Do I need an accountant for a dormant company?

By DormantFile · Updated 28 March 2026

This is one of the most common questions we get. The honest answer: it depends on how confident you are that your company is genuinely dormant.

When you do NOT need an accountant

If all of the following apply, you can safely file your own dormant company accounts and nil CT600 without professional help:

• Your company is genuinely dormant. It has had no significant accounting transactions during the period — no invoices, no payments in or out, no bank interest.
• You are confident in its dormant status. You understand the definition under section 1169 of the Companies Act 2006 and you know your company meets it.
• The company has no bank account, or only a non-interest-bearing one. Bank interest counts as a significant accounting transaction. Even a few pence of interest means the company is not dormant.
• There are no transactions to report. No income, no expenditure, no director loans, no dividends.
• The company holds no assets. No property, investments, or stock on the balance sheet.
• There is nothing unusual in the company's history. It was incorporated, never traded, and has sat idle ever since — or it traded in the past but all activity has clearly stopped.

For companies like this, the filing itself is straightforward. Dormant accounts are a standard-format balance sheet showing nil figures. A nil CT600 reports zero income and zero tax. You do not need professional accounting knowledge to complete either one.

When you DO need an accountant

Spend the money on professional advice if any of the following apply:

• You are not sure whether the company is dormant. If there is any doubt — any chance the company might have traded, received income, or had transactions you are not aware of — do not guess. An accountant can review the position and tell you definitively.
• The company partially traded during the period. If the company was active for part of the year and dormant for the rest, you cannot file dormant accounts for that period. You need proper accounts showing the trading activity.
• The company received any income. This includes bank interest, dividends from subsidiaries, rental income, or any other receipt. Even small amounts disqualify the company from dormant status.
• The company holds assets. If the company owns property, holds investments, has money in the bank (beyond a nil or non-interest-bearing account), or has stock, the balance sheet will not be nil. You need an accountant to prepare proper accounts.
• There are director loans on the books. If you have lent money to the company or the company has lent money to you, these need to be reported in the accounts. This is not a dormant filing.
• The company has a complex history. Previous accountants, changes in accounting reference date, group structures, or anything else that makes you uncertain about what needs to be filed.

In short: if you need to think about it, you probably need an accountant.

Cost comparison

For a single genuinely dormant company, an accountant typically charges £80--£150 per year. Some charge more. If you have several dormant companies, those fees multiply quickly.

DormantFile starts at £19/year for one company, or £39/year for up to 10 companies on the Multiple plan. Full details on our pricing page.

The difference in cost only matters if you are confident the company is dormant. If you are not, the accountant's fee buys you something DormantFile cannot provide: professional judgement about your company's status.

Our honest recommendation

We built DormantFile for a specific situation: genuinely dormant companies where the director knows the company is dormant and just needs an efficient way to handle the two annual filings.

If that describes your company, you do not need an accountant. DormantFile (or even DIY filing via Companies House WebFiling) will do the job for a fraction of the cost. See how much it costs to file dormant accounts for a full breakdown.

If there is any doubt — any at all — about whether your company qualifies as dormant, spend the money on professional advice. The cost of an accountant is always less than the cost of filing the wrong type of accounts. Filing dormant accounts for a company that is not actually dormant is a legal offence, and HMRC take a dim view of incorrect CT600 returns.

Not sure where you stand? Our guide on how to check if your company is dormant walks through the common scenarios. If you are still uncertain after reading it, that uncertainty is your answer — talk to an accountant.

For a complete breakdown of everything you need to file and the total annual cost, see our guide on keeping your dormant company compliant without an accountant.

Key points

• You do not need an accountant if your company is genuinely dormant with no transactions, no assets, and no bank interest.
• You do need one if there is any doubt about dormant status, any transactions, any income, or any assets on the balance sheet.
• An accountant typically costs £80--£150+ per company per year. DormantFile starts at £19/year.
• If in doubt, spend the money. Professional advice is cheaper than filing incorrectly.