WRITTEN ON March 30th, 2007 BY Richard S AND STORED IN Uncategorized

Companies House (part of DTI) used to demand that companies provided copies of their annual accounts on paper or via an arcane electronic system: This year I’ve used their new online service – hopefully successfully!

I resent Companies House: The individual staff have always been helpful, but it adds no value to my small company, only costs and the continual threats of severe penalties if their deadlines are missed: No one could have a legitimate reason for researching my company’s out of date accounts or the private addresses of its officers!

However, “rules are rules”!

[b]Background[/b]

Small companies are required to file a copy of their abbreviated accounts no later than ten months after the end of their accounting period. This copy must comply with the required standards and be of suitable quality for micro-filming: Faxes, emails, glossy paper, poor printing are not acceptable: There are severe penalties for lateness or for submitting unsuitable material.

For some years, the HMRC (which requires very similar information) has accepted company accounts in PDF format, as part of their online Corporation Tax service. Until now, I’ve always had to print and post a copy to Companies House – often by “Special Delivery.”

[b]Companies House Service[/b]

Having registered for “online filing” – a lengthy process – you can now log into your company’s account and download an active PDF form. You open this PDF form using Adobe Acrobat; type in the required details; check it using special “buttons”; (print a copy and check it again!) then re-connect to the Internet and “submit” the completed form.

With luck, the form is received OK; an acknowledgement email arrives soon after; within 5 days, a second email arrives to confirm that your filing was “acceptable.” (Mine arrived next morning.)

[b]Good Points[/b]

1.Online filing is great – especially compared with a last minute dash to the Post Office for Special Delivery, only to discover that a district-wide power-cut has closed all Post Offices! (Thanks to electronic POS & security systems, they can’t even sell stamps!)

2.Once downloaded, the PDF form can be completed “off-line”: Internet access is required only for downloading & uploading. (cf. HMRC services require continuous access.)

3.The company’s details are pre-printed automatically in the form – thanks!

4.The form was automatically adapted for a small company.

5.The form has built-in checks.

6.It worked for me! (This time.)

[b]Bad Points[/b]

1.There are two acceptable formats for “balance sheets.” The PDF form offers only one – the one I’ve never used before!

2.The PDF form requires a recent version of (free) Adobe Reader, working on a fairly recent Windows XP or Mac computer: No mention of Linux, Solaros etc.

3.The PDF form worked badly with the accessibility settings in my Adobe Reader; making the form hard to follow. It also required that several setting were re-enabled.

4.There’s no test mode: The only way of discovering whether it will work on your PC & your network, is to complete the form for real and try it – leaving enough time to post a printed copy!

So, a useful new service which worked (this time) for me.

[b]Wibbi:[/b] Companies House was abolished:

To small companies, it’s just yet another cost – a source of hassle, threats & penalties; These days, large companies can be located and regulated without involving Companies House; Why does Companies House (DTI) demand similar information, earlier, to that required by HMRC (Treasury)?