Filing Requirements
A private company is given 10 months to prepare its accounts and audit them (provided
this is not the company's first accounting reference period). A public limited
company is given 7 months (the theory being that Plc's have more shareholders
and creditors who need this information).
year end 31/12 year end 31/03
Private company file by: 31/10 file by: 31/01
Public Company file by: 31/07 file by: 31/10
Since 1992, companies that file their accounts late - beyond the 10 or 7 months
requirement (and have not filed for an extension or are not within their first
year's trading), are subject to fines by Companies House. These fines vary from
£100* for a Private Company or £500* for a Public Company for being
up to 3 months late, up to £1,000* or £5,000* for being more than
12 months late.
These fines have been effective in ensuring that over 96% of companies file
their accounts on time.
It should be noted that filing requirements are dependant on the size on the
company. 2004 Amendment Regulations to the Companies Act 1985 brought about
changes to the size and audit thresholds. These changes increased the thresholds
for small and medium size companies, both for size and for filing requirements.
The changes to size took effect in relation to year ends on or after 30 January
2004.
The changes to audit requirements took effect in relation to year ends on or
after 30 March 2004
Small Companies
Defined as being small, they must satisfy at least 2 of the 3 following criteria:
Turnover of £5.6m or under
Net Worth of £2.8m or under
Number of Employees of 50 or under
Small sized companies have exemptions to file full accounts if they wish, the
following documents need to be filed:
Auditors / Accountants Report where necessary
Balance Sheet
Notes to the Balance Sheet
Medium Companies
Defined as being medium, they must satisfy at least 2 of the 3 following criteria:
Turnover of £22.8m or under
Net Worth of £11.4m or under
Number of Employees of 250 or under
Medium sized companies will file the same information as full sized companies.
However they are not required to provide a turnover figure if they do not wish
to.
Full Companies
Standard accounts will include the following:
Directors report
Auditors / Accountants report or Audit exemption details
Profit and Loss Account
Balance Sheet
Notes to Profit and loss and Balance sheet
Irish Company Filing Requirements
Companies must file an Annual Return with audited accounts once at least in
every calendar year.
When a company fails to file its Annual Return in respect of any year, the following
may result:
The Registrar of Companies may strike a company off the Register for failure
to file an annual return for any one year. One notice of strike off will be
issued to the registered office of the company to allow the company an opportunity
to file the outstanding return(s).
An on-the-spot fine may be imposed on the company and its directors in respect
of the failure to file a company's annual return.
Where a company fails to file a return for any one year both the company and
the directors of the company may be prosecuted. The maximum fine that may be
imposed by the District Court on the company and the directors of the company
is €1,904.61* each per outstanding return.
Significant and escalating financial late filing penalties are imposed on annual
returns that are filed late at the Companies Registration Office (CRO) in Dublin.
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