Every year, it is compulsory for a company to acknowledge Companies House that all the details they have about the company are correct and up to date. For this, the company checks the details and lets the Companies House know through a confirmation statement. The company details at Companies House are checked through the website by entering the company name or number after clicking on find company information.
All limited companies and limited liability partnerships (LLP) must deliver it at least once or maybe more (in certain circumstances) every 12 months, even if the company is dormant or non-trading.
Before confirming that the company records are fully up to date in the confirmation statement, these changes if occurred must be filed:
• Secretary and directors
• People with significant control (PSC)
• Company’s registered office address
An additional information section is present in the confirmation statement, where we can mention the following changes:
• SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) code
• Statement of capital
• Information of shareholders
If there are no changes in the company information, Companies House still requires companies to submit a confirmation statement through which it is confirmed that the information they are holding is correct and the records are up to date.
REVIEW PERIOD
At least one confirmation statement is compulsory every 12 months. The review period of 12 months starts on either:
• The incorporation date of the company
• The date on which the last confirmation statement (statement date) was filed
The review period of the company ends on:
• The anniversary date of the company
• Statement date of last confirmation statement
The statement date is the date on which the company must confirm that the information recorded at Companies House is correct.
If the company filed a confirmation statement early (before the due date), the new review period will be started from that.
The confirmation statement must be filed within 14 days after the end of the review period. If not filed within 14 days, it can be considered a criminal offense (under certain circumstances) and may have serious consequences, i.e., the company and its officers may be prosecuted or disqualified. There are chances that the company may also be struck off from the register by the registrar.
ANNUAL FEE AND PAYMENT PERIOD
The annual cost of filing a confirmation statement is:
• £13 if filed online
• £40 if submitted in paper form
The review period and payment period are separate. The payment period is when the annual fee is due. The annual fee is paid only once a year when the first Confirmation Statement is filed. As many as required can be filed then within this payment period. The payment period covers 12 months that start from the incorporation date of the company. For the older companies, the payment period covers 12 months that ends on the return date anniversary of the company’s annual return (AR01). The payment period cannot be changed.
It is the legal responsibility of Directors to ensure that all the statutory documents, including Confirmation Statements, are filed to Companies House by the deadlines. Even if these tasks are delegated to the secretary.
One should know that Confirmation Statements and Annual Accounts are different from each other.
The Annual Accounts return gives information about the financial activities of the company in the last year. A copy of that must be sent to the Companies House and HMRC. While the Confirmation Statement is filed to confirm the key details of the internal structure of the company.
The only similarity between those two is they both must be filed at least once a year.
RESTORATION OF COMPANY
If the company wants to be restored on the register, the company needs to file a paper form CS01. The statement date that was due before it was struck off must be put. If the correct date is not confirmed, the company should contact Companies House before filing a confirmation statement (form CS01).
LATE SUBMISSION
If the responsible party forgets to file a confirmation statement on time, In case of the missing deadline, it should be filed as soon as possible. Even though, there is no financial penalty for filing late.