Companies House: What’s It All About?

Guest Blog by John T Hughes

If you have set up a business in the United Kingdom then you’ll have heard about Companies House, however many people are often confused about their purpose.This article covers the who, the what and the why.

Who they are?

Companies House are an Executive Agency of the UK Government, they are the Registrar of Companies in the UK. It is permitted by The UK Companies Act that all forms of companies must be registered with them and file details accordingly.

Where they are?

England and Wales are viewed as one by The Companies House whereas Scotland and Northern Ireland are taken as separate entities. Companies in Wales can choose whether they are ‘Registered in England and Wales’ or ‘Registered in Wales’ whereas others are registered solely by country eg. ‘Registered in Scotland’.

Their office for Wales is in Cardiff, the office for the UK is in London (this office is purely used for the review and filing of documents), the Scotland office in is Edinburgh and the Ireland office in Belfast however this is a satellite office.

What is required of companies from The Companies House?

Legitimate Companies must be registered and provide an official address which Companies House must be advised of. An officer must also be appointed and details of any shareholders and their share capital given.

Those limited companies registered with Companies House, regardless of whether they are trading or not, must file their annual accounts report with Companies House denoting their performance and activities for the financial year. The report will generally need to include a balance sheet, profit and loss statement or income and expenditure for not-for-profit companies and auditor and director reports.

Deadlines for submission will be articulated to companies and penalties are charged automatically to those who fail to submit their reports on time.

The records should be held within the registered office for the company and open to inspection or review.

Who can help?

With the wealth of tasks required by businesses, compiling and filing annual reports to Companies House can sometimes end up overlooked. Moreover, if you do not keep up with this throughout the year, it can become particularly burdensome as the end of the financial year approaches.

You may wish to consider the option of working with an external accountancy firm who will take on bookkeeping and accounting duties and could help ensure that all relevant documents are filed with them on time and accurately to avoid unnecessary fines and penalties.

John T Hughes writes for Juniper Accountancy, a professional Bristol Accountancy firm. As chartered Bristol Accountants we can provide your business with a complete end to end service to take care of all your accounting and tax needs.

Article Source: Companies House: What’s It All About?