First-year accounts for limited company in Barnstaple

First-year accounts for new Barnstaple companies

Your first accounts normally cover a little over twelve months, running from the day you incorporated to your accounting reference date, and the period can never be longer than 18 months. For most companies the first accounts are due 21 months after incorporation. You must also register for Corporation Tax within three months of starting to trade.

First company accounts for Barnstaple businesses: local facts

Barnstaple is in the North Devon council area, in the South West region. In North Devon, 4,555 of the 5,070 VAT- and PAYE-registered businesses in the 2026 ONS count have fewer than ten employees, around 90%. If you run a company in Barnstaple, you are in good company.

The largest groups of micro businesses in North Devon are agriculture, forestry and fishing (1,255), construction (650) and wholesale and retail (570). If you work in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Barnstaple, seasonal income, grants and farm equipment need careful year-end treatment, so we tie your accounts to bank records and an asset register. That puts agriculture, forestry and fishing at 28% of the local micro-business base.

Zooming in, the ONS neighbourhood area around Barnstaple (North Devon 008) has 310 VAT- or PAYE-registered businesses, and 255 of them (82%) are micro businesses.

North Devon ranks 780 of the 1105 areas we serve by number of micro businesses, and its micro share of 90% is in line with the 89% average across them. In construction (650 micro businesses in North Devon), Construction Industry Scheme deductions, retentions and stage payments can distort profit, so we reconcile your CIS statements before the accounts are prepared. In wholesale and retail (570 micro businesses in North Devon), closing stock and the VAT treatment of different product lines are the usual pressure points, so we value stock carefully and check your VAT records.