What are statutory accounts?

• Balance sheet — what the company owns and owes on the last day of the financial year, signed by a director with their name stated
• Profit and loss account — income, costs and profit for the year
• Notes to the accounts — the detail behind the numbers, such as the accounting policies used and any loans to directors
• Directors’ report — not required for micro-entities, and small companies don’t file it publicly
• Auditor’s report — only if the company is audited; most small companies are exempt

Statutory accounts aren’t one filing — the same accounts serve three audiences. They must go to Companies House (the public record, normally within 9 months of year end), to HMRC as part of the Company Tax Return, and to the company’s shareholders. What each gets can differ: micro-entities and small companies can send Companies House a reduced “filleted” set, while HMRC always receives full accounts.

Companies House vs HMRC — who gets what →

The Companies Act scales the requirements by company size. A micro-entity (for financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2025: two of — turnover ≤ £1m, balance sheet ≤ £500,000, ≤ 10 employees) prepares the simplest accounts under FRS 105: an abridged balance sheet and profit and loss with minimal notes, and no directors’ report. A small company (two of: turnover ≤ £15m, balance sheet ≤ £7.5m, ≤ 50 employees) reports under FRS 102 Section 1A with reduced disclosures and is normally exempt from audit.

Micro-entity accounts explained in full →

• Treating the Companies House filing and the HMRC tax return as the same thing — they are separate filings with different deadlines
• Missing the balance sheet statements small companies must include (audit exemption statements and the director’s signature)
• Forgetting director loan disclosures — overdrawn director loan accounts have tax consequences and must be shown
• Leaving it until the deadline month — penalties are automatic, not discretionary

If you’d rather hand the whole thing over, we prepare and file statutory accounts for micro and small companies — call 0114 327 1480.

Our limited company accounts service →