Why year-end matters
Your year-end accounts feed into both your statutory accounts filed at Companies House and your CT600 corporation tax return to HMRC. Getting it right means less tax stress, fewer adjustments and a clearer picture of how your business performed.
8-week prep checklist
8 weeks out
- Reconcile every bank, credit card and PayPal/Stripe account up to date
- Chase outstanding sales invoices — aged debtors hurt your cash position
- Review your fixed asset register and dispose of anything no longer in use
4 weeks out
- Match all purchase invoices to bank payments; clear suppliers in dispute
- Stock-take if you hold inventory; value at lower of cost or net realisable value
- Review prepayments and accruals (rent, insurance, subscriptions)
Year-end week
- Lock the period in your bookkeeping software (Xero/QuickBooks)
- Snapshot bank balances on the last day of your accounting period
- Run a draft P&L and balance sheet — flag anything that looks off
After year-end
- Send everything to your accountant within 30 days
- Approve the draft statutory accounts within 9 months of year-end
- Pay corporation tax within 9 months and 1 day of year-end
- File CT600 within 12 months of year-end
Common pitfalls
- Director's loan account drifting overdrawn — triggers s.455 tax at 33.75%
- Mixing personal expenses through the business account
- Dividends without retained profits — illegal and reclassified as salary
- Forgetting R&D claims — software, prototypes, process improvements may qualify
Ernest & Co prepare year-end accounts and corporation tax returns from £235/month. See pricing.