When are my company accounts due?

A private company must normally file its accounts with Companies House within nine months of the end of its financial year (its accounting reference date). A brand-new company's first accounts are due 21 months after the date of incorporation.

What is the penalty for filing accounts late?

For a private company the automatic late-filing penalty is £150 if up to one month late, £375 if one to three months late, £750 if three to six months late, and £1,500 if more than six months late. The penalty is doubled if you file late two years in a row.

Can I appeal a late-filing penalty?

Late-filing penalties are automatic and only cancelled in exceptional circumstances beyond your control. Not knowing the deadline, or your accountant or software letting you down, is not normally accepted. The reliable protection is to file early.

Guide

Company accounts filing deadlines and late-filing penalties

Every company has to file accounts with Companies House by a deadline, and missing it triggers an automatic penalty — no warning, no discretion. This guide explains when your accounts are due, how much a late filing costs, and the simplest way to avoid a penalty.

When are your accounts due?

For a private company, accounts must reach Companies House within nine months of the end of the financial year — that end date is your accounting reference date (ARD). So if your year ends on 31 March, your accounts are due by 31 December.

Two things to watch:

Your first accounts are different. A newly incorporated company's first accounts are due 21 months after the date of incorporation (because the first period is usually longer than a year).
The deadline is the date accounts must be delivered and accepted, not the date you post or submit them. Electronic filing removes the postal risk — one more reason not to leave it to the last day.

You can check your company's next accounts due date for free on the Companies House public register.

Late-filing penalties (private companies)

If your accounts arrive late, Companies House charges an automatic penalty based on how late they are:

How late	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

File late two years running and the penalty doubles. (Public companies face higher penalties on the same scale.) The penalty applies even if the company is dormant or made no profit — it's for filing late, not for what the accounts say.

Can you appeal a penalty?

Late-filing penalties are automatic and only cancelled in genuinely exceptional circumstances beyond your control. Reasons that are not normally accepted include: you didn't know the deadline, you couldn't afford it, your accountant let you down, or your software failed. In practice the only reliable protection is to file early.

Companies House vs HMRC — two different deadlines

Don't confuse the two annual jobs. Companies House wants your accounts (nine months after year end). HMRC wants your Company Tax Return and Corporation Tax on a different timetable (tax is normally due nine months and one day after year end; the return within twelve months). This guide covers the Companies House accounts deadline — the HMRC deadlines are separate and have their own penalties.

Changing your accounting reference date

You can shorten your company's financial year as often as you like, and extend it only in limited circumstances (generally once every five years). Shortening the year moves your filing deadline — a tactic sometimes used to buy time, but it must be done before the current deadline passes, and it can't rescue accounts that are already overdue.

The simplest way to avoid a penalty

File as soon as your year end passes, rather than waiting for the deadline. With AccountsWebFiling a small or dormant company's accounts take a few minutes:

Find your company — details and your accounts due date fill in from the register.
Enter your figures on a guided balance sheet.
Validate against Companies House's own checks, so nothing bounces.
File with your authentication code and get an immediate result — no postal delay near the deadline.

File your accounts now

How to file your accounts as Companies House WebFiling changes · Micro-entity accounts guide · Dormant company accounts guide

This guide is general information, not professional advice. Penalty amounts are those published by Companies House for private companies and may change. AccountsWebFiling is not affiliated with Companies House.