First Year Accounts for a Limited Company: What to File

Your first year accounts as a limited company go to two places. Companies House needs your first annual accounts, usually within 21 months of the date the company was incorporated. HMRC needs a Company Tax Return and any Corporation Tax for each accounting period, and because your first accounts often run for more than 12 months, that can mean two returns and two payment dates.

Below is every first-year date for an example company formed in 2026, plus when changing your year-end makes sense. At HOA we prepare first accounts and tax returns for new limited companies.

Your first year at a glance: a 2026 example

Take a company incorporated on Tuesday 10 March 2026 that starts trading the same day. Its accounting reference date (ARD) is 31 March 2027, the last day of the month in which the first anniversary of incorporation falls. Its dates, worked from the GOV.UK rules:

The first accounts deadline falls on the same day as the first tax payment, and 1 January 2028 is a Saturday, so pay before it. From year two, there is one set of accounts and one return per year.

Your accounting reference date and first period

Your first accounts run past 12 months because of how the ARD is set. For a new company, it is the last day of the month in which the anniversary of incorporation falls. Your first financial year starts on the day of incorporation and ends on that date.

GOV.UK's guide to first accounts and Company Tax Returns gives this example: a company set up on 11 May has an ARD of 31 May the following year, so its first accounts cover 12 months and 3 weeks.

When are first year accounts due for a limited company?

For a private company whose first accounts cover more than 12 months, the deadline is 21 months from the date of incorporation, or 3 months from the ARD, whichever is longer. In our example, 21 months from 10 March 2026 is 10 December 2027, which is later than 30 June 2027, so 10 December 2027 applies.

The usual 9-months-after-year-end rule only applies from year two. Using it here would give 31 December 2027, three weeks after the real deadline.

What the first accounts contain

Generally: a profit and loss account, a balance sheet signed by a director (with their printed name) and notes. They usually come with a directors' report, and an auditor's report unless the company is exempt from audit.

Your first balance sheet is the starting point for every year after, so it is worth understanding opening and closing balances before you prepare it.

Can you file micro-entity accounts?

For accounting periods beginning on or after 6 April 2025, a company is a micro-entity if it meets at least two of these three conditions:

• turnover of no more than £1 million
• balance sheet total of no more than £500,000
• no more than 10 employees on average

Check your figures before choosing the format.

Late filing penalties

Companies House charges a private company an automatic penalty if accounts arrive late:

First Corporation Tax returns for HMRC

You may need two Company Tax Returns for your first accounts, because a return period cannot be longer than 12 months. In our example, the first return covers 10 March 2026 to 9 March 2027 and the second covers 10 March 2027 to 31 March 2027. In later years you normally file one return.

Each return is due 12 months after the end of the accounting period it covers. You must still send a return if the company makes a loss or has no Corporation Tax to pay.

If the company did not trade straight away

A company can be dormant for Corporation Tax between setting up and starting to trade. You tell HMRC the date you started trading when you add Corporation Tax services to your business tax account. Suppose our example company starts trading on 1 June 2026:

• If you added Corporation Tax services before the ARD (31 March 2027): you usually do not file a return for the dormant period. You prepare one set of accounts for 10 March 2026 to 31 March 2027 and file one tax return for 1 June 2026 to 31 March 2027.
• If you did not: you file two returns, one for the dormant period (10 March to 31 May 2026) and one for the trading period (1 June 2026 to 31 March 2027).

Check the notice to deliver a Company Tax Return you get after your first year. If it covers both periods, you must file two returns.

Paying Corporation Tax for the first time

Corporation Tax is usually due 9 months and one day after the end of the accounting period, which is earlier than the return deadline. With two periods you have two payment dates. GOV.UK's example shows this: for a company set up on 11 May 2024 with an ARD of 31 May 2025, tax is due on 11 February 2026 for the first 12 months and on 1 March 2026 for the remaining three weeks.

Should you change your year-end?

Possibly. You can change your current or immediately previous ARD to shorten or extend the period, online, through software or on paper form AA01. You must do it before the filing deadline for the accounts you want to change. Once those accounts are overdue, it is too late.

Shortening our example ARD to 31 December 2026 would give a first period under 12 months, so one Corporation Tax period. Check the new accounts deadline before you change anything.

First-year checklist

1. Note your incorporation date and ARD.
2. Add Corporation Tax services and tell HMRC your trading start date.
3. File your confirmation statement.
4. Decide before the filing deadline whether to shorten or extend your ARD.
5. Work out your Corporation Tax accounting periods: one or two for the first accounts.
6. Pay Corporation Tax 9 months and one day after each period ends.
7. File first accounts with Companies House within 21 months of incorporation.
8. File each Company Tax Return within 12 months of its period end.

If you would rather hand this over, our accounts preparation for new companies covers the accounts and Company Tax Returns together.

What this guide does not cover

Directors' personal Self Assessment is outside this guide. Groups and companies needing an audit should get separate advice.