What is financial reporting?
Financial reports are your annual accounts which must be prepared at the end of each financial year. These reports are sent to HMRC, Companies House and to the Shareholders according to your accounting period for your financial year or Accounting Reference Date (ARD) which is usually when your company was incorporated.
Working closely with an accountant to compile your annual accounts can help free up your time so that you can run your business. An accountant that you work with will prepare your accounts for year end and your financial reports will comprise of several items including:
- All financial statements
- Statements of stock takings and of goods sold and purchased
- Shareholders annual reports
- List of assets
- Company liabilities
- A profit and loss account; balance sheet
Financial reporting submission dates
This is merely an overview of financial reporting and does not delve into the complexities of compiling the reports, but one thing worth noting is that it’s crucial that your accounts are submitted to Companies House on time to avoid serious repercussions. If you do not submit your accounts, then Companies House may take steps to ‘strike the business from the register’. If this happens, then your business does not exist anymore and assets become property of the Crown. You can view details of deadlines via www.gov.uk
The usual times for submitting company accounts are as follows:
- Private company: 9 months from the Accounting Reference Date
- Public company: 6 months from the Accounting Reference Date
Working with an accountant to file your annual accounts can help alleviate any stress and ensure you work towards meeting the essential deadlines.
Talk with a Chartered accountant, Surrey
To help you navigate the process of filing your financial accounts each year, talk to the team here at McKenzies.
We’re a team of accountants based in Oxted, Surrey and provide compliance and outsourcing accounting services to businesses across the UK.