If you are relatively new to running a company and have received a reminder about filing a confirmation statement, you may be wondering what it is exactly that is required of you. So here we break down exactly what you need to know about, and need to do to file, your company confirmation statement.
What is a confirmation statement?
In the ‘olden days’ (before June 2016 that is!), all limited companies were required to complete an ‘annual return’. However, this was then replaced with the new, ‘simpler’ confirmation statement.
The company confirmation statement contains statutory information, including your company’s address, the directors’ names, shareholding information, and a record of PSC’s (People with significant control) over the company. The statement simply acts as a way for the director to confirm that Companies House is holding correct and up to date information on that company. Alternatively, if there are changes required, this can be done either by completing the relevant form at the time of the change, or when the statement is filed.
Do I need to complete a confi rmation statement?
If you are a director of a limited company, then yes, absolutely. Whether your company is dormant or trading, you are required by law to complete a confirmation statement for your company. If you do not complete a confirmation statement when required, Companies House may start action to ‘strike off’ your company, which will in turn lead to you company bank account being frozen and you no longer being able to trade.
What is the deadline?
Unless you change the filing date, your confirmation statement will need to be filed around the anniversary of your company formation. The best thing to do is to check on
Companies House as this will show you both the made up date (the date for which you are providing the information) and the filing deadline date. You will have 14 days from the made up date to file the statement- failure to do so could lead to the company being struck off the register, and even prosecution.
However, it is worth noting that as part of the covid-19 allowance measures, the deadline has now been extended to 42 days. This is, however, only a temporary measure and any confirmation statements with filing deadlines after 6th April 2021 will have the original 14 day deadline imposed.
The easiest thing to do to ensure that you do not miss the deadline is to sign up for email reminders from Companies House. This can be done online via their webfiling
service, and will mean that you will receive a reminder when it becomes due.
So how do I get it fi led?
The easiest way to file a confirmation statement is online via the webfiling service. This will cost £13. Alternatively, a paper statement can be completed, but this costs £40.
At PaperRocket, we will take care of the filing of your confirmation statement on your behalf, whatever fee package you may be on, ensuring that your statement is filed both on time, and accurately.
And fi nally… Is the confi rmation statement the same as the company accounts?
This is a question we get asked a lot, and simply answer, no! The confirmation statement includes no financial information regarding the company and is completely separate to the company accounts. It is simply a record keeping exercise, rather than a declaration of accounts.
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