All limited and dormant companies, whether they trade or not, must deliver accounts to Companies House each year.

‘Missing your filing deadline could affect your credit score or access to finance,’ Companies House said. ‘There are also financial penalties and legal consequences – you could get a criminal record, a fine or disqualification.

‘If you employ an accountant to file your accounts, it is still your responsibility, as director, to make sure they are filed on time.’

Companies House also confirmed that a third of businesses still file accounts on paper despite extensive promotion of the online filing service.

To file online, it is necessary to have a company authentication code. It is worth noting that new codes take up to five days to arrive at the company’s registered office.

‘You should only send paper accounts if your company cannot file online or by software,’ Companies House added. ‘Accounts filed on paper need to be manually checked. We can only check them during office opening hours, and they can take over a week to process.

‘If you need to file your accounts on paper, you should send them to us well before the deadline. This will give you plenty of time to correct your accounts and resend them if they are rejected.’

Companies House will not accept postal delays as a reason to appeal a late filing penalty.

Statutory accounts must include a balance sheet, which shows the value of everything the company owns, owes and is owed on the last day of the financial year; a profit and loss account, which shows the company’s sales, running costs and the profit or loss it has made over the financial year; a director’s report and notes about the accounts.

Late filing penalties