Statutory Accounting

Core Accounting Services

At HorizonFD, we not only provide a service to prepare your year-end statutory accounts requirements, but we also take the time to understand your SME, provide clarity on your performance, and assess your current financial position.

Make An Enquiry

Your Comprehensive Statutory Accounting Service Provider

Tailored To Your Business

Keeping You Ahead

Technology Focussed

Tailored To Your Business

We know that every business is unique and the way they are managed are individual. We take the time to understand your business and get to know your setup, sales, and expenses. This ensures we can capture all your needs, reporting requirements, and transactions so that these are accurately accounted for, and no stone is left unturned.

Keeping You Ahead

Technology Focussed

What are Statutory Accounts?

Limited companies are legally required to submit a set of accounts, also known as statutory, annual, year end or final accounts, to Companies House within 9 months of their accounting reference date. This applies to all established companies. We understand the importance of meeting these requirements and can ensure that your company is fully compliant, giving you peace of mind. The requirements on what to submit will vary based on your company turnover and size but typically they consist of:

Profit & Loss Statement

Balance Sheet (Statement of Financial Position)

Statutory notes about the accounts

Directors’ Report

Auditor/Accountant’s Report

Limited Companies in the UK must be fully compliant with either IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) or the UK GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

If you are a new business, the first submission of accounts must be made 21 months from the company formation date. For example, if your company was formed on 10th July 20X2, you would need to submit your first-year accounts by 10th May 20X4. After this, the second-year accounts submission will be 9 months from the company year-end date (i.e., 30th April 20X5) and so on.

Depending on the size of your business, you will be required to submit either full accounts, abridged accounts, or dormant accounts if your company has no current activity. Below outlines the purpose of each statutory statement and report:

01. Profit & Loss Statement

Profit & Loss Statements show the performance over the company's financial year. It would typically show a summary of income received and expenses (categorised) incurred. All businesses are however unique and therefore the types of expenses incurred will vary.

When producing a P&L for management this report could be cut and segmented in different ways depending on the nature of the business and detail required (e.g., a retail P&L can be segmented by store or product line if the detail is available).

Most companies will also need to file a Company Tax Return with HMRC every year to disclose their earnings, losses, loans, and other circumstances that can affect the tax they are due to pay.

02. Balance Sheet (Statement of Financial Position)

The balance sheet gives a statement of the company’s financial position at any given point in time. It lists out the assets (e.g., buildings, cash, inventory etc.) your business has, liabilities it owes (loans, suppliers payable etc.), shareholder capital and profits that have been retained.

The balance sheet would have notes attached to help investors and management gain key insights into the financial position of the company including liquidity ratios, debtor turnaround times etc. These indicators will highlight any risk areas that the business may be facing and help understand where to take financial action.

03. Directors’ Report

Companies Act 2006 requires large companies to submit a Directors’ Report as part of their statutory accounts to allow for greater stakeholder transparency. Within the report the key primary activities of the business will be highlighted, the economic outlook for the business and anything that will create a significant impact on business activity in the future. A directors’ report will show the signature of a secretary or director and their printed name.

04. Auditor/Accountant’s Report

An Auditor/Accountant’s Report provide an independent opinion that would state if the annual accounts submitted by a business comply with the IRFS and UK GAAP standards and are free of any material misstatements.

All UK public listed and private limited companies are required by law to submit an auditor’s report, however, exemptions are available for a proportion of SMEs, if they meet the following criteria:

an annual turnover of no more than £10.2 million
assets worth no more than £5.1 million
50 or fewer employees on average

For financial years beginning between 1 October 2012 and 31 December 2015, your company may qualify for an audit exemption if it has at least 2 of the following:

an annual turnover of no more than £6.5 million
assets worth no more than £3.26 million
50 or fewer employees on average

Your business type and size will help determine what type of accounts to submit:

Abridged

Full Accounts

Abridged

Abridged accounts are a simplified version of a company's financial statements that do not include as much detail as full accounts. Certain financial details can be omitted that would typically be present in a Full Accounts Balance Sheet. A Profit & Loss Statement and Auditor’s Report are not required if agreed upon by the Company shareholders. The balance sheet of an abridged accounts must contain a statement that the accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions of the small companies' regime.

Criteria for small companies

If your company meets two of the following conditions, it is considered as a small business:

• You have a turnover less than £10.2 million
• You have up to £5.1 million on your balance sheet
• You have less than 50 employees

As a small business, you can send Companies House a set of Abridged Financial Statements. In addition, a Directors’ Report, a Profit & Loss Statement, and the option not to send an Auditor Report are also available to small businesses.

Criteria for Micro-Entities

If your company meets two or more of the following conditions, you are defined as a micro-entity:

• You have a turnover lower than £632,000
• Your balance sheet shows a maximum of £316,000 or less
• You have 10 employees or less

Being a micro-entity means you do not need to prepare complex accounts, and you can send a more straightforward Balance Sheet to Companies House instead. The same exemptions offered to small companies are also given to micro-entities./span>

Full Accounts

Need support to file your statutory accounts?

Book a call with HorizonFD to see how we can assist

Book an Enquiry Call

Core Accounting Services