Confirmation Statement UK: CS01 Filing Guide 2026

Overview

A confirmation statement is the filing that replaced the old annual return back in June 2016, following the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. Rather than asking you to resubmit all your company details every year, it works on a 'check and confirm' basis: you review the information Companies House holds about your company and tell them it's still correct, or update anything that's changed.

The statement covers the core public record of your company. That typically includes the registered office address, details of directors and any company secretary, the shareholders and share capital, your SIC codes describing what the business does, people with significant control (PSCs), and where the statutory registers are kept.

If none of it has changed, you simply confirm the record is accurate. If something has moved on during the review period, some changes go on the CS01 itself while others need their own separate form first. Every active or dormant private limited company, LLP, and community interest company has to file one at least once every 12 months.

Key steps

1. Work out your review period and due date. Your first review period starts on the day the company was incorporated and runs for 12 months. After that, each review period begins the day after the last confirmation statement date. You then have 14 days from the end of that period to file. Check the exact dates on your company's Companies House record so you don't drift.
2. Review what Companies House currently holds. Pull up your company on the Companies House public register and read through the information line by line. Look at the registered office, officers, PSCs, share capital and SIC codes. Make a note of anything that is out of date, because some updates have to be made through separate forms before the confirmation statement itself is submitted.
3. File any separate change forms first. Changes to directors, secretaries, the registered office, or PSC details can't be made on the CS01 itself. These need their own forms (for example AP01 for a new director, TM01 for a resignation, CH01 for a change of director's details, or AD01 for a change of registered office). File those first, then move on to the confirmation statement.
4. Complete and submit the CS01. On the CS01 you confirm or update SIC codes, statement of capital, shareholder information for the review period, and trading status of shares on a market. Most companies file online through the Companies House WebFiling service, which is quicker and cheaper than posting a paper form. You pay a filing fee when you submit, and the amount depends on whether you file online or by post (check gov.uk for the current amount).
5. Keep a record and diarise the next one. Once filed, download or save the receipt and the updated public record for your own files. Put a reminder in your calendar for the next review period end date so the following year's filing doesn't creep up on you. Many small companies get caught out simply because nobody owned the date internally.

Common questions