Annotation requests: Companies House can annotate the register to note that a document is disputed, but it cannot remove a document at a director's request alone.

Using the wrong correction route can make the public record more confusing. If in doubt, check the guidance or take advice before filing anything new.

Voluntary strike-off and closure

A solvent company that is no longer needed can apply to be struck off using form DS01. The conditions include:

• the company has not traded, changed its name, or disposed of property for value in the three months before applying
• a majority of directors must sign the form
• copies must be sent to all interested parties (creditors, employees, shareholders, pension trustees) within seven days of applying

The current DS01 filing fee is £13 online (paper £18) from 1 February 2026 — check GOV.UK for the current fee. On strike-off, any assets remaining in the company vest in the Crown as bona vacantia. Bank accounts, domain names, and other assets should be dealt with before applying.

Insolvent companies cannot use the voluntary strike-off route. They must go through a formal insolvency process — either a creditors' voluntary liquidation or a compulsory winding-up — which involves a licensed insolvency practitioner.

Keeping your statutory registers

The Companies House public register and your company's own statutory registers are related but separate. The statutory registers — register of directors, register of members, register of PSCs — are private company records. They must be kept at the registered office (or at a single alternative inspection location notified to Companies House) and must be accurate.

When you file a change at Companies House, update your internal registers at the same time. If there is ever a discrepancy, both the public record and the internal register may need to be corrected, which takes longer and creates more paperwork.

Where to get help

• GOV.UK guidance: Running a limited company is the government's official starting point.
• Companies House contact centre: can answer process questions and help with authentication codes.
• Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs): accountants and company formation agents handle routine filings on behalf of companies and can verify identities under ECCTA 2023.
• Legal advice: for non-routine situations — director disputes, share allotments with complex terms, charge registration issues, or potential strike-off consequences — a legal adviser can help you get it right first time.

This guide provides general information about Companies House obligations for companies registered in England and Wales. It is not legal advice. The information reflects the law and practice as at June 2026 and is subject to change — always check GOV.UK for the latest guidance before filing.

Last reviewed: June 2026 · Next review due: June 2027 or on legislative change.