17 March 2026 · 6 min read · Bruce Thomas
Year-end accounts summarise a company's financial position and performance for the period. For a small company they are prepared under FRS 105 or FRS 102 Section 1A, filed at Companies House, and used as the basis of the Corporation Tax computation.
What the process involves
- Reviewing the trial balance and reconciling control accounts
- Posting accruals, prepayments and depreciation
- Reviewing the fixed asset register and capital allowances
- Reconciling the director's loan account
- Valuing stock and work in progress where relevant
- Preparing the statutory format accounts and tax computation
- Filing at Companies House and submitting the CT600 to HMRC
Deadlines
Accounts must be filed at Companies House within nine months of the year end for a private company. Corporation Tax is payable at nine months and one day, and the return itself is due at twelve months. Late filing penalties at Companies House start at £150 and increase with delay.
What the public can see
Small companies can generally file filleted accounts, omitting the profit and loss account. Competitors and customers see the balance sheet but not your turnover or margin. Where that option is available and appropriate, we use it.
Making it cheaper and faster
- Keep the bookkeeping current through the year
- Reconcile the bank monthly rather than annually
- Keep supplier statements and loan agreements to hand
- Deal with queries in one batch rather than piecemeal
- Send records within three months of the year end, not nine
Use them, do not just file them
The most useful hour of the year is the meeting where the accounts are explained: what the margin did, where overheads moved, what the tax is and what should change. Accounts that arrive as an email attachment waste that opportunity entirely.
This article is general guidance for business owners in the UK and does not amount to advice for your particular circumstances. Tax rules change and the right answer depends on your figures — please take specific advice before acting.
