Annual accounts are primarily for the benefit of the company owner – it is a great time to have an in-depth review of your business, confirm that it is hitting targets and producing the expected profit. If your company is not producing monthly or quarterly accounts then you will also have the opportunity to catch anomalies that you may miss on a month to month basis. You accounts when examined can inform you where savings can be made.
Companies House & HMRC
Each year businesses registered with Companies House, (the registrar of companies for the UK), must prepare Annual accounts and submit them to Companies House. However at Gilmour & Co we offer the option of annual accounts for all our clients no matter what size or type of business they may have.
The general purpose of annual accounts is to record the financial transactions of a business for a certain period to ascertain how the business has performed and to monitor its progress. For example the profit or loss of a business is one way of measuring its performance; as is sales, expenditure, net profit compared to gross profit year on year. These financial statements can relate to the past and the future.
All limited companies have a statutory obligation to prepare, and lodge with HMRC & Companies house, accounts and accounts which meet strict obligations.
A set of accounts will usually comprise of:
- Balance Sheet
- Profit & Loss Account
- Cash Flow Statement
- Directors Report
The accounts must also include the accounting principles that have been applied, and the statutory law which they adhere to.
Penalties
The accounts must be sent to HMRC and Companies house no later than nine months after their accounting period ends. HMRC & Companies House will impose heavy penalties for late lodgement of accounts.
Accounts Setup
We can help you setup an accounting software package and create the initial categories. Many companies prefer to complete their month to month accounts in house, if this is setup in conjunction with your accountant it is possible this can lead to lower end of year cost, and makes VAT reporting easier. However if you wish to out-source all your accountant work we can carry out all the work on your behalf.