UK Companies Filing Requirements
Filing regulations are determined by the size of the company.

All limited and unlimited companies, whether or not they are trading, must keep accounting records. There are three variations on filing accounts and these impact on the amount of information available in a credit report.

Private Limited companies must file accounts within twenty-two months of incorporation.
Public Limited companies must file accounts within nineteen months of incorporation.

Small Company Filing Requirements

A small company is one that meets at least two of the following three criteria:

  • Annual turnover must not be more £5,600,000;
  • The balance sheet total must not exceed £2,800,000;
  • The average number of employees must not be more than 50.

Small companies must deliver the following filings to Companies House:

  • Abbreviated balance sheet and notes
  • Special auditor’s report (if required).

The filing period is exactly the same as for a full set of accounts.
Small companies are not required to file profit and loss, employees and turnover.

Medium Company Filing Requirements

A medium sized company must meet two of the following three criteria:

  • Annual turnover must not be more than £22,800,000;
  • The balance sheet total must not exceed £11,400,000;
  • The average number of employees must not be more than 250.

The balance sheet total is the total of fixed and current assets.

Medium companies must deliver the following filings to Companies House:

  • Full balance sheet
  • Abbreviated profit and loss account (no turnover disclosed)
  • Special auditors’ report
  • Directors’ report
  • Notes to the Accounts

The filing period is exactly the same as for a full set of accounts
Small companies are not required to file turnover.

Full Company Filing Requirements

A full filing company must deliver the following filings to Companies House:

  • A profit and loss account A balance sheet signed by a director
  • An auditors report signed by an auditor
  • A directors’ report signed by a director or the secretary of the company
  • Notes to the Accounts
  • And, if appropriate, group accounts

These exemptions are not available to public companies, banking, insurance or shipping companies and any of their subsidiaries regardless of size.

Dormant or Non Trading Company Filing Requirements

A non-trading company must deliver Dormant Accounts annually.

Dormant accounts and include very little information except for assets and shares held.
A dormant company will not be assigned a credit score or limit due to the lack of financial data. See Dormant Companies for more information.

Newly Incorporated Company Filing Requirements

New Private Limited companies must file accounts within 10 months of the year end
New Public Limited companies must file accounts within 7 months of the year end

Where no accounts have been filed at Companies House it is not possible to assign a credit score or limit due to the lack of financial data. See Calculating the Credit Score for more information.

Newly Incorporated / Wind-Up or Liquidation

There will be little or no information avaiilable and therefore no credit score or limit assigned.

 

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