Every year a UK registered Limited Company need to make sure that the details that Companies House holds on the company are correct. Once you’ve checked them you have to let Companies House know and you do this by sending them a confirmation statement. Companies House will remind the directors / owners of a Limited Company when the confirmation statement is due. If you have forgotten what details Companies House has for your company it is very easy to find them. Just click on find company information on Companies House website and enter your company name or number.
All company must file confirmation statement online
If any of the information held by Companies House for your Company is out of date you must update your records either when you file a confirmation statement or beforehand for some changes. For example changes to some things such as shares in the company or its business activities can be made at the same time but other changes like telling Companies House about a new director or a new address have to be made before you confirm your records are up to date. If nothing has changed you still need to confirm this by sending Companies House the statement. Even if your company hasn’t traded or is dormant Companies House need this information from you by law and it is a criminal offense not to provide it on time.
Easier to file confirmation statement online
Companies and their officers who don’t file their confirmation statement on time may be prosecuted and the company may also be struck off the Companies House register. The quickest, easiest and cheapest way to do it is to file it online. Just register for Companies House service and you are good to go.
Confirmation statement Annual return
The confirmation statement was introduced in June 2016 and it basically replaced the annual return that companies have to fill in every year. The difference between the confirmation statement and the old annual return is that the confirmation statement is more a check that the information companies house holds on a Limited Company is still the same. So rather than having to figure out all the information every year it is just a confirmation to say that nothing has changed and that it is all exactly as it was.
The first confirmation statement is tricky
The first confirmation statement that a business has to submit is slightly different from the ones going forward. The difference between the first confirmation statement that a company has to submit and the subsequent ones is that the company has to include information about people involved in the business who have significant control over the Limited Company. Once that has been done, as long as there are no changes to the business then you just have to confirm that everything is as it was.
There is only a 14 day grace period
The other changes between the new confirmation statement and the old annual return is that there was a 28 days grace period after your due date to file an annual return. This has now been reduced to 14 days. In effect the deadline for filing a confirmation statement is a bit tighter than the old annual return. So you need to make sure that you’re on top of it.
An accountant can help with confirmation statement
Filing the confirmation statement of a company is the legal responsibility of the company owners, directors and company secretaries. Apart from the very first confirmation statement of a company, it is not a difficult task to execute. However most businesses will leave their accountant to submit their confirmation statement for them. We at Alexander Ene do it all the time for most of our clients and we are quite happy to provide this service for any new clients. For anyone who needs help with confirmation statements or any other service that we provide, email or call us for an initial consultation.
