Filing accounts for a non-trading company with a Bounce Back Loan

By DormantFile · Updated 1 June 2026

A lot of companies are in the same spot: they stopped trading years ago, but they took a Bounce Back Loan during COVID and are still repaying it. If those repayments come out of the company's own bank account, the company is not dormant — but it does not need a full accountant either. It files FRS 105 micro-entity accounts, and DormantFile handles them.

This guide explains why, and what you actually file.

Why a repaid loan means you can't file dormant accounts

A company is dormant only if it has had no significant accounting transactions in the period. A loan repayment made from the company's own bank account is a significant accounting transaction. So is interest charged on the loan. Either one breaks dormancy.

There is an important distinction here:

Repayments made from your personal funds (you pay the lender directly, the company's account never moves) do not count as company transactions. The company can stay dormant. See our guide on a Bounce Back Loan and a dormant company.
Repayments made from the company's own account are company transactions. The company is non-trading but no longer dormant, so it files micro-entity accounts instead.

What you file instead

Two filings, the same as a dormant company — only the accounts document changes:

FRS 105 micro-entity accounts to Companies House: a short balance sheet showing the loan and the company's cash, rather than a nil dormant balance sheet.
A nil CT600 to HMRC (if the company is registered for Corporation Tax): repaying a loan creates no profit, so there is no Corporation Tax to pay.

The company is non-trading, not profit-making — the only reason it can't use the dormant route is the transactions on its books.

The figures you need

Micro-entity accounts are built from a handful of numbers. For a company whose only activity is the loan, that is:

The loan balance at the start of the year
Anything repaid during the year
Any interest charged during the year
The loan balance at the end of the year
Cash at bank at the period end

From those, the balance sheet articulates: the outstanding loan sits under creditors (usually due after more than one year), cash sits under current assets, and net assets equal the company's cash less the loan still owed. If the loan is larger than the cash — which is common — the company shows net liabilities, and that is fine for a micro-entity.

How to file it with DormantFile

Add your company and confirm it isn't trading.
At the accounts step, choose micro-entity accounts rather than dormant.
Enter the loan figures and cash above. We derive the balance sheet and check it balances before you go any further.
Preview the exact iXBRL document that will be filed.
Submit. The accounts go directly to Companies House via the official software filing API; the nil CT600 goes to HMRC.

See how it works for the full walkthrough, or pricing — it's the same £19/year whether you file dormant or micro-entity accounts.

When you do need an accountant

The line to watch is income. A loan repayment creates no taxable profit, so a nil CT600 is accurate. But if the company also receives interest, dividends, or rent, there is income to report and tax to consider — and a CT600 that is genuinely nil would be wrong. In that case, speak to an accountant. The same goes if the company holds other assets or has a more complicated history.

Key points

Repaying a Bounce Back Loan from the company's own bank account is a significant accounting transaction, so the company is non-trading but not dormant.
You can't file dormant accounts (AA02) for that period — you file FRS 105 micro-entity accounts instead.
The CT600 is still nil: repaying a loan produces no profit.
You don't need a full accountant for this — DormantFile files micro-entity accounts and a nil CT600 from a few figures.
If the company has income or gains, that's different — there's tax to consider, and an accountant should look at it.