The Annual Accounts Process
- Ideally, we’d handle your bookkeeping from day one. That way we can ensure all your records are up to date and reconciled. But, if you’d prefer to handle it yourself, that’s OK too.
- From there, we’d prepare all the important stuff like your balance sheets, profit and loss and cash flow statements ahead of the deadlines.
- Once we have your approval, we’ll file the accounts with Companies House, it’s as easy as that.
What Are Annual Accounts ?
Known to some as "Statutory Accounts", Annual Accounts are the important financial reports that show a company's financial performance over the course of a year.
Annual Accounts includes a balance sheet, a profit and loss statement, notes to the financial statements, cashflow statements, and any statements of changes in equity.
If you’re a UK business, all limited companies are legally, yes, legally required to file Annual Accounts to Companies House and HMRC.
Annual Accounts are at the core of businesses across the UK!
What's the difference between Annual Accounts and Financial Statements?
Annual Accounts include a balance sheet, profit and loss statement, cashflow statement and director's report. They're often used for informing decisions, making tax calculations and working out how sustainable a company is.
Financial Statements dive a little deeper and cover revenue, assets, expenses and liabilities. They uncover how a business operates, and are often used by investors.
In comparison, Annual Accounts are used by a wider audience including employees, customers and the public.
What are the benefits of outsourcing my Annual Accounts?
Outsourcing can come with lots of benefits, the main two being, cost and time. If you're doing it yourself, then that's valuable time away from your business. If you're paying someone in-house, you could be be paying more than necessary.
There’s also the bonus of industry knowledge that accountancy firms hold and have built up across a wider breadth of clients. It also gives you the freedom to be able to scale as you grow.
Often business owners try to juggle everything themselves thinking they’re saving money. But often it’s more expensive, as your time is precious and better spent on more important tasks.
Some reports suggest outsourcing can save 30%-50% compared to in-house. Food for thought.
When should annual accounts be filed?
Annual accounts must be filed no later than 9 months after the end of a company’s financial year. The deadline for a company’s first annual accounts is 21 months after its incorporation.
How much should annual accounts cost?
Annual accounts for a small business in the UK should cost anywhere between £800 to £3000 but this is heavily reliant on the size and complexity of the business. There are many factors that can influence the cost of a company’s annual accounts such as: the nature of the business, the revenue, the neatness of its financial records, the volume and complexity of its transactions and how much catch-up work is needed to get the accounts in order (such as bookkeeping).
How to prepare annual accounts?
To prepare annual accounts, a business must collect and organise all of its financial records generated during its financial year, like bank statements, invoices and receipts, as well as create a profit and loss statement, balance sheet and additional notes to explain calculations.
Can I file my own annual accounts?
Yes, business owners are allowed to create and file their own annual accounts. However, most prefer to work with a professional accountant, as tax rules and filing requirements can be difficult to navigate and poorly organised or incomplete accounts can raise tax liabilities.
What are three types of annual financial statements?
The three types of annual financial statements that UK businesses have to file are a balance sheet, an income statement and a cash flow statement. These statements tell Companies House what the business owns, how much it earned and what it spent money on in that year.
What do annual accounts include?
The exact documents included in annual accounts can differ depending on the business, but they will always include a profit and loss statement, a balance sheet and notes explaining how calculations are made; a director’s report and an auditor’s report are also common inclusions.
Top Quality Annual Accounts
Meet Neil Ormesher, CEO of Accounts and Legal who ensures our Accounts service is the best in the industry. (Don’t just take our word for it, check out our reviews)
Neil has been in accountancy for over 25 years, and as a fully qualified accountant, both CTA and FCCA who has worked his way up the ranks – he knows a thing or two about helping businesses.
Neil and the team are responsible for ensuring our clients get the best service, helping them understand their numbers, and achieve their business dreams.
Find out more about our Accountants in London.
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