Guides for accountants and bookkeepers

Plain-English guides to UK company rules and checks: what a company's status means, what it has to file and when, and what to check before you trade with it, lend to it or take it on as a client.

• AML customer due diligence on a UK limited company: a checklist for accountantsChecklist

  For a limited company client, obtain and verify its name, number, registered office and trading address; take reasonable measures to verify its constitution and directors and understand its ownership; identify every beneficial owner and verify them from independent sources; keep a dated PSC register excerpt; assess risk, apply enhanced checks where required, then monitor and keep records for five years.

• Companies House filing deadlines for accounts and confirmation statementsGuide

  Private companies must file accounts within 9 months of the accounting reference date, public companies within 6. First accounts covering more than 12 months are due 21 months after incorporation (18 for public companies) or 3 months after the reference date, if later. A confirmation statement is due within 14 days after each 12-month review period ends.

• Companies House identity verification: the 2026 deadline and what accountants need to doGuide

  There is no single national deadline. Existing directors must be verified by their company's first confirmation statement filed since 18 November 2025. Existing PSCs who are not directors have a 14-day window starting on the 1st of their birth month, the last ending 14 November 2026. The legal transition period runs for 12 months from 18 November 2025.

• Micro, small and medium company thresholds from April 2025Guide

  For financial years starting on or after 6 April 2025, a company must stay within at least two of three limits. Micro-entity: turnover £1 million, balance sheet total £500,000, 10 employees. Small: £15 million, £7.5 million, 50. Medium: £54 million, £27 million, 250. Size usually changes only after two consecutive years over or under the limits.

• What a dormant company is and what it must fileDefinition

  A company is dormant under the Companies Act 2006 if it has no significant accounting transactions in the period, ignoring a few items such as Companies House fees, late filing penalties and payment for subscriber shares. It must still file annual accounts, usually simple dormant accounts, and a confirmation statement every year. HMRC applies a separate test for Corporation Tax.

• How to check whether a director or PSC has verified their identityHow-to

  Search the company on the Companies House register and open the People tab. Each director shows either 'Verification requirements complete' or 'Identity verification due' with a date, and each PSC shows a 'due from' and 'due by' window. Status is recorded per appointment, so check each company separately; the Companies House API returns the same dates.

• Late filing penalties for company accounts in 2026Guide

  A private company that files accounts late pays £150 if up to one month late, £375 up to three months, £750 up to six months and £1,500 beyond that. Public companies pay £750, £1,500, £3,000 and £7,500. The penalty doubles if the previous year's accounts were also late. It falls on the company and is rarely waived.

• Reporting PSC discrepancies to Companies House: when and howHow-to

  Regulation 30A of the Money Laundering Regulations requires obliged entities, including accountants, to report to Companies House any material discrepancy between the PSC register and the ownership information they gather, at any stage. It is material if it may reasonably be linked to money laundering, terrorist financing or concealing details of the client's business. Report online, one report per PSC.

• How to check if a director is disqualifiedHow-to

  Search the person's name on the Companies House disqualified directors register, which records court orders, Insolvency Service undertakings, competition disqualifications and sanctions-based bans, with start dates, reasons and any court permission to act. Also search the bankruptcy and insolvency register, because an undischarged bankrupt cannot act as a director without the court's permission.

• Group accounts or company accounts: which figures to rely onComparison

  Rely on the accounts of the company you contract with. Group accounts consolidate the parent and its subsidiaries for the parent's members, but a creditor can claim only against the legal entity it trades with unless another group company has guaranteed the debt. Use group figures for context and the guarantor's own figures for any guarantee.

• How to check a UK company against the sanctions listHow-to

  Search the company's current and former names, its directors and its persons with significant control on the UK Sanctions List search tool, which since 28 January 2026 has been the only UK list. Then check ownership: a company more than 50% owned or otherwise controlled by a designated person is caught even if it is not named.

• How to check a business customer's creditworthiness in the UKHow-to

  Confirm the exact legal entity you will invoice and that it is active, then check its filing record, latest balance sheet and notes, registered charges, Gazette notices and the judgments register. Add trade references and a signed credit application. Turn the findings into a limit, terms and any security, then monitor the company for changes.

• How to find and read a UK company's accountsHow-to

  Search the company on Companies House's free Find and update company information service, open the Filing history tab, tick the Accounts filter and click View PDF on the latest set. Electronic filings also offer Download iXBRL. Most small companies file only a balance sheet and notes, so turnover and profit are often missing.

• How to find acquisition targets in the UK using public dataHow-to

  Start from the Companies House register: filter by SIC code, location and accounts type to set a size band, then rank by several years of balance sheet strength, employee numbers and charges. Add ownership from the PSC register and directors' ages and tenure to find owner-managed firms facing succession. Director details are personal data, so UK GDPR applies.

• Using new company incorporations to find clients and prospectsHow-to

  Companies House's free advanced search filters by incorporation date, SIC code, status and type and downloads up to 5,000 results as CSV. Between 51,221 and 75,054 companies were formed each month over the past year (CompanyStack, 3 October 2026). PECR lets you email companies without consent if you identify yourself and offer an opt-out; UK GDPR still protects named individuals.

• How to find who owns a UK company (the PSC register explained)Guide

  Search the company on the Companies House register and open its People tab. Its persons with significant control (PSCs) are whoever holds more than 25% of the shares or votes, can appoint or remove most of the board, or has significant influence or control. Where another company is named, repeat the search on that company until you reach individuals.

• How to read a UK company balance sheet in ten minutesGuide

  Read it top to bottom in the statutory order: fixed assets, current assets, creditors due within a year, net current assets, longer-term creditors and provisions, then capital and reserves, which equal net assets. Compare each line with last year, then read the creditors and security notes. Small companies rarely publish turnover, so most judgements rest on this page.

• How to set a credit limit for a new business customerHow-to

  Calculate the peak balance your trade will create (monthly sales including VAT multiplied by the months from delivery to payment), then test it against what the customer's filed accounts can support, such as a share of net worth or working capital. Take the lower figure, and use terms or security to bridge any gap.

• KYB checks on a UK limited company: a 2026 checklistChecklist

  KYB on a UK limited company means proving it exists and is active on the Companies House register, identifying its directors and the people who own or control it, screening them against the UK Sanctions List, checking the directors for disqualification, and reviewing Gazette notices, filing history and accounts before recording a pass, refer or fail decision.

• Net current liabilities and net liabilities: what they meanDefinition

  Net current liabilities means a company's creditors due within one year exceed its current assets such as stock, debtors and cash. Net liabilities means its total liabilities exceed its total assets, so capital and reserves are negative. The first is a short-term liquidity signal, the second a solvency signal; neither alone proves insolvency.

• Supplier due diligence checklist for UK companiesChecklist

  Supplier due diligence in the UK means confirming the supplier is a real, active company, knowing who owns and controls it, screening it and its people against the UK Sanctions List, testing its financial standing from filed accounts, checking insurance, data protection and modern slavery compliance, and keeping that picture current by monitoring for the life of the contract.

• Supplier economic and financial standing under the Procurement Act 2023Guide

  Under section 22 of the Procurement Act 2023, a contracting authority may test a supplier's financial capacity only through proportionate conditions of participation, and cannot demand audited accounts the supplier is not legally required to have. The government's guidance note scores eight standard metrics, uses consolidated figures where prepared and allows a parent company guarantee as mitigation.

• Which UK sectors have the most companies with net liabilities? Filing and solvency by sector, 2026Data study

  Hospitality has the highest share of companies with net liabilities: 27.8% of active UK hospitality companies with accounts dated in the 24 months to 3 October 2026, against 18.3% of all active companies with recent accounts, CompanyStack's analysis of the Companies House register shows. Real estate is next at 25.2%; health and social work is lowest, at 13.4%.

• New UK companies in 2026: what is being set up, by sector and nationData study

  761,595 companies incorporated in the 12 months to 3 October 2026 were still active on that date, CompanyStack's analysis of the Companies House register shows. Online and mail-order retail (SIC 47910) was the most common activity, with 55,718 new companies. Information and communication rose most of the main sectors, up 29.0% on our count; real estate fell 8.6%.

• Warning signs a UK company is in financial troubleGuide

  Public warning signs include overdue accounts or confirmation statements, falling or negative net assets, rising tax creditors, new all-assets charges, a going-concern warning, auditor or director departures, a registered office moved to the Companies House default address, and Gazette notices such as winding-up petitions. Slow or part payments in your own ledger often come first.

• What lenders look at when they assess a small businessGuide

  Lenders ask whether the business can repay from its cash flow, how much capital the owners have at risk, what security or guarantees back the loan, and whether the company and its directors can be trusted on the record. They test this with filed and management accounts, bank data, credit files, charges and director history.

• How to check a UK company before you trade with itHow-to

  Find the company on the Companies House register and check its status, registered office, filing history, accounts, directors and people with significant control. Then search The Gazette for insolvency notices, screen the company and its owners against the UK Sanctions List, check its VAT number and confirm the account name before you make the first payment.

• What active proposal to strike off means on Companies HouseDefinition

  Active proposal to strike off means Companies House has published a notice in The Gazette that the company will be removed from the register. Either Companies House believes it is no longer carrying on business, or its directors have applied to close it. Unless the strike-off is stopped, the company can be dissolved once two months have passed.

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