Set-and-forget compliance for dormant companies
By DormantFile · Updated 10 June 2026
A dormant company is the closest thing UK company law has to a parked car — but it still needs an MOT. Every year, no matter how little the company does, the filings are due, and missing them costs £150 to £1,500 a time, doubling if you're late two years in a row.
So how close can you actually get to "set and forget"? Honest answer: very close, but not all the way to zero. Here is what a realistic minimal-effort year looks like, obligation by obligation.
The three annual obligations
A genuinely dormant company has exactly three recurring filings — covered in full in our compliance-without-an-accountant guide:
| Filing | Due | Minimum effort |
|---|---|---|
| Dormant accounts (Companies House) | 9 months after period end | One click with autopilot |
| Confirmation statement, CS01 (Companies House) | Every 12 months | ~10 minutes, £34, you file it |
| Nil CT600 (HMRC, if registered for Corporation Tax) | 12 months after period end | A few minutes, you file it |
Accounts: one click a year
This is where the effort genuinely collapses. Dormant accounts are the same every year by definition — so after your first successful filing with DormantFile, you can turn on autopilot: we store your Companies House authentication code encrypted with AES-256-GCM (opt-in only, deleted immediately if you ever opt out — see the security page), and 30 days before your deadline an email arrives with the prepared accounts. You click once, we file, and you get the result by email. If Companies House rejects anything, the rejection reason is emailed to you and the period re-enters the normal reminders.
Note the wording: one click a year, not zero. That click is your annual director's confirmation that the company is still dormant — a statement the law needs you, not software, to make. If the company has had any significant accounting transactions, you don't click; you log in and handle the period properly.
Also: this works because dormant accounts don't change. Micro-entity accounts need fresh figures every year, so autopilot doesn't cover them — we'll always ask you for the numbers.
Confirmation statement: ten minutes and £34
The CS01 confirms your company details are current. It can't meaningfully be automated away, because its whole purpose is you checking that directors, registered office, and shareholdings are still right. File it yourself at Companies House WebFiling — £34 online — once a year. Pair it with the same calendar slot every year and it stops being a thing you think about. (Our guide on adding deadlines to your calendar covers the mechanics.)
CT600: always yours
If your company is registered for Corporation Tax, a nil CT600 is due to HMRC — and this one is always filed by you. You sign in with your own Government Gateway credentials at the moment of filing (we never store them), and you stay responsible for your CT600 dates. DormantFile makes the filing itself quick — see how to file a nil CT600 — but there is no autopilot for it, by design.
Not every dormant company needs one: if HMRC has agreed the company is dormant for Corporation Tax, you may have no return to file at all. Check our guide on whether you need a CT600.
The realistic annual routine
Put together, a well-set-up dormant company year looks like this:
- Accounts email arrives 30 days before the deadline → one click → done, result by email.
- CS01 month: ten minutes on WebFiling, £34.
- CT600 (if needed): a few minutes filing a nil return with your Gateway login.
Everything else — knowing your accounts dates, the reminder emails at 90/30/14/7/3/1 days, preparing the accounts, the submission, the proof of filing — happens without you. If you're running several dormant companies, the same routine just repeats per company.
Key points
- True zero-effort compliance doesn't exist — and shouldn't, because dormancy must be confirmed by a director each year. But you can get to roughly one click plus twenty minutes per year.
- Accounts: autopilot prepares and files on your one-click confirmation; rejections are emailed with the reason and fall back to reminders.
- CS01: yours to file, £34, ten minutes. CT600: always yours, with your own HMRC login — autopilot never touches it.
- Autopilot is for dormant accounts only; micro-entity accounts need fresh figures yearly.
- Start by seeing where you stand: the free Companies House audit tool shows what's outstanding, and the deadline calculator gives you your dates. Then see how DormantFile works — from £19/year (pricing).