Companies House is an agency of the Department for Business and Trade, and is the official register of companies in the UK.
The main activities of Companies House are
- Handling the incorporation, and dissolution of limited companies, and
- Examining, storing and publishing company information through its free company information service – Companies House
What documents do I need to send to Companies House?
- On incorporation, a formal application to form the company must be submitted to Companies House, providing details such as your company name, registered office address, registered email address, details of the directors and classes and number of shares issued. The memorandum and articles of association are also submitted, which detail how the company will be run.
- All limited companies must submit their annual accounts to Companies House, as well as an annual confirmation statement, which gives updated information about the company, its directors and share capital as at the confirmation statement date.
- Companies House also need to be informed about changes to the company or directors as they take place, and there are various different forms to complete to capture these changes. Changes which are required to be notified include:
- Change of company name
- Change of registered office address
- Appointment or termination of directors
- A change in director details, such as a change in address
- Changes to the company’s share capital
- Details of any lender’s charges against the company
What documents are publicly available on Companies House?
All of the above forms, including the company accounts are uploaded to the Companies House portal and are then available for view by the public. It is therefore important to ensure the information submitted is accurate, and also that private residential addresses are not submitted as the service address for the business or the directors.
What are the implications of not submitting to Companies House?
It is important that Companies House filings are made on time. Failure to file a confirmation statement is an offence under the Companies Act 2006. The company will automatically receive a penalty notice if the accounts are not filed by the deadline, which is usually 9 months from the year end date. The penalty is automatically doubled if the accounts are late for 2 consecutive years.
Failing to submit accounts or a confirmation statement to Companies House can result in prosecutions and ultimately Companies House taking steps to strike the company from the register, which would result in the company no longer legally existing.
What are the new powers of Companies House?
Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, which is due to come into effect on 1 October 2024, Companies House will have more powers, such as:
– rejecting documents with inconsistencies
– removing documents from the register which do not meet certain requirements.
– requiring a registered business email address
– verifying the identity of directors
– requiring filings to be electronic only
In order to help you meet your responsibilities for filing as Directors, we provide a Company Secretarial service, whereby we file the accounts, confirmation statement and change of details forms to Companies House on your behalf.
If you need help with this, or with other advice, then please get in touch with our accounting team.