As a business owner, there are plenty of deadlines to worry about, including your statutory accounts. In this article, we’re going to clear up what these accounts are and how you can go about preparing them.
What are Statutory Accounts?
Let’s kick off with the basics, what are statutory accounts? These are your annual accounts, which summarises your financial records for the last year. Statutory accounts should be shared with your shareholders, those that can go to your general meetings, HMRC and Companies House.
The amount of information that you need to include in these accounts will vary depending on the company size. Deadlines for filing must be adhered to each year; otherwise you run the risk of receiving a fine of up to £3,000.
The statutory accounts submitted each year should include a balance sheet, a profit and loss statement, notes about the accounts and a director’s report. Larger companies may also be required to include an auditor’s report.
How to Prepare Statutory Accounts?
The best way to prepare these accounts is to work with an accountant that can prepare them in line with the correct standards and in the correct format. These must meet either International Financial Reporting Standards or the New UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. Failure to follow these guidelines can also result in the accounts being rejected, fines or further amendments being demanded.
Pulling together these different pieces of information can be time-consuming for a business owner; working with an accountant can save you a lot of time and expense. They will be able to help you with the various components of the accounts to be signed off. A director must sign the final accounts to confirm that the information is accurate.
In the case that Companies House or HMRC penalises you for late submission of these accounts, there is an appeals process. This process will allow you to give reasoning behind why the accounts were submitted beyond the deadline and potentially mitigate the fine. The best way to save time on this is to submit them within the statutory accounts filing deadline for your company.
Preparation is vital when it comes to submitting these accounts, as it can be stressful for business owners to attempt to present close to the deadline. Working with an accountant will mean you have access to most of this information as and when you need it. They can guide you through the process of collating and submitting all of the relevant data.
Accountants usually use specialised software to assist with preparing accounts in a professional and efficient manner and should have the necessary expertise to ensure that all of the legal disclosure requirements are met.
If your business is in need of an accounting solution, then get in touch with the team. At Profile, Chartered Accountants we specialise in working with small to medium-sized businesses. Our specialisation means you get a tailored service that works for your company.