Filing an annual return is one of the most important parts of running a good business. Not only is it important, but it is essential and indeed compulsory to file one – even for dormant companies There is no getting around it, you are going to have to file a return – luckily with the professional annual return service from Company Formation MadeSimple it’s very simple and reliable.
Not only is it extremely simple to file returns with Company Formation MadeSimple, but it also costs the same as it does when filing directly with Companies House – just £13 (as long as you have a professional account with us)
It’s so easy to do, let’s go through the process.
Filing An Annual Return With Company Formation MadeSimple – Step-by-Step
The first step, as usual, is to login to your account. From there you can see your dashboard, giving you an overview of the functions and services available on your account. There will be a button on the lower left hand side that says ‘Annual Return’ – click this to go through to the next stage:
From here you will automatically have an annual return added to your basket, at only £13 – the same price as Companies House. Click through and pay either using your account credit or another of our flexible payment methods. Before doing this you will have to link the annual return to the company you are filing the return for. Do this by using the ‘Select an existing company’ drop-down menu and choose the relevant company from your account.
Alternatively, if the company isn’t yet in your account click the ‘Add new company’ button and then input the company number before clicking ‘Import company’ to add it and link it to the annual return that you are about to buy. Finally click ‘Checkout’:
Once you have paid on the next screen, you will see a summary of your order – click ‘Continue’ to confirm. You will now be returned to your ‘Dashboard’ and will notice your company now has a red ‘Your Action Is Required’ box – under the ‘Action’ column. Click the ‘Continue’ button to start filing your annual return:
On the next screen you will be required to fill out the company details of your return, if you click the ‘click here’ button under the ‘Update Company Information’ heading you will be able to quickly pull through the latest information directly from Companies House – which helps save some time.
If the company has traded on a regulated market, you must say so here. An important section is under the heading ‘Classification Codes’. You must input the correct classification codes for your company. These will be different depending on the nature of your business. See our blog for more information about SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes and how to choose the correct ones.
Once you’ve entered all the information, simple click the ‘Continue’ button at the bottom of the page:
On the next page, you will be prompted to fill out the section regarding Shares. Here you can specify your Share Class. The majority of the time this will be pre-populated with ‘Ordinary’:
The next section is all about your shareholdings. Apart from the SIC code section, this is the only part of the annual return where you can actually change information, any other changes will have to be made via your ‘Dashboard’ and you will need to wait for the changes to be registered with Companies House before coming back to filing your return.
You will need to update the information on any transfers or changes in shareholders that have taken place since your last return (or company formation if you haven’t filed a return yet). If you haven’t changed anything with regards to shareholders within your company since your last return, you can simply click ‘Continue’. If not, read the below section…
IF A SHARE TRANSFER HAS TAKEN PLACE SINCE YOUR LAST RETURN – Select ‘Edit’ next to the shareholder who is losing a share or shares. Update the ‘Number Held’ as appropriate. Select the ‘Save’ button.
Select ‘Add New Transfer’ and enter the date that the shares were transferred and how many were transferred. Click ‘Save’. If the shares are being transferred to an existing shareholder select ‘Edit’ next to their name – and amend the shares held accordingly.
If the shares are going to a new shareholder, select the ‘add new shareholder’ link at the top right of the page. Then enter the new shareholders information, including the number of shares held, and click ‘Save’.
Ensure that all information is correct and click ‘Continue’:
The last section of your annual return is called the ‘Final Summary’. Here you must check through the information and confirm it is accurate. If there is any change you need to make you must then log into your dashboard and make the changes and wait for the adjustments to be registered with Companies House. Once changes are made you can then re-file your return with the correct details.
You may also save your annual return as a PDF file for your convenience, to do so click the ‘Save AR Final Summary as a PDF’ link above the ‘Confirmation’ box.
Once you have confirmed all the details are correct, click the ‘Send Application’ button at the bottom:
That’s it! You’ve filed your company return. You will receive an email confirmation as soon as it’s done – this takes approximately 3 working hours. It really is that simple.
Would you like some more information on our annual return filing service? See here: annual returns.
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If you have any questions about our company formation for professional services contact Michael on the following:
Email: michaele@madesimplegroup.com
Telephone: 0203 772 2426
By Alex Novakovic at MadeSimple – Follow Alex on Google+