Dormant Company Account Service FAQs

What are Dormant Company Accounts?

Dormant Company Accounts are to be filed each year to Companies House by companies that are exempt from audit (companies that are not trading).

Please note that the online filing service is only available to Limited by Shares and Guaranteed companies. For Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP), you must submit paper accounts directly to Companies House.

Is the dormant company account service included in any of the packages?

No. It is a separate service.

What is a Dormant Company?

Your business is considered dormant when it:

has stopped trading
is a new limited company that hasn't yet traded; or if it has
had no significant transactions (does not include filing fees, penalties or money paid for shares)

How often must Dormant Company Accounts be filed?

Company accounts must be filed for every financial year. If filing your first accounts, they must be filed within 21 months of the date of incorporation. Every subsequent filing of accounts must be done within 9 months from the accounting reference date (ARD).You can find out what your ARD is from your company details page, log in to view.
Companies House will send filing reminders to your company's registered office. You may also check when your accounts are due from the company details page via the online account you have with us.

What details do Company Formation Made Simple need to file my Dormant Company Accounts?

None. The only possible issue might be if the shares in the company are paid or unpaid:

Paid - The shareholders have paid the company for their shares.
Unpaid - The shareholders have not paid the company for their shares.
By default, we will mark shares as paid unless otherwise advised within 24 hours of purchase.

For an explanation as to why this is, please see the next question.

Why do we mark shares as paid by default?

The reason we mark shares as paid by default is that an unpaid share capital may result in a tax liability. It means that the shareholders owe money to the company, which HM Revenue & Customs can interpret as the company lending the shareholders the money.
As these shareholders are participators in the company, HM Revenue & Customs could demand that an S419 tax charge is paid.

How long will it take to process my dormant company accounts?

The processing time for the Standard Service is 48-72 hours (excluding weekends and Bank Holidays). By default, we will mark shares as paid unless advised otherwise within 24 hours of purchase. For the Express Service, your accounts will be processed within 24 hours (excluding weekends and Bank Holidays).
Due to the nature of this service, we will mark shares as paid unless advised otherwise within 3 hours of purchase.

We strongly advise that customers purchase their dormant accounts service at least 15 days before the due date of filing. We cannot be held responsible for any late penalties or fines incurred as a result of purchasing the service within 15 days of the due date.

Can I purchase the Dormant Company Accounts service if I did not form my company through Company Formation Made Simple?

Yes, we just need a few details from you. We need the company name, company number, webfiling authentication code, share capital and the name of one director. We also need to know if the shares in the company are paid or unpaid (see above).

You can not use this service if:

The company has ever traded, even in a previous financial year.
The company has filed a Return of allotment of shares document (SH01) with Companies House.
You do not have a valid Companies House Webfiling Authentication Code (we will normally have the code if the company was formed by us).
The company is a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP). You will need to contact Companies House directly for assistance.

Important notice regarding late filing penalties

If a company files accounts after the due date, Companies House will impose a penalty:

Lateness:

Not more than one month £150.
More than one month but not more than three months £375.
More than three months but not more than six months £750.
More than six months £1500 If the accounts are overdue we will double check that you are happy for us to file despite the penalty.

If company accounts are overdue the only ways to avoid the penalty are:

Dissolve the company instead of filing accounts; or
File the accounts and then appeal against the penalty (appeals may not be successful).

Can I purchase a Confirmation Statement and Annual Accounts together?

If your company is dormant and has never traded from incorporation, we do offer a special bundle which will allow us to deal with both of your filing obligations with Companies House for the year to take the weight off your mind. Click here if you would like to purchase (or find out more about) this bundle.

Please note: If you have traded with your company at all, we cannot assist with your annual accounts.