Run a limited company and the diary fills up fast. There's a confirmation statement, annual accounts, a Company Tax Return and a corporation tax payment, and they all land on different dates from different bodies. Miss one and the penalties start ticking automatically.
The confusion we see most often is people treating the confirmation statement and the annual accounts as the same job. They're not. One is a yearly check that Companies House holds the right details about you. The other is your full set of financial statements. Different content, different deadlines, different consequences.
This guide untangles all of it. You'll get a plain-English breakdown of each filing, the exact deadline, what it costs, and a worked timeline so you can see how the dates fall for a real company. It's written for directors of UK private limited companies, especially new ones in their first year.
Confirmation statement vs annual accounts: what's the difference?
These are the two filings people mix up, so let's separate them cleanly.
The confirmation statement (form CS01) tells Companies House that the public record about your company is still correct. It covers things like your registered office, directors, shareholders, share capital, people with significant control (PSCs) and your SIC code (the code describing what your business does). You're not filing new figures. You're confirming the held information is accurate, or updating it where it isn't. You also confirm the company's intended future activities are lawful.
The annual accounts (also called statutory accounts) are your financial statements for the year. Depending on your company's size, that's typically a balance sheet, a profit and loss account and the relevant notes. Small companies and micro-entities can file simpler versions, but it's still a full financial filing, not a tick-box confirmation.
Here's the quick contrast:
| Feature | Confirmation statement | Annual accounts |
|---|---|---|
| Filed with | Companies House | Companies House |
| What it covers | Company details (directors, shareholders, PSCs, registered office) | Financial statements for the year |
| How often | At least once every 12 months | Once per financial year |
| Form | CS01 | Varies by company size |
| Online fee | £50 | Usually free to file online |
| Paper fee | £110 | n/a (most file online) |
Two separate filings, both to Companies House, on two separate clocks. Now let's pin down the dates.
What is the confirmation statement deadline?
Your confirmation statement runs on a review period of 12 months. For a new company the first review period starts on the date of incorporation. After that, each review period starts the day after the previous one ended.
You must file the statement within 14 days of the end of your review period. So if your review period ends on 30 June, you have until 14 July to file.
You have to file it even if nothing has changed during the period. A "nothing's changed" year still needs a confirmation. That trips up plenty of directors who assume no changes means no filing.
The fee is £50 to file online or £110 by post. You pay the fee once in each 12-month payment period covered by your first statement in that period, so filing an extra mid-year statement after a change doesn't mean paying again.
If you don't file, Companies House can issue a financial penalty, and the company can ultimately be struck off the register. Failing to file is also a criminal offence for the company and its officers. It's a quick, cheap filing, so there's no good reason to let it slip.
Keeping the public record tidy is part of what our company secretarial service handles, so the confirmation statement and any director or share changes are filed correctly and on time.
When are annual accounts due at Companies House?
For an established company, your annual accounts are due 9 months after your company's financial year ends (the "accounting reference date").
So if your year end is 31 March, your accounts are due by 31 December the same year. If your year end is 31 December, they're due by 30 September the following year.
First accounts are different. A brand-new company's first accounts are due 21 months after the date you registered with Companies House. First accounts usually cover a slightly longer-than-12-month period, because they run from the day you incorporated to your accounting reference date, which Companies House sets to the last day of the month in which you incorporated.
Getting the financial statements right and filed on time is exactly what our statutory accounts service is for, particularly in that first year when the dates are least intuitive.
What about the Company Tax Return and corporation tax?
This is the part that catches people out: HMRC and Companies House are separate bodies with separate deadlines, and confusingly, the corporation tax payment is due before the tax return that calculates it.
For your corporation tax accounting period:
- The corporation tax payment is due 9 months and 1 day after the end of your accounting period.
- The Company Tax Return (CT600) is due 12 months after the end of your accounting period.
So with a 31 March year end, the tax is payable by 1 January the following year, but the return itself isn't due until 31 March a full year after the period ended.
Corporation tax rates for the financial year starting 1 April 2025 (FY2025) are a small profits rate of 19% on profits up to £50,000, and a main rate of 25% on profits over £250,000. Profits between those two limits are taxed at the main rate with marginal relief, which tapers the effective rate between 19% and 25%.
You can estimate the bill in advance with our corporation tax service and we'll handle the CT600 alongside your accounts.
How do all the deadlines fit together?
Here's the established-company picture, assuming a 31 March year end and a matching corporation tax accounting period. (A company's Companies House financial year and its corporation tax accounting period usually align after the first year.)
| Filing or payment | Goes to | Deadline | Example (year ended 31 Mar 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confirmation statement | Companies House | Within 14 days of review period end | Depends on incorporation date, not year end |
| Annual accounts | Companies House | 9 months after year end | 31 December 2026 |
| Corporation tax payment | HMRC | 9 months and 1 day after period end | 1 January 2027 |
| Company Tax Return (CT600) | HMRC | 12 months after period end | 31 March 2027 |
Notice the confirmation statement sits on its own clock, tied to your incorporation date rather than your year end. The other three all hang off the financial year end, but on three different deadlines.
What happens if you file late?
Late accounts at Companies House trigger an automatic penalty, with no need for Companies House to prove fault. For a private limited company the penalties are:
| How late the accounts are | Penalty (private company) |
|---|---|
| Up to 1 month | £150 |
| More than 1 month, up to 3 months | £375 |
| More than 3 months, up to 6 months | £750 |
| More than 6 months | £1,500 |
The penalty is doubled if your accounts are filed late two years in a row. So a second consecutive late filing of more than six months can mean a £3,000 charge.
A late confirmation statement doesn't carry that fixed penalty scale, but Companies House can impose a financial penalty, and persistent non-filing can lead to the company being struck off and is a criminal offence.
A late Company Tax Return is HMRC's own penalty regime, separate again, and a late corporation tax payment accrues interest. The headline point is simple: four obligations, two different bodies, and the clocks don't wait for you.
How do first-year deadlines work for a new company?
The first year is where the dates feel least intuitive, so here's a worked timeline.
Illustrative example. Northgate Studio Ltd is incorporated on 14 May 2025. It's a generic example to show how the dates fall, not a real client.
Companies House sets the first accounting reference date to the end of the incorporation month, so 31 May 2026. The dates then work out like this:
- First confirmation statement: the first review period runs for 12 months from incorporation, ending 13 May 2026, so the statement is due within 14 days, by 27 May 2026. Fee: £50 online.
- First annual accounts: due 21 months after incorporation, which is 14 February 2027.
- Corporation tax: the first accounts cover more than 12 months (14 May 2025 to 31 May 2026), but a corporation tax accounting period can't exceed 12 months. So this is split into two periods: 14 May 2025 to 13 May 2026, and 14 May 2026 to 31 May 2026. The company files two CT600 returns to cover the first set of accounts, each with its own payment date 9 months and 1 day after that period ends, and its own filing date 12 months after.
The key takeaway for a new director: your first accounts deadline (21 months from incorporation) is generous, but your first confirmation statement comes around much sooner, and your corporation tax may need two returns. Mark all of them the week you incorporate.
If you're just getting started, our pages for limited companies and startups walk through what to set up first so none of these dates sneak up on you.
Need a hand staying compliant? Book a free 20-minute call with a Zmartly accountant and we'll map out your exact filing dates and handle the filings for you. Talk to a Zmartly accountant.
Frequently asked questions
Is the confirmation statement the same as annual accounts?
No. The confirmation statement confirms the company details Companies House holds (directors, shareholders, PSCs, registered office and so on). Annual accounts are your financial statements for the year. They're separate filings with separate deadlines.
Do I still file a confirmation statement if nothing has changed?
Yes. You must file a confirmation statement even if there have been no changes during the review period. You're confirming the existing record is correct.
How much does it cost to file a confirmation statement?
It costs £50 to file online and £110 to file by post. You pay the fee once per 12-month payment period, so extra statements filed within that period after a change don't cost more.
When are my first company accounts due?
Your first annual accounts are due 21 months after the date you registered with Companies House. After the first year, accounts are due 9 months after the end of your financial year.
What's the penalty for filing accounts late?
For a private company the Companies House penalty is £150 if up to 1 month late, £375 for 1 to 3 months, £750 for 3 to 6 months, and £1,500 for more than 6 months. The penalty doubles if your accounts are late two years in a row.
Why is corporation tax due before the tax return?
The deadlines are set independently. Corporation tax is payable 9 months and 1 day after your accounting period ends, while the Company Tax Return isn't due until 12 months after the period ends. So you pay first and formally file the return later.
