What to do after incorporating a UK limited company: post-incorporation compliance checklist (2026)

Incorporating a UK limited company online costs £100 and typically completes within 24 hours. Once Companies House approves your application, you receive a certificate of incorporation and a company number. You are now a registered company director.

But incorporation is only the beginning. The certificate creates a legal entity — it does not make that entity compliant, operational, or ready to trade. The next 90 days involve a series of legal obligations, HMRC registrations, and practical steps that determine whether your company stays in good standing or quietly accumulates penalties and compliance gaps.

This guide covers every post-incorporation step in the order it matters — what is legally required, what is strongly recommended, and what is optional. Use it as a checklist.

If you'd rather delegate the ongoing compliance, our packages bundle the registered office, identity verification, and annual filings into one annual fee.

Understand your company status: incorporated, trading, or dormant

Before taking any action, establish which of three states your company is in. Your obligations — and deadlines — differ depending on this status.

• Incorporated but not yet trading. The company exists on the Companies House register but has not carried out any business activity. You still have statutory obligations (confirmation statement, annual accounts, maintaining statutory registers), but no Corporation Tax registration deadline is running.
• Trading (active). The company has started any business activity: invoicing a client, buying stock, paying a supplier, signing a commercial contract, or earning bank interest on company funds. From the date trading begins, you must notify HMRC of chargeability to Corporation Tax within three months.
• Dormant. A specific status recognised by both Companies House and HMRC — but with different definitions. For Companies House, a company is dormant if it has had no "significant accounting transactions" during the period (filing fees and payments for shares on incorporation don't count). For HMRC, a company is dormant if it is not carrying on business and has no income. A company can be dormant for Companies House but active for HMRC, or vice versa. Dormant companies file simplified (dormant) accounts at Companies House and must still file a confirmation statement, but a company that is dormant for Corporation Tax purposes can notify HMRC and will not need to file CT600 returns until it becomes active. (Read more in our dormant company checklist.)

If you incorporated to reserve a name or prepare for a future launch, your company is live with ongoing Companies House duties — you just haven't triggered the Corporation Tax clock yet. Do not assume that "not trading" means "no obligations."

What happens automatically after incorporation

Several things happen without any action from you once Companies House processes your incorporation:

• Companies House shares your details with HMRC. HMRC is automatically notified of the new company and will post a company UTR (Unique Taxpayer Reference) to your registered office, usually within 2–3 weeks. This is a 10-digit number distinct from any personal UTR you may have.
• Your company data goes public immediately. Your company name, number, registered office address, director names, director service addresses, date of birth (month and year only), nationality, PSC details, SIC codes, and filing history are all publicly visible on the Companies House register from the moment of incorporation. Anyone can search for and view this information at no cost.
• Companies House posts your authentication code. A six-character alphanumeric code is sent by post to your registered office within roughly 5 working days. This code authorises all future online filings.
• Your compliance deadlines begin. Your first confirmation statement review period and first accounting reference period both start running from the date of incorporation — regardless of whether you trade.

Post-incorporation checklist

Work through these in order. The deadlines in the first month are tight, and most avoidable penalties trace back to something that was missed early.

Days 1–3: secure your documents and access

Save your incorporation documents

Action: save your certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles of association, and note your company number and registered SIC codes. If you incorporated through Companies House directly, download these from your account. If you incorporated with Filing HQ, your documents are available in your documents page immediately after incorporation.
Why: banks, accountants, landlords, payment processors, and HMRC will all request these within weeks. Having them readily accessible avoids delays at critical moments.

Watch for your Companies House authentication code

Within roughly 5 working days of incorporation, Companies House posts a six-character authentication code to your registered office by post. This code authorises every future online filing — confirmation statements, accounts, director changes, and more. Treat it like a password: store it securely and do not share it. If you incorporated through Filing HQ, your authentication code will be emailed to you as soon as it is received.

Why this matters: without this code, you cannot file anything online with Companies House. If it is posted to an address where post is not monitored, you will be locked out of your own company's filing record.
If lost: you can request a replacement through Companies House WebFiling. The replacement is posted to the registered office — allow another 5 working days. The old code is invalidated immediately on request.

Confirm the registered office address is being monitored

Action: verify that someone is opening post at the registered office address regularly. If it is your home, check daily. If it is a virtual office provider, confirm that mail scanning or forwarding is active.
Why: the authentication code, your company UTR from HMRC, penalty notices, and strike-off warnings all arrive at the registered office by post. Unmonitored post is the single most common cause of avoidable compliance failures. (See our guide on the risks of using your home as a registered office.)

Week 1: identity verification, addresses, and share formalities

Verify your identity with Companies House

Since 18 November 2025, every director and person with significant control (PSC) must verify their identity with Companies House under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA). If you incorporated after that date, you will have been prompted during the incorporation process. Any director or PSC added later must verify separately.

There are two routes:

• Directly via GOV.UK One Login — free, requires valid photo ID and a smartphone.
• Through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) — such as Filing HQ. This route is available if you hold a non-UK passport, cannot use the GOV.UK app, or prefer to have it handled on your behalf.

Consequence of delay: unverified directors and PSCs face restrictions on what they can file and may eventually be unable to update their own company's records.

Understand your address options: registered office, service address, and residential address

UK companies involve three distinct address types, and confusing them is a common early mistake:

• Registered office address — the official address for all statutory correspondence from Companies House and HMRC. Must be a physical address in England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland (matching where the company is registered). This address is publicly visible on the Companies House register.
• Director's service address — the address shown on the public register against each director's name. It can be any address where the director is willing to receive correspondence. Many directors use the company's registered office as their service address to keep their home address off the public register.
• Director's residential address — required by law and recorded by Companies House, but not publicly visible (except to specified authorities such as credit reference agencies who apply for access). It must be your actual home address.

If you used your home address as the registered office at incorporation, that address is now on the public record. Changing to a dedicated registered office updates the current address, but be aware that historical filings showing the old address remain visible in the company's filing history.

Confirm your PSC register is correct

Every UK company must maintain a PSC (People with Significant Control) register. A PSC is any individual who:

• holds more than 25% of shares or voting rights,
• has the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board, or
• otherwise exercises significant influence or control over the company.

For most new companies, the founder is the sole PSC. If you add a co-founder, investor, or family member with shares, check whether they also qualify. Under ECCTA, every PSC must complete identity verification. Any changes must be notified to Companies House within 14 days using the relevant form:

• PSC01 — notify a new individual PSC
• PSC02 — notify a new relevant legal entity (RLE) with significant control
• PSC03 — notify another type of registrable person with significant control
• PSC04 — update details of an individual PSC
• PSC05 — update details of an RLE
• PSC06 — update details of another registrable person
• PSC07 — notify that someone has ceased to be a PSC
• PSC08 — file a PSC statement (e.g. that the company has no PSC, or has not yet completed its investigation)
• PSC09 — update or withdraw a PSC statement

For most founders, PSC01 (adding a new individual PSC) and PSC07 (someone ceasing to be a PSC) are the forms you will use most often. Read our full guide on how to file a PSC notification.

Practical note: banks routinely check PSC details against Companies House when opening business accounts. Mismatches will delay or block your application.

Issue share certificates and update the register of members

At incorporation, you declare the company's share structure and initial shareholders — but you must also complete the legal formalities:

• Issue a share certificate to each shareholder, signed by a director (a PDF is acceptable).
• Set up and maintain the statutory register of members — recording each shareholder's name, address, number and class of shares, and the date they became a member.
• Ensure the share capital is paid up — even if only £1 per share. Unpaid share capital remains a debt owed to the company by the shareholder.

If you later bring in a co-founder or early team member with equity, you will need to pass a board resolution, issue new shares, file form SH01 with Companies House (within 1 month of allotment), and produce fresh share certificates. Clean share records are essential when raising investment — reconstructing a messy cap table under due diligence is expensive and time-consuming.

Weeks 2–4: HMRC, banking, and bookkeeping

Watch for your company UTR from HMRC

Within approximately 2–3 weeks of incorporation, HMRC posts a UTR (Unique Taxpayer Reference) to your registered office. This is a 10-digit number that identifies your company to HMRC — distinct from any personal UTR you may hold for Self Assessment.

Why it matters: you need the UTR to register for Corporation Tax online, access HMRC's business tax services, and link a Government Gateway account to your company. If this letter goes to an unmonitored address, you may miss the Corporation Tax registration deadline once you start trading.

Open a business bank account

There is no legal requirement to open a dedicated business bank account for a limited company. However, it is strongly recommended for practical and legal reasons. Mixing personal and company finances creates bookkeeping problems, makes accounts preparation significantly harder, and can weaken the legal separation between you and the company that limited liability depends on.

What to expect from the application process: banks and fintechs (Starling, Tide, Monzo Business, Revolut Business, and others) will conduct Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks. They will typically ask for:

• Certificate of incorporation and articles of association
• Proof of registered office address
• Personal identification for every director and PSC (passport, driving licence)
• Proof of residential address for every director and PSC
• Details of the company's intended business activity
• Expected turnover and source of funds

Common delays: applications stall when Companies House records are incomplete or inconsistent — unverified directors, missing PSC details, or SIC codes that do not match the stated business activity. Some banks reject applications for certain SIC codes or business types deemed higher risk under AML regulations. If your application is rejected by one provider, you are not obliged to disclose that when applying elsewhere, but the underlying KYC/AML issue (if any) will need resolving.

Allow 1–4 weeks for account opening. Fintech providers are often faster than traditional banks, but approval timelines vary. Do not assume instant approval.

Decide whether to register for VAT

Legal requirement: VAT registration is compulsory once your taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period, or if you reasonably expect it to exceed £90,000 in the next 30 days alone. You must register within 30 days of the end of the month in which you exceeded the threshold.

Optional: below the threshold, VAT registration is voluntary. Voluntary registration can make sense if:

• Your customers are mostly VAT-registered businesses (they reclaim the VAT you charge, so it costs them nothing extra).
• You have significant upfront costs and want to reclaim VAT on purchases.

The trade-off: once registered, you must file quarterly VAT returns using Making Tax Digital (MTD) compatible software, charge VAT on all taxable supplies, and maintain proper VAT records. Deregistration is possible if your taxable turnover falls below the deregistration threshold (currently £88,000), but involves its own process. Do not register voluntarily without understanding the ongoing administrative burden.

Decide whether to register for PAYE

Legal requirement: PAYE registration is only required if you will pay a salary — to employees or to yourself as a director drawing regular pay. It is not triggered by incorporation, by issuing shares, or by paying dividends.

Register before the first payday. HMRC recommends registering up to 2 months in advance because the registration process issues an Employer PAYE Reference and Accounts Office Reference that payroll software needs to submit Real Time Information (RTI) returns.

Practical note: most owner-directors use a tax-efficient combination of a small salary (at or below the National Insurance threshold) plus dividends. If you draw any salary — even a small one — you need PAYE for the salary portion.

Review your SIC codes

Your SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes describe your company's business activity on the public register. You chose them at incorporation, often quickly. Incorrect SIC codes can cause problems: some attract additional regulatory scrutiny, others affect insurance premiums, and a bank compliance team that sees a mismatched SIC code may pause your account application.

SIC codes can be updated at no extra cost when you file your confirmation statement. See our SIC code guide for how to choose the right codes.

Start bookkeeping from day one

Legal requirement: every UK company must keep adequate accounting records sufficient to show and explain the company's transactions, disclose its financial position with reasonable accuracy at any time, and enable the directors to ensure that accounts comply with the Companies Act 2006 (s. 386). Records must be kept for at least 6 years from the end of the relevant accounting period.

Your first accounting reference period runs from the date of incorporation. For Companies House filing purposes, the first period can be between 6 and 18 months. For Corporation Tax purposes, HMRC treats accounting periods as a maximum of 12 months — so if your first Companies House period is longer than 12 months, HMRC will split it into two Corporation Tax periods.

You do not need expensive software from day one — a well-maintained spreadsheet of income, expenses, and receipts is sufficient for most new companies. What matters is that you record every transaction from the start, including the £100 incorporation fee (which is an allowable business expense).

Months 2–3: Corporation Tax and compliance setup

Register for Corporation Tax (if trading)

Legal requirement: you must notify HMRC that your company is chargeable to Corporation Tax within three months of starting any business activity. The deadline runs from the date trading begins — not from the date of incorporation. A company that incorporates in January but does not trade until March has until June to register.

"Starting trading" is interpreted broadly by HMRC. It includes:

• Buying or selling goods or services
• Signing a contract in the company's name
• Advertising or marketing the business
• Renting or buying business premises
• Employing anyone
• Earning interest on company funds

Registration is done online through HMRC's Corporation Tax registration page. You will need your company UTR, Government Gateway credentials, and the date trading started.

Penalties for late notification: under Schedule 41 of the Finance Act 2008, failure to notify HMRC of chargeability can result in a penalty based on the potential lost revenue (the tax that would have been due). The penalty ranges from 0% to 100% of the tax depending on whether the failure is unprompted, prompted, deliberate, or concealed. Even if no tax is due, there is a minimum penalty. Separately, if you miss the filing deadline for your CT600 return, late filing penalties start at £100 (rising to £200 if over 3 months late, with additional tax-geared penalties after 6 and 12 months).

Additional considerations for non-UK resident founders

Non-UK residents can legally incorporate and direct a UK limited company. However, there are additional practical and legal considerations:

• Registered office address (legal requirement): the company must have a registered office in the UK — in England and Wales, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. If you do not have a UK address, you will need a registered office service.
• Identity verification: ECCTA identity verification applies to all directors and PSCs regardless of nationality. Non-UK passport holders may find it easier to verify through an ACSP rather than the GOV.UK One Login route.
• Banking: opening a UK business bank account from overseas is significantly harder. Most banks require at least one UK-resident director or signatory, and KYC/AML checks for non-residents are more extensive. Some fintechs are more flexible — but expect longer processing times and additional documentation requirements.
• Corporation Tax: a UK-incorporated company is normally UK tax resident and subject to Corporation Tax on worldwide profits. If the company is managed and controlled overseas, tax residency can become complex — take professional advice.
• Director residential address: Companies House requires a residential address for each director. Non-UK addresses are accepted, but note that certain official correspondence (including the authentication code) is only posted to the UK registered office, not to an overseas residential address.
• Post and correspondence: HMRC correspondence, penalty notices, and Companies House deadline reminders are all sent to the UK registered office. Reliable mail forwarding or scanning is critical if you are based overseas.

Ongoing compliance obligations

File a confirmation statement every 12 months

Legal requirement: the confirmation statement (form CS01) must be filed at least once every 12 months from the date of incorporation. The filing fee is £50 (online). There is a 14-day window after the end of each review period in which to submit the filing. It must be filed even if nothing has changed — the purpose is to confirm that the information Companies House holds is up to date.

Consequence of non-filing: there is no automatic fine for a late confirmation statement, but Companies House will treat persistent non-filing as a signal that the company may no longer be active and will begin the process of striking the company off the register. Additionally, under ECCTA, directors of companies that have not filed a confirmation statement can face restrictions on making other filings. (Filing HQ files this for you, fee included.)

File annual accounts

Legal requirement: your first set of annual accounts must be filed at Companies House within 21 months of the date of incorporation. After that, accounts are due 9 months after the end of each accounting reference period.

Late filing penalties are automatic and civil:

These penalties double if your accounts are filed late in two consecutive years.

File the Corporation Tax return (CT600)

Legal requirement: the CT600 is due within 12 months of the end of your accounting period. However, Corporation Tax itself must be paid within 9 months and 1 day of the end of the period — earlier than the return deadline. This difference catches many first-time directors: the tax payment is due before the return.

File event-driven changes promptly

Changes to directors, the registered office, PSCs, or share structure must be filed at Companies House as they happen — not batched into the next confirmation statement. Each type of change has its own form and deadline:

• New director: form AP01, within 14 days of appointment
• Director resignation: form TM01, within 14 days
• Registered office change: form AD01 (takes effect when registered by Companies House, not on filing)
• New share allotment: form SH01, within 1 month of allotment
• PSC changes: forms PSC01–PSC09, within 14 days of the company learning of the change

Compliance deadlines at a glance

Save this table. Most compliance problems trace back to one of these deadlines being missed.

What company information is publicly visible

Many first-time directors are surprised by how much company information is freely accessible. The following is visible to anyone searching the Companies House register:

• Company name, number, registered office address, and date of incorporation
• Director names, service addresses, nationality, month and year of birth, and dates of appointment/resignation
• PSC names, addresses, date of birth (month and year), nationality, and nature of control
• SIC codes
• Shareholder names and shareholdings (from annual returns and confirmation statements)
• All filed documents: accounts, confirmation statements, resolutions, charge registrations
• Company status (active, dormant, dissolved, in liquidation)
• Filing history, including historical registered office addresses

Not publicly visible: directors' full dates of birth (only month and year are shown), directors' residential addresses (held separately and accessible only to specified authorities), and the authentication code.

If personal privacy is a concern, use a service address (not your home) for director records, and consider a dedicated registered office address from the outset.

Statutory registers every UK company must maintain

Your public Companies House record is not the definitive legal record of your company — your internal statutory registers are. In a dispute, due diligence exercise, or HMRC enquiry, the statutory registers are the primary source of truth.

The registers a UK private limited company must maintain are:

• Register of members (shareholders) — names, addresses, share class and number, dates of becoming or ceasing to be a member
• Register of directors — name, service address, residential address (kept separately), nationality, date of birth, business occupation, date of appointment
• Register of directors' residential addresses — not publicly accessible; kept separately from the register of directors
• Register of secretaries — only required if you choose to appoint one (private limited companies are not required to have a company secretary)
• PSC register — every person with significant control, including their verified identity status
• Register of charges — any security given over company assets (mortgages, debentures)
• Accounting records — sufficient to explain all transactions and disclose the company's financial position; kept for at least 6 years from the end of the relevant accounting period

Three things frequently trip up new founders:

1. Share certificates. Each shareholder must hold a certificate (physical or PDF) signed by a director. A verbal agreement that someone "has 10% of the company" does not constitute a share issue in law.
2. Register of members vs Companies House. The statutory register of members is the legal record of share ownership — not what appears on the Companies House website. If they diverge, the register of members takes precedence.
3. PSC register accuracy. Banks cross-reference your PSC register against Companies House data when opening accounts. Any mismatch will delay your application.

Registers can be kept at the registered office, at a Single Alternative Inspection Location (SAIL), or digitally through a professional provider. Since 2016, companies can elect to keep certain statutory registers (members, directors, directors' residential addresses, secretaries, and PSCs) on the Companies House central register instead of maintaining them privately — but this makes the information public.

Director duties under the Companies Act 2006

Becoming a director carries personal legal responsibilities. The Companies Act 2006 codifies seven general duties in sections 171–177:

• s. 171 — Act within the powers granted by the company's constitution (Articles of Association).
• s. 172 — Promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, having regard to long-term consequences, employees, business relationships, the community, the environment, and maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct.
• s. 173 — Exercise independent judgement.
• s. 174 — Exercise reasonable care, skill, and diligence.
• s. 175 — Avoid conflicts of interest.
• s. 176 — Not accept benefits from third parties.
• s. 177 — Declare any interest in a proposed transaction or arrangement with the company.

Breach of these duties can result in personal liability — including damages payable to the company, disgorgement of profits, or disqualification as a director for up to 15 years under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. In insolvency, directors face additional risks of personal liability for wrongful trading (s. 214 Insolvency Act 1986) or fraudulent trading (s. 213).

These duties apply for as long as you are on the register of directors — and some (such as the duty to avoid conflicts of interest and not to accept benefits from third parties) continue to apply after you leave office in respect of acts or omissions during your tenure.

Strike-off, dissolution, and restoration

Companies House can begin compulsory strike-off proceedings if your company fails to file its confirmation statement or annual accounts. The process involves:

1. A first letter to the registered office warning that the company will be struck off unless the outstanding filing is made.
2. If no response, a notice is published in The Gazette giving at least 2 months' notice of the intended strike-off.
3. If no objection is raised and the filing remains outstanding, the company is dissolved and ceases to exist as a legal entity.

Consequences of dissolution: once struck off, any assets the company held (including bank balances, intellectual property, and domain names) become Crown property (bona vacantia). Contracts entered into by the company may be unenforceable. Outstanding debts do not disappear — creditors can apply to restore the company to pursue claims.

Restoration: a dissolved company can be restored to the register through administrative restoration (form RT01, fee £341) if it was struck off by the Registrar and the application is made within 6 years of dissolution. Court restoration is also available but is significantly more expensive (court fees plus legal costs, often £1,000+) and takes longer. In both cases, all outstanding filings and penalties must be brought up to date.

Common mistakes after incorporation

The issues that cause the most damage to new companies are rarely dramatic — they are small oversights that accumulate:

1. Confusing incorporation with trading. The Corporation Tax clock starts when business activity begins, not when the company is registered. A single invoice, a signed contract, or even advertising can trigger the start of trading — and the three-month notification deadline with it.
2. Missing the HMRC Corporation Tax notification deadline. Penalties are based on potential lost revenue. Even if no tax is ultimately due, a late notification creates an HMRC compliance record that can attract scrutiny in future.
3. Not monitoring post at the registered office. The authentication code, UTR, deadline reminders, and strike-off notices all arrive by post. Founders who do not monitor their registered office often discover problems only when a penalty appears or the company is listed in The Gazette.
4. Mixing personal and business finances. Using a personal bank account for company transactions creates bookkeeping problems, complicates accounts preparation, and weakens the legal separation that limited liability depends on.
5. Issuing shares without proper formalities. A verbal promise of equity is not a share allotment. Without a board resolution, an SH01 filing, and a share certificate, there is no legal record — and resolving the ambiguity during a funding round, dispute, or exit is costly.
6. Skipping the confirmation statement because "nothing changed." The confirmation statement must be filed every year regardless of whether any details have changed. "No changes" is itself a confirmation that must be formally submitted and paid for.
7. Using a home address without understanding the privacy implications. Your registered office and director service address are publicly visible. Once your home address is on a filed document, it remains in the filing history even after you change it.
8. Forgetting about dormant company obligations. A company that is not trading still has Companies House obligations: confirmation statements, annual (dormant) accounts, and maintaining statutory registers. "Not trading" does not mean "no duties."
9. Not keeping statutory registers. Many founders assume that filing at Companies House is sufficient. It is not — you are legally required to maintain internal statutory registers, and failure to do so is a criminal offence (though rarely prosecuted for first-time oversights, it creates serious problems during due diligence or disputes).

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to register for Corporation Tax immediately after incorporating?

No. You must notify HMRC within three months of starting business activity, not three months of incorporation. If the company has not begun trading, the notification deadline has not started. However, you should still watch for your company UTR from HMRC so it is available when you do start trading.

Is a UK business bank account legally required?

No. There is no statutory requirement for a limited company to hold a dedicated business bank account. However, it is strongly recommended. Mixing personal and company finances complicates bookkeeping, makes accounts harder to prepare, and can — in extreme cases — undermine the limited liability protection the company structure provides.

Do I need PAYE if I only pay myself dividends?

Not if dividends are your only form of remuneration. PAYE is required only when salaries are paid — to employees or to yourself as a director drawing a regular wage. Most tax-efficient "small salary plus dividends" structures do involve PAYE for the salary portion. Dividends are not subject to PAYE — they are paid from post-tax profits and reported through Self Assessment.

When do I have to register for VAT?

VAT registration is compulsory once your taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period, or if you expect it to exceed £90,000 in the next 30 days alone. Below the threshold, registration is voluntary. Check the current VAT threshold on GOV.UK as it is reviewed periodically.

What if I lose my Companies House authentication code?

Request a replacement through Companies House WebFiling. The new code is posted to the registered office and takes approximately 5 working days to arrive. The old code is invalidated as soon as the replacement is requested. If a filing deadline is imminent, consider whether a paper filing is possible as a fallback (some forms can be filed on paper).

What happens if I miss my confirmation statement?

There is no automatic financial penalty for a late confirmation statement. However, Companies House will treat persistent non-filing as a signal that the company may no longer be active and will begin compulsory strike-off proceedings. Restoration after dissolution costs at least £341 (administrative) or significantly more (court order), and requires all outstanding filings and penalties to be brought up to date.

Does my private limited company need a company secretary?

No. Since the Companies Act 2006 came into force, private limited companies are not required to appoint a company secretary. You may choose to appoint one voluntarily — and some companies do so for governance reasons — but there is no legal obligation. Public limited companies (PLCs) must have a qualified company secretary.

Can a non-UK resident be a director of a UK company?

Yes. There is no requirement for a UK company director to be a UK resident. However, non-UK resident directors face additional practical considerations around banking, tax residency, identity verification, and postal correspondence. See the non-UK resident founders section above.

What is the difference between dormant accounts and full accounts?

Dormant accounts are a simplified set of accounts that companies with no significant accounting transactions can file at Companies House. They contain only a balance sheet and limited notes — no profit and loss account. Full accounts (or micro-entity/small company accounts, depending on qualification) are required for trading companies and contain more detailed financial information. The type of accounts you must file depends on your company's size, activity, and whether it qualifies for any filing exemptions.

Need help staying compliant?

Post-incorporation compliance involves multiple obligations across Companies House and HMRC, each with different deadlines and filing requirements. If you would prefer to delegate the ongoing administration, Filing HQ offers annual packages that include a registered office address, confirmation statement filing, identity verification, and PSC compliance — with deadline tracking and filing preparation handled on your behalf.