Limited company year-end checklist: what your accountant needs

1. Reconcile every money account

Bring bank, card, payment-processor and loan accounts up to date. A reconciliation compares records with independent statements; simply importing a bank feed does not complete it.

Explain transfers between accounts, payment fees and amounts that have not cleared. For online sellers, use gross sales and settlement reports as well as the bank deposit. Give your accountant the statement covering the year-end date, even if the balance is zero.

2. Explain who owes what

Review unpaid customer invoices and supplier bills. Identify disputes, credit notes and costs that relate to the year but have not been invoiced. Aged debt reports are more useful when someone has checked that the entries are still real.

Provide stock-count records, valuation workings and details of unfinished jobs where relevant. List new equipment, disposals, finance agreements and deposits. The year-end treatment may differ from the date cash changed hands.

3. Review payroll and director transactions

Agree payroll totals with the accounts and identify pension contributions or deductions still payable. Check expense repayments, benefits and amounts owed between directors and the company.

If dividends have been paid, keep the supporting records and financial information used for the decision. Unknown director transfers should be investigated before the accounts are finalised, rather than hidden in a miscellaneous expense category.

4. Discuss tax before committing to expenditure

If you are considering equipment, a restructure or a significant owner payment, discuss it before acting. The commercial decision should come first; any relief depends on the asset, transaction and rules.

A Corporation Tax review considers adjustments to accounting profit and relevant reliefs. Buying something solely to obtain a deduction can still leave the business with less cash and an asset it did not need.

5. Put the right dates in the diary

For a typical established private company, annual accounts are normally due at Companies House nine months after its financial year end. Corporation Tax is usually payable nine months and one day after the relevant accounting period, while the Company Tax Return is generally due after twelve months.

First accounts and larger companies can have different rules. Confirm each actual deadline in the relevant account or notice. The date for filing a tax return is not permission to delay paying the tax.

A handover pack for your accountant

Agree the period covered and provide the following through the agreed secure channel.

• Statements and reconciliations for bank, card, loan and settlement accounts.
• Customer and supplier balances, including disputed or doubtful items.
• Stock, work in progress and fixed-asset records.
• Payroll summaries, pension balances and employee benefit information.
• Director’s loan detail, dividends and ownership changes.
• HMRC and Companies House correspondence plus upcoming deadlines.

Turn the accounts into a useful review

Ask what changed in margin, overheads, debtor days and cash. Annual accounts become more useful when they inform the next year’s decisions instead of ending with a signature.

Our limited company service can connect year-end work with management accounts and more regular planning. If you are moving advisers, use our changing accountants checklist to agree who finishes the outstanding work.