When your company accounts are due, how the accounting reference date works, and the deadline for your first accounts.
Missing a Companies House accounts deadline means an automatic penalty, so it is worth knowing exactly when yours falls. The dates are driven by your accounting reference date.
Your accounting reference date (ARD)
Your ARD is the end of your financial year. For a new company it is the last day of the month you were incorporated in. Your accounts cover the period up to this date each year.
The normal deadline
For an existing private company, accounts are due 9 months after the end of the financial year. Public companies have 6 months. The deadline is the same whatever type of accounts you file.
Your first accounts
First accounts are different. They are due 21 months after the date you incorporated, or 3 months after your accounting reference date, whichever is longer. New companies often have a longer first period to cover.