Statutory accounts 

Micro-entity, abridged and annual accounts

Every company operating in the UK has to file statutory accounts. Also known as year-end accounts or annual accounts, these documents summarise a company’s financial activity over the fiscal year. 

We cannot overstate the value of accurate statutory accounts beyond fulfilling your legal obligations of filing with Companies House and HMRC. For starters, they provide invaluable insights into your company’s financial health that could spell the difference between a solid plan and a lacklustre one for the next fiscal year. 

However, annual accounts aren’t exactly easy to put together alone — regardless of whether you’re a multinational conglomerate or a micro-entity. But with our assistance, you’ll be able to construct statutory accounts that give an accurate picture of your finances well before your deadline. 

Who has to file year-end accounts?

Legally, private limited companies must file statutory accounts  to HMRC alongside a company tax return within 12 months of the end of the company’s financial year. Companies must also give their annual accounts to Companies House within nine months after the end of their financial year.

Dormant companies — companies with no ‘significant’ transactions in the financial year — must still file statutory accounts with HMRC and Companies House, even if they don’t intend to carry on any kind of business activity. 

Sole traders: don’t worry, you’re not legally required to draw up year-end accounts, but you do have to keep meticulous records of your business income and expenses for your tax returns. 

Your statutory accounts checklist

A lot of time and effort goes into preparing statutory accounts, but that’s no bother for us — we know all these types of documents inside out, how to create them and how they fit together. With EV Accountants, you’ll have a full set of accounts every time with the financial reporting standards you need, expect and deserve. 

• Director’s report. A document written and signed by a director at your company. It summarises the director’s views of the company’s performance over the year and their expectations for the future.

• Balance sheet. This details a business’s assets and liabilities at the end of the accounting period.

• Profit and loss account. This document gives a summary of income and expenses as well as the total amount of profit or loss over the accounting period. 

• Explanatory notes. The notes provide commentary and explanation about the details of the profit and loss account and balance sheet. 

You need to provide Companies House, HMRC and your shareholders with your statutory accounts, but you only need to submit abridged accounts — a simpler version of annual accounts — with Companies House if you fall into two of these categories and have the consent of your shareholders:

• your turnover is no more than £10.2 million
• your balance sheet total is no more than £5.1 million
• you have no more than 50 employees. 

If you’re a very small business, you might be able to file even simpler accounts called micro-entity accounts. Needless to say, whether you’re looking for abridged, micro-entity or full year-end accounts, we’d be happy to help.

Five reasons why you should choose us for your statutory accounts

We’ve given you a lot of information, so let’s take a step back and consider why you should choose EV Accountants for your annual accounts. 

1. We know our stuff. From the Companies Act 2006 to the International Financial Reporting Standards, there’s a lot to wrap your head around to prepare statutory accounts, and that’s what we’re trained to do. 
2. We’re productive. We understand you want your annual accounts as soon as possible so you can beat deadlines and begin analysing your performance right away. It’s why productivity is high on our list of priorities.
3. We’re precise. A tight turnaround doesn’t make us nervous — just even more focused. We’re good at staying cool, calm and collected to prepare accounts correctly and on time.
4. We work with the latest technology. We don’t shy away from new ways of working if they improve things for you. Looking for a cloud accountant? We’re the one for you. Want to keep things old school? That’s fine, too.
5. We create accounts you can read. Annual accounts are more than just HMRC and Companies House. They’re about helping you analyse your business, so we take the time to create intelligible accounts you can use — and if you want to have a chat about them, our door is always open.

Want to learn more about our accounts production service before you ask forour assistance? Get in touch with us or send us an email about how we can help you with your statutory accounts.