What are limited company accounts, exactly? If you’re a director Googling that at 10pm, you’re not behind — it’s just one of those things nobody explains when you register a company.

What Limited Company Accounts Actually Are

When people talk about limited company accounts, they usually mean the statutory annual accounts — a formal financial summary of your company’s year. This includes a balance sheet, a profit and loss account, and some supporting notes. It’s the official record of how your company performed financially.

Here’s the bit that trips most directors up: you don’t just file one set of accounts. Private limited companies must prepare statutory annual accounts and a Company Tax Return — and these go to two different places. Your accounts go to Companies House. Your Company Tax Return (and the accounts attached to it) goes to HMRC. Same underlying numbers, two separate submissions, two different deadlines.

What You Need to File and When

The Companies House deadline for filing your annual accounts is 9 months after your company’s financial year ends. So if your year runs to 31 March, your accounts are due at Companies House by 31 December the same year. The HMRC deadline for your Company Tax Return is slightly longer — 12 months after the end of your accounting period, though your corporation tax bill is usually due to be paid earlier than that.

It’s also worth knowing that Companies House is introducing identity verification requirements as part of wider reforms under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. This is something directors need to be aware of when it comes to filing and managing company records going forward. It’s not alarming, but it is changing how the process works.

What Actually Happens If You Miss a Deadline

Late filing penalties for Companies House start at £150 for accounts filed up to one month late. They go up from there — £375 up to three months late, £750 up to six months, and £1,500 beyond that. It’s not the end of the world if you’re a week or two late, but the fines do compound if it becomes a pattern, and repeat late filers can face higher penalties.

On the HMRC side, penalties apply for late filing of your Company Tax Return too, starting at £100 for a day late and rising further if you’re significantly overdue. The more serious risk from HMRC isn’t the fine itself — it’s the interest that builds on any unpaid corporation tax. Sorting it promptly is always cheaper than leaving it.

Can You Do This Yourself, or Do You Need an Accountant?

Technically, yes — you can file your own limited company accounts. HMRC and Companies House don’t require you to use an accountant. But there’s a difference between something being possible and something being straightforward. Since April 2026, you now need commercial software to file with HMRC, which removes the old free option and adds another layer to figure out.

Most directors I speak to find that the time, the software costs, and the risk of getting something wrong outweigh the saving of doing it themselves. That said, if your company is simple, your records are tidy, and you’re comfortable with the process, it’s not impossible to manage. The honest question to ask yourself is: how confident am I that I’m not missing anything?