Every company keeps a public record at Companies House, and keeping that record accurate and up to date is a continuous legal duty that falls on its directors. As a solicitor advising companies, you will be the one tracking deadlines, preparing filings, and warning clients of what happens when obligations are missed — because the consequences range from automatic fines to criminal liability and even the company being struck off. This lesson gives you a clear map of what must be filed, by when, and by whom.
What this lesson covers:
- Responsibility and Consequences of Non-Compliance — who carries the duty to file and what happens, criminally and civilly, when filings are missed.
- The Confirmation Statement — the periodic check that keeps the public register accurate, and the risk of being struck off.
- Annual Accounts and Filing Deadlines — how the accounting reference date drives every deadline and the escalating penalties for lateness.
- Filing Changes: Directors, Shares and Resolutions — the time limits for notifying appointments, allotments, resolutions and amended articles.
- Reduction of Share Capital — the two routes available and the solvency statement that underpins one of them.
- Registration of Charges — the 21-day window and what a lender loses by missing it.
- Persons with Significant Control (PSC) — identifying who really owns or controls a company.