A year-end workflow for a limited company client

The deadlines for a private company

Accounts to Companies House

9 months from the accounting reference date (Companies House: life of a company)

First accounts

21 months from incorporation, or 3 months from the accounting reference date if longer

Company Tax Return

12 months after the end of the accounting period (GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns)

Corporation Tax payment

Usually 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period

Directors' Self Assessment for 2025 to 2026

31 January 2027 online, with payment the same day (GOV.UK)

Confirmation statement

At least once a year, up to 14 days after the review period ends (GOV.UK)

A worked example

For example, a company with a year end of 31 March 2026: the accounts are due at Companies House by 31 December 2026, the Corporation Tax is due by 1 January 2027 and the CT600 by 31 March 2027, applying the rules from Companies House and GOV.UK. Because tax is payable before the return is due, the computation needs to be finished in time for the client to pay by 1 January 2027. Accounts and return are best prepared together.

The sequence

1. Request the records

   Send the records request soon after the year end: bank statements, sales and purchase records, payroll, loans, assets bought and sold, and the directors' loan account position.

2. Close the bookkeeping

   Reconcile every bank account to the statement at the year end, post the final payroll and VAT entries, and agree the VAT control account to the returns filed.

3. Produce the trial balance

   Run the trial balance at the year end and compare it with last year's for the comparatives.

4. Post year-end adjustments

   Accruals, prepayments, depreciation, stock, the directors' loan account, and Corporation Tax. Then lock the period so nothing dated in it changes.

5. Draft the accounts and computation

   Choose the accounts framework (see FRS 105 and FRS 102 Section 1A compared), draft the accounts and the Corporation Tax computation, and work out capital allowances (capital allowances rates).

6. Review

   A second person reviews the file against the year-end checklist.

7. Client approval

   Send the accounts and return to the directors. The accounts must be approved by the board and signed on behalf of the board by a director, on the balance sheet (Companies Act 2006 s414).

8. File and pay

   File the accounts at Companies House and the CT600 with iXBRL accounts and computation at HMRC (see what iXBRL tagging is), and tell the client the amount and date of the tax payment.

9. Personal tax

   Pick up dividends and salary for the directors' Self Assessment returns, due online by 31 January (GOV.UK).

Sole traders and partnerships

The same sequence applies to an unincorporated client, with the tax return as the deadline. For the 2025 to 2026 tax year a paper return is due by 31 October 2026 and an online return by 31 January 2027, and the tax is paid by 31 January 2027. A return filed online by 30 December 2026 can have the tax collected through the client's tax code where that applies (GOV.UK: Self Assessment deadlines).

The records behind the return are kept for at least 5 years after the 31 January filing deadline (GOV.UK). Partnership accounts feed the partnership return and then each partner's return, so the partnership is finished first.

Spreading the work across the year

Clients with the same year end share the same accounts, tax payment and return dates. Group clients by year end, and schedule the records request for each group in the month after its year end. The Corporation Tax payment falls due at 9 months and 1 day, before the 12-month return date, so the tax computation is the first deadline to plan for (GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns).

Late filing

Companies House charges an automatic penalty from £150 for accounts up to one month late, rising to £1,500 for more than six months, and failure to file is also a criminal offence for the directors (Companies House). The full table is in accounts filing deadlines and penalties.

Questions