Confirmation Statement Filing in Whitehall — Keep Your Companies House Record Accurate

A confirmation statement is a filing made at Companies House, often called a CS01, that confirms the information Companies House holds about your company is accurate and up to date. It is not a financial document — it does not report your profit, turnover or tax position, and it does not replace annual accounts or a Corporation Tax Return. Instead, it confirms the current position on the register, covering details such as your registered office, directors, shareholders and people with significant control. Where something has changed, the confirmation statement confirms the updated position, and certain changes may also need to be reported to Companies House separately rather than left until the confirmation statement is due.

Most companies registered at Companies House do, including private limited companies, public limited companies and limited liability partnerships. Being dormant, not trading, or having only recently incorporated generally does not remove the requirement, because the confirmation statement is about the accuracy of your company's details rather than its level of activity. If your company is registered at Companies House, it is sensible to check the requirement rather than assume it does not apply. Companies in Whitehall and elsewhere in the UK follow the same principle — the obligation attaches to the company, not to where it operates or how busy it is.

UK companies generally need to file a confirmation statement at least once every 12 months, even if the company is dormant or not trading. That 12-month review period normally runs from the date of your last confirmation statement, or from incorporation for a new company. You can file more than one confirmation statement within a review period if your company information changes and you want the register brought up to date sooner. Importantly, the confirmation statement has its own timeline and is not the same as your accounting period or your annual accounts deadline, so it is worth tracking the two separately.

You are confirming that the details Companies House holds are correct, so it is worth reviewing your registered office address, directors and secretary, shareholders and statement of capital, people with significant control, and your standard industrial classification (SIC) codes. If anything is out of date, it needs to be corrected — and how you correct it depends on what has changed. Some updates can be reflected as part of the confirmation statement process, while other changes must be reported to Companies House separately, sometimes using a different form. If you are unsure which route applies, that is exactly the kind of point a professional filing service can check for you.

In most cases, yes. Dormancy affects your accounts and your tax position rather than the requirement to confirm the information Companies House holds about your company. A dormant company that has been incorporated and remains on the register will usually still have a confirmation statement due at least once every 12 months, and it still needs to keep its registered details accurate. It is worth remembering that dormant does not automatically mean exemption — the circumstances of the company matter, so check your own position if you are unsure.

No, these are three separate requirements with different purposes and different recipients. Annual accounts are your statutory financial statements, and a Corporation Tax Return (CT600) is filed with HMRC to report taxable profits and work out Corporation Tax. A confirmation statement goes to Companies House and simply confirms that the company information on the register is accurate and up to date. Filing one does not satisfy the others, and none of them should be confused with your VAT Returns, which are also handled separately. It is common for businesses to deal with all of these at different points in the year, which is why it helps to know which filing is which.

If a confirmation statement is not filed, the company record at Companies House can show the filing as overdue, and Companies House can take action in relation to the failure. Because the consequences depend on the company's circumstances and on Companies House's own processes, the practical answer is to bring the filing up to date as soon as you can rather than leave it sitting. Checking your company details at the same time is also worthwhile, since an out-of-date register can cause problems later when you need to show who the directors, shareholders or people with significant control are.

A professional service takes the filing off your desk. We review the information Companies House currently holds, check it against the details you provide, flag anything that looks out of date, prepare the confirmation statement and handle the submission. Where a change needs to be reported separately rather than through the confirmation statement, we will tell you and help you deal with it, along with Companies House information updates where needed. Getting started is straightforward — share your company details and what has changed, and we will confirm what needs to happen next so your filing is accurate and on time.