Company confirmation statement for contractors: explainer

A Company Confirmation Statement (CCS), also referred to as an Annual Return, is a once per year submission to Companies House to remain compliant with your statutory filing requirements as a limited company director, writes Louise Rayner, founder and CEO of specialist accountancy firm NumberMill.

What is a company confirmation statement, and when should you file a CCS?

The purpose of filing a company confirmation statement is to ensure that Companies House maintains up-to-date information on your business, as is required by the Companies Act 2006.

The filing of the confirmation statement has a very short deadline period. Therefore it’s important to be well aware of this date. The statement is due for filing within 14 days of either;

- The 12-month anniversary of your company incorporation

Or:

- 12 months from the date of the last filed Confirmation Statement

New or the same…

The simplicity of the confirmation statement is, as the name suggests, you are confirming that the information Companies House holds is correct already -- and should this be the case and no changes have occurred, the filing is a very simple process.

If there are any changes to the company statutory information since the last confirmation statement was issued, then you will be required to update Companies House prior to, or at the same time as submitting the confirmation statement.

What does a confirmation statement for a company contain?

The following information is required to be checked and confirmed as accurate when submitting a confirmation statement.

Any incorrect data at the date of review should be corrected:

- Company Registered Office Address

- Shareholder Details (including name and details of shares held)

- Company Statutory Register Location

- Company Officers (Directors/Secretaries etc.)

- Statement of Capital

o Number of shares within the business

o Total Number of shares of each varying class (if applicable)

o Aggregate nominal value of total shares

o Aggregate nominal value of each share class

o Prescribed particulars of rights attached to each class of share (with reference to Voting rights, Capital redemption rights and dividend rights)

- Trading status of shares

- Persons with Significant Control (these are individuals who hold more than 25% of a shareholding in the business)

What are the consequences of failure to file a confirmation statement?

While there is no financial penalty for late filing of a confirmation statement, the registrar can take steps to strike the business off the register, which has its own unwanted implications to consider such as frozen business assets. It is also a very admin-heavy task to be re-instated, so it’s essential to get your statement completed accurately and on time!

The director of the business has a legal responsibility to ensure that the confirmation statement, among other statutory information, is filed by relevant deadlines, failure to do so is a criminal offence.

How to file a company confirmation statement?

Filing the confirmation statement can be completed in a number of ways:

- A CS01 form, completed and sent through the post to Companies House.

- Online via Companies House Webfiling.

The two options above both come with a cost.

The online filing option is the more favourable of the two, costing £13, whereas the postal filing is £40. Not only is the e-filing far easier and more practical, but also comes with a hefty saving!

How to stay Companies House-compliant?

Keeping up-to-date with your confirmation statement filings can be difficult, particularly when you are focusing on running your business. Administrative burdens like filing with Companies House can understandably often slip through the cracks.

Therefore while the most practical advice is to have an accountant on board to keep track of these filings on your behalf, another option is to sign up to Companies House’s ‘Email Reminders’ service, which will prompt you in advance of your filing deadline. Good luck!