01
Every figure carries its source and its date
Deadlines and penalties move. A number without the page it came from and the day it was read is a number that will be wrong later and nobody will notice.
About
One accountant,one notebook,four rules.
Ltd Field Notes is written in Manchester by one practising accountant. Most of the work is UK limited companies owned by people who live somewhere else.
The four rules
They exist because I broke each one at least once.
02
No invented examples
Where a case appears, it is a real filing with the identifying detail removed. There is no Company A and no representative client.
03
The unhelpful answer goes first
If the honest answer is that it depends on your accounting reference date, that sentence comes before the one that sounds decisive.
04
Rules are public, your case is not
Dates and forms on this site are the published rules. Nothing here is advice on your situation, and reading it is not the same as somebody looking at your paperwork.
How a page on this site is made
Four steps, in this order, every time. It is slower than writing from memory and it is the only reason the numbers hold.
STEP 1
Read the rule at source
Not a summary, not last year's note, the GOV.UK page itself, on the day of writing. The date it was read goes on the page.
STEP 2
Write the number, then the sentence
Figures go down first with their page. The prose is built around them, so there is nothing to check afterwards.
STEP 3
Find the line that catches non residents
Most rules have one clause written for somebody who lives here. That clause is the reason the entry exists.
STEP 4
Say what to do next
Every entry ends with one action. If there is no action, the entry is trivia and does not go up.
What I do for money
The notebook is free. These are not.
A read of one situation
You send the incorporation date, the filing history and the question. You get back the dates that apply to you and the two or three places it usually goes wrong.
Deadline watch
Your filing dates tracked for a year, with a reminder before each one and the filing itself if you want it done rather than remembered.
Letters to Companies House
Templates for the letters people actually need: late filing appeal, change of registered office, correcting a PSC entry.
Send one situation and get the dates back
Incorporation date, filing history, and the question. You get the deadlines that apply to your company and the two or three places it usually goes wrong. No newsletter unless you tick the box.
Scope
Both halves of this matter, so both are written down.
Not covered
Payroll, VAT returns as a service, personal tax in your own country, immigration, and anything involving a company that is not a UK limited company.
Not offered
Company formation as a package, nominee directors, addresses for companies I do not act for, and opinions on which bank will say yes.
Where the figures come from
Every source used across this site, in one place.
| Subject | Page |
|---|---|
| Accounts, Corporation Tax and return deadlines | gov.uk/prepare-file-annual-accounts-for-limited-company/deadlines |
| Late filing penalties and appeals | gov.uk/annual-accounts/penalties-for-late-filing |
| Confirmation statement | gov.uk/running-a-limited-company/confirmation-statement |
| First accounts and first tax returns | gov.uk/first-company-accounts-and-return |
| Registered office and email rules | gov.uk/limited-company-formation/company-address |
| Directors and company secretaries | gov.uk/limited-company-formation/appoint-directors-and-company-secretaries |
| Identity verification | gov.uk/guidance/verify-your-identity-for-companies-house |
| VAT registration | gov.uk/vat-registration/when-to-register |
| Companies House fees | gov.uk/government/publications/companies-house-fees |