Directors Duties

As a Director of a Limited Company, it is your duty to ensure that it meets it’s legal obligations. Failure to do this is a criminal offence.

Annual Returns

Each year you will have to submit an annual return to Companies House. This is usually on each anniversary of the Company’s formation. The annual return details the current Directors and Shareholders and confirms the allocated shares and the registered office is still correct, for the vast majority of small Limited Companies, the annual return will never change.

Annual Accounts

Every Year you will have to submit a set of abbreviated accounts to Companies House 9 months after the financial year end, and a full set along with the Company’s tax return (CT600) to HMRC within 12 months of the year end.

We highly recommend you get a trusted professional to prepare the accounts for you, even if you have had minimal trading activity during the year, you need to make sure that the correct disclosures are made, so it is always wise to obtain the correct help. Please be aware that even though you pay a professional to prepare the Limited Company Accounts, it is your duty as a Director to ensure that they are correct and submitted on time. Your accountant can only prepare them with the information you supply, so any omissions is solely the responsibility of the Directors.

Going Concern

As a Director, you are responsible for the accounting records of the Limited Company. If the Limited Company is experiencing financial problems and continues to trade, this is considered to be fraudulent activity in the eyes of the law and can come with a jail term.

The law does not accept the excuse that you were unaware of any financial problems; hiding your head in the sand in not a defence. It is your responsibility to know the financial health of the Limited Company, even if there are multi Directors and finance is not one of your duties.