First-year accounts for limited company in Manchester

First-year accounts for new Manchester 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 Manchester businesses: local facts

Manchester is in the North West region. ONS figures for 2026 count 24,550 VAT- or PAYE-registered businesses in Manchester, and 21,440 of them (87%) employ fewer than ten people. Many are small enough to use the micro-entity regime.

The largest groups of micro businesses in Manchester are wholesale and retail (4,390), professional, scientific and technical services (3,965) and construction (1,815). If you work in wholesale and retail in Manchester, 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. That puts wholesale and retail at 20% of the local micro-business base.

Zooming in, the ONS neighbourhood area around Manchester (Manchester 060) has 2,070 VAT- or PAYE-registered businesses, and 1,775 of them (86%) are micro businesses.

Manchester ranks 99 of the 1105 areas we serve by number of micro businesses, and its micro share of 87% is below the 89% average across them. In professional, scientific and technical services (3,965 micro businesses in Manchester), fee income, work in progress at the year end and how directors are paid are the key decisions, so we plan these with you before the accounts are finalised. In construction (1,815 micro businesses in Manchester), Construction Industry Scheme deductions, retentions and stage payments can distort profit, so we reconcile your CIS statements before the accounts are prepared.