File your confirmation statement

Limited companies must file a 'confirmation statement' at Companies House at least once every 12 months (previously known as an annual return).

The rules require you to check and confirm that the information held about your company by Companies House is up-to-date. So long as you have notified Companies House of any changes to your company during the previous 12 months, filing a confirmation statement should only take 5-10 minutes. 

A confirmation statement must be dated within 12 months of the last confirmation statement, and filed no more than 14 days after the end of the relevant 12-month period. However, you can file as many confirmation statements about your company as you wish in each 12-month period.

Companies House will send out filing reminders but you should make a note of when you need to file your first and subsequent confirmation statements.

Notification of some changes to the information held by Companies House can be made in the confirmation statement itself, such as changes to your company's shareholder information or its SIC code (which defines the company's business activities). Other changes, such as to the company's registered office, must be filed separately.

Make sure you keep good records of all this information easily accessible, to make it easier to file your confirmation statement when the time comes. You can find further guidance on how to prepare for filing your confirmation statement on the Companies House pages of the GOV.UK website.

How much does it cost to file a confirmation statement?

It is quicker, easier and cheaper to file a confirmation statement online. If a confirmation statement is filed in paper format (on form CS01), the Companies House fee is £40. If it is filed electronically using the Companies House WebFiling service the fee is £12. The fee will only have to be paid once in each 12-month period, no matter how many confirmation statements your company files in that period.