Accounting questions, answered in plain English

Fees vary widely between firms. At PeekaBooks, annual accounts for a non-VAT-registered limited company cost a fixed £199. If your turnover is under £5,000 it’s £99, and dormant company accounts are £69. Companies House identity verification for directors costs £59 per person.

Preparation of your year-end accounts, a check that you’ve claimed everything you’re entitled to, a plain-English explanation of your numbers, and submission to both Companies House and HMRC.

No. We agree a fixed price before we start, and that’s what you pay.

Yes – please get in touch for a quote. Our published £199 price covers non-VAT-registered companies.

Yes. Through our trusted partners we can help with web and graphic design and branding. Just ask.

For a private limited company, annual accounts are due 9 months after the end of the company’s financial year. A company’s first accounts are due 21 months after the date it was registered with Companies House.

The Company Tax Return must be filed with HMRC within 12 months of the end of the company’s accounting period.

For most small companies, Corporation Tax must be paid 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period – which is before the tax return itself is due. Our deadline calculator works out the exact date.

Companies House charges a private limited company £150 if accounts are up to 1 month late, £375 for 1 to 3 months, £750 for 3 to 6 months and £1,500 for more than 6 months. The penalty is doubled if accounts are late two years in a row.

HMRC charges £100 if the return is 1 day late and another £100 if it’s 3 months late. After 6 months HMRC estimates your tax bill and adds 10% of the unpaid tax, with a further 10% after 12 months. If the return is late three times in a row, the £100 penalties rise to £500 each.

For Companies House, a company is dormant if it had no significant accounting transactions during the financial year. Paying Companies House fees, late filing penalties and money received for shares on formation don’t count.

Yes. Dormant companies must still file annual accounts and a confirmation statement with Companies House every year. Our dormant company accounts cost £69.

Usually not, as long as HMRC knows the company is dormant. But if HMRC sends a notice to deliver a Company Tax Return, you must file one.

Yes. Since 18 November 2025, directors and people with significant control (PSCs) must verify their identity with Companies House. Existing directors confirm they’ve been verified when the company files its next confirmation statement, and the statement can’t be filed until every director is verified.

When your identity has been verified, Companies House issues you an 11-character personal code. You use it to link your verified identity to each of your roles, for example as a director or PSC of one or more companies.

There are two routes: directly with Companies House using GOV.UK One Login, which is free, or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). Our identity verification service costs £59 per person and is carried out through an ACSP.

A micro-entity is a very small company that can prepare simpler accounts. For financial years starting on or after 6 April 2025, a company is a micro-entity if it meets at least two of these: turnover of £1 million or less, a balance sheet total of £500,000 or less, and 10 employees or fewer on average.

Yes, directors can prepare and file their own accounts. The risk is in the detail: errors can lead to penalties, missed allowances or overpaid tax. With fixed fees from £69, many small company owners find it simpler to let us handle it.

No. Our registered office is in Ipswich, but we work online with micro businesses and small limited companies across the whole UK.

Usually your business bank statements for the year, sales invoices or other income records, receipts for expenses and last year’s accounts if you have them. A spreadsheet or an export from your bookkeeping app is fine.

Always. No bots, no ticket queues – just real people who take the time to understand your business.

Send us a message through our contact page. Tell us a little about your company and we’ll confirm your fixed price.