Keeping proper financial records is one of the most basic things the law expects of every company, and one of the first things a solicitor checks when advising directors. Get it right and the company stays compliant; get it wrong and directors face criminal liability, civil penalties, and — if the company fails — personal exposure in insolvency. This is everyday, practical law you will use whenever you act for a company or its board.
This lesson works through the duties in the order they arise in practice:
- Core Obligations and Accounting Records — the three linked duties every company carries, who is responsible, and what the records must contain.
- Preservation and Reference Date — how long records must be kept and how the accounting reference date sets the financial year.
- Company Size Categories — the four size categories, the thresholds that define them, and why public companies are treated differently.
- Preparing the Accounts and Audit — the audit exemption, when members can demand an audit, and how accounts are approved and signed.
- Filing Exemptions, Deadlines and Penalties — what smaller companies can leave out, the filing deadlines, and the penalties for filing late.
- Records and Insolvency — how poor record-keeping can resurface in wrongful trading, fraudulent trading, and disqualification.