Accounting for CPA · United Kingdom & Europe
Annual Return Filing
Never miss a Companies House deadline — accurate confirmation statements filed on time, every review period, by dedicated UK-compliance specialists.
Overview
Annual Return Filing for United Kingdom & Europe
Every company and LLP registered in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland must file a confirmation statement — form CS01 for companies, LL CS01 for LLPs — with Companies House at least once every 12 months, even when nothing has changed. It replaced the old annual return in 2016 and confirms that the public record still shows the correct directors, members, shareholders, registered office, SIC codes and people with significant control.
AccountsUp runs your confirmation statement end to end. A dedicated compliance specialist reviews your statutory registers, reconciles them against your accounting stack, drafts the filing, and submits it through Companies House WebFiling well before your due date. AI-assisted checks flag mismatched PSC data, outdated SIC codes and share-capital discrepancies before they reach the public register, so your record stays clean and penalty-free.
Whether you manage a single trading company, a group with multiple subsidiaries, or a portfolio of clients as a CPA or accountancy firm, we track every review period, chase the confirmation date, and keep an auditable trail of what was filed and when. You get the reassurance of a maintained register without diverting your team onto Companies House admin.
- A confirmation statement filed on time, every review period, without you chasing the deadline
- A Companies House record that always matches your cap table and board minutes
- Freedom from strike-off and prosecution risk tied to missed or inaccurate filings
- Company secretarial admin lifted off your team so they can focus on the business
What's included
Everything the annual return filing engagement covers
Confirmation statement (CS01) preparation & filing
We prepare and submit your annual CS01 through Companies House WebFiling, confirming your company details are accurate as at the confirmation date.
PSC register review & update
We verify your People with Significant Control register — names, ownership bands and control conditions — and file any PSC01, PSC04 or PSC07 changes required.
Statement of capital & shareholdings
We reconcile your statement of capital, share classes, aggregate nominal value and shareholder list, so issued and transferred shares match your cap table exactly.
SIC code check
We confirm your Standard Industrial Classification codes still describe what you actually do, updating them when your trading activity has shifted since the last filing.
Registered office, SAIL & email address
We check your registered office, SAIL address and the registered email now required under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, filing AD01 or AD02 as needed.
Director & secretary details
We reconcile officer appointments, resignations and personal details against your board records, filing AP01, TM01 or CH01 so the register of officers stays current.
Deadline tracking & reminders
We monitor every 12-month review period and 14-day filing window across your entities, chasing outstanding information early so a statement is never filed late.
Statutory registers maintenance
We keep your statutory registers — members, directors, PSC and charges — in order year-round, so each confirmation statement rests on records that are already accurate.
Why AccountsUp
The advantage of annual return filing done right
Never miss a deadline
Proactive tracking of every review period and 14-day window means your filings land on time, protecting your company from strike-off and prosecution risk.
AI-assisted accuracy
Automated cross-checks compare your registers against your accounting stack and the live Companies House record, catching PSC and share-capital mismatches before they are filed.
A dedicated specialist
You work with a named UK-compliance specialist who knows your entities, not an anonymous queue — so nothing about your company has to be re-explained.
Works inside your stack
We pull directors, shareholders and capital data straight from Xero, QuickBooks, Sage or NetSuite, so you never re-key figures into another compliance portal.
Scales across a portfolio
Whether one company or hundreds of client entities, we standardise the process, so CPA and accountancy firms can offload confirmation statements without adding headcount.
A defensible audit trail
Every review, change and submission is logged with timestamps and confirmations, giving you clean evidence of compliance for auditors, lenders and due-diligence requests.
AI-powered, expert-led
The reliability of an in-house team, without the overhead
Most providers either bury confirmation statements in a generic company-secretarial package or leave you to self-file through an unfamiliar portal. AccountsUp pairs a dedicated UK-compliance specialist with AI-assisted reconciliation, working inside your existing Xero, QuickBooks, Sage or NetSuite data rather than around it. Enterprise-grade security protects your statutory information, and every filing is reviewed by a human before it reaches the public register — accuracy you can defend, not just automation you have to trust.
How it works
A clear path from first call to steady delivery
Onboard & map your entities
We collect your company numbers, authentication codes and register access, then map every entity's confirmation date and review period into a single tracked calendar.
Review & reconcile
Ahead of each due date, your specialist reconciles directors, PSCs, SIC codes and statement of capital against your records and the live Companies House register.
Confirm changes with you
We flag anything that has changed — new shareholders, share issues, officer moves — and confirm the updates with you before anything touches the public record.
File with Companies House
Once approved, we submit the CS01 and any supporting forms through WebFiling, pay the filing fee on your authority, and capture the acceptance confirmation.
Report & set the next cycle
You receive the filed statement and a compliance summary, and we reset the clock — scheduling the next review period so the cycle never lapses.
Works inside your stack
We operate in the platforms you already run
Industries we serve
Annual Return Filing shaped around your sector in United Kingdom & Europe
What clients say
Trusted by firms and businesses worldwide
“Our bookkeeping and monthly reporting are finally accurate and on time. AccountsUp feels like an in-house team.”
Questions
Annual Return Filing, answered
What's the difference between an annual return and a confirmation statement?
They're the same obligation under different names. The confirmation statement (form CS01) replaced the annual return (AR01) on 30 June 2016. Instead of restating all your details each year, you now simply confirm the Companies House record is accurate, updating anything that has changed.
How often do I need to file, and what's the deadline?
At least once every 12 months. Your review period runs from incorporation or your last statement, and you have 14 days after it ends to file. Many companies file early when details change. We track both dates for you so nothing slips.
What happens if I file late or miss it entirely?
Failing to file is a criminal offence. Companies House can prosecute the company and its directors, and ultimately strike the company off the register, which can freeze bank accounts and pass assets to the Crown. Consistent, on-time filing avoids all of this.
Does the confirmation statement cost anything to file?
Yes — Companies House charges an annual fee to process the statement (currently £34 online), payable once per 12-month period no matter how many statements you file within it. Our service fee covers the review, preparation and submission; the Companies House fee is billed at cost.
Do I still file if nothing about my company has changed?
Yes. Even a dormant company with no changes must file a confirmation statement each year to confirm the record is still correct. If nothing has changed, we simply verify and confirm the existing details — the obligation itself never pauses.
How do you keep my company data secure?
Your statutory information is handled under enterprise-grade controls — encrypted storage, multi-factor authentication, role-based access and full audit logging. We work within your existing accounting platforms rather than exporting data loosely, and access is limited to the specialists assigned to your account.
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