Never miss a Companies House deadline again

Every UK limited company has statutory filing deadlines. Miss them, and you face automatic financial penalties — starting at £150 for accounts filed just one day late, rising to £1,500 for accounts over six months late. Repeated late filings double the penalty. The company can ultimately be struck off the register if filings are persistently missed.

The frustrating reality is that many UK directors miss these deadlines not through carelessness, but because the reminder systems — a single email from Companies House, buried in an inbox — are easy to overlook. This guide explains exactly what your deadlines are, why they're commonly missed, and how to make sure you never miss one again.

Why UK directors miss Companies House deadlines

Companies House sends reminder emails when filings are due. In principle, this should be sufficient. In practice, several factors conspire against it:

• Email buried in inboxes: A single reminder email sent weeks before a deadline can easily be overlooked, archived, or marked as read without action — especially if you're busy with client work.
• Email sent to an old address: If your registered email with Companies House is out of date, you may not receive reminders at all.
• Accountant delegation: Many directors assume their accountant is tracking these deadlines. Accountants typically track what they need to file, but the confirmation statement — which costs just £13 and can be filed directly online — is sometimes left to the director. It's easy for this to fall between the cracks.
• Moving deadlines for new companies: Newly incorporated companies have different first filing windows that differ from the ongoing annual cycle. This causes confusion about when the first accounts are actually due.
• Multiple obligations at different times: Confirmation statements and annual accounts have different deadlines based on different reference dates. Keeping track of both in your head — alongside VAT, payroll, and everything else — is unreliable.

The cost of missing a Companies House deadline

Late filing penalties for annual accounts are set by the Companies Act. They're automatic — Companies House issues them without discretion once a deadline passes. Appeals are only successful in exceptional circumstances (such as serious illness or a significant technical failure on the Companies House side).

Confirmation statements that are not filed can lead to the company being struck off the Companies House register. A striking-off notice is published in the London Gazette. Being struck off means losing the company and all associated contracts, bank accounts, and legal protections.

Key deadlines every sole director must know

Confirmation statement deadline

Your confirmation statement is due within 14 days of the anniversary of either your company's incorporation date or the date of your last confirmation statement. For example, if your company was incorporated on 15 March, your confirmation statement must be filed by 29 March the following year.

The filing fee is £13 when filed online through WebFiling. The process takes around 5 minutes if your company details are up to date.

Annual accounts deadline

Your annual accounts must be filed with Companies House within 9 months of the end of your company's financial year. For most companies, the financial year end is the last day of the month in which the company was incorporated (e.g., incorporated in March → financial year ends 31 March each year).

Note: For your company's first financial year, the deadline may be different — up to 21 months after incorporation if your accounting reference date hasn't been changed.

Corporation Tax return deadline

Your Corporation Tax return (CT600) must be filed with HMRC within 12 months of the end of your accounting period. This is separate from Companies House. Your accountant typically handles this, but you should be aware of the timing.

VAT return deadlines (if VAT registered)

If your company is VAT registered, you submit VAT returns — usually quarterly — within 1 month and 7 days of the end of each VAT period. Your accounting software typically handles VAT calculations; the filing deadline is the same regardless of which VAT scheme you use.

How to track Companies House deadlines automatically

The most reliable way to track these deadlines is to have them calculated automatically from your company data and surfaced somewhere you look every day — not in an email you might miss.

Option 1: Companies House WebFiling reminders

Companies House sends email reminders when filings are due. You can update the email address associated with your company through your WebFiling account. This is better than nothing, but relies on a single email not being missed.

Option 2: Calendar entries

Creating calendar entries for your filing deadlines gives you visibility. The limitation is that you need to create these manually each year, and calendar reminders are easy to dismiss and forget about.

Option 3: Dedicated dashboard tracking

The most reliable approach is a dedicated tool that calculates your deadlines automatically from your company number, shows them on a dashboard with live countdowns, and sends reminders at multiple intervals — 90 days out, 30 days, 7 days, and 1 day.

How DirectSolo keeps you compliant

DirectSolo connects to the Companies House API using your company number. It automatically calculates your confirmation statement deadline and annual accounts deadline, and displays them on your dashboard with a live countdown — visible every time you open the app.

• Live countdown to each filing deadline on your dashboard
• Alerts at 90 days, 30 days, 7 days, and 1 day before each deadline
• Filing history visible in your company overview
• Automatic recalculation after each filing cycle
• No manual entry — deadlines are calculated from Companies House data

The Companies House deadline tracking is available on the free plan. No credit card required to get started.