Companies House late filing penalties — the real cost

The two main filings

Annual accounts

Every UK Ltd company must file accounts with Companies House. The deadline:

• First accounts (new company): 21 months from incorporation date
• Subsequent accounts: 9 months after your accounting year-end

Small companies can file abbreviated accounts (less detail public). Micro-entities can file even simpler accounts. But the deadline is the same.

Confirmation statement (CS01)

A snapshot of who owns the company, who runs it, and where it's registered. Filed annually within 14 days of each anniversary of incorporation (or of the previous statement). Costs £34 online (£62 paper).

Annual accounts — penalties

Automatic. No appeal except in extreme circumstances. Doubled if you also filed late the previous year.

Doubled for second consecutive late filing. So a small company filing 1 month late two years running pays £300 the second time.

Confirmation statement — no fine, bigger risk

No automatic financial penalty. But Companies House will write to you, then start the strike-off process if you persistently ignore them. Being struck off means:

• The company ceases to exist legally
• All assets pass to the Crown (bona vacantia)
• Restoration costs £100+ and takes months
• Bank accounts get frozen
• You can't trade in the company name

So while no immediate fine, the consequences are bigger. Every Ltd company should file their confirmation statement annually — it's £34 to keep your company alive.

Other deadlines that exist

• PSC (Persons of Significant Control) changes: file within 14 days of the change
• Director appointments / resignations: 14 days
• Registered office change: 14 days
• Share allotments: 1 month
• Mortgages / charges: 21 days

None of these have direct financial penalties, but they all have legal consequences if ignored — share certificates dated wrongly, charges that don't secure properly, directors still legally liable for the company because they didn't formally resign.

How to never see a penalty

• Calendar both annual events on Day 0. The day your company is incorporated, add confirmation statement (incorporation + 1 year + 14 days) and annual accounts (incorporation + 21 months) to your calendar. Then refresh annually.
• File 1 month early. Pre-filing relieves the stress. Companies House processes returns within 24 hours typically.
• Use a system that tracks the dates for you. The deadlines are predictable; missing them is a process failure, not a knowledge gap.
• If you're going to be late: file extension request before the deadline.Companies House sometimes grants extensions for genuine reasons (illness, accountant died, etc.) — but only if you ask before the deadline passes.

If you're already late

1. File immediately — the penalty stops escalating.
2. Pay the penalty when invoiced (usually 4-6 weeks after).
3. If you have a legitimate appeal (HMRC investigation prevented filing, etc.), submit it in writing within 14 days of the penalty notice. Most appeals are rejected.
4. If you're multi-year delinquent and facing strike-off: file everything you owe, pay all penalties, then ask Companies House for a discretionary remission.

The pattern that catches founders

First year is fine — accountant nudges you. Year 2, you change accountants or go DIY, and the confirmation statement slips because you didn't know the date. Year 3, you get a strike-off warning and panic-file. By then you might owe £1,500 in accounts penalties too.

The fix isn't knowledge. It's having a system that surfaces the deadline before it passes. Every accounting platform should do this — most don't.