Companies House for dormant & non-trading companies
Everything a dormant or non-trading UK limited company has to deal with at Companies House — dormant accounts, FRS 105 micro-entity accounts, confirmation statements, authentication codes, strike-off, ECCTA, and penalties. Guides, plain-English answers, and free tools, all in one place.
Start here
The essentials — what dormant accounts are, when they're due, and how to file them.
Guide
How to file dormant company accounts with Companies House
Step-by-step guide to filing AA02, with the 6 stages every dormant accounts submission goes through.
Answer
What are dormant company accounts?
The minimal accounts a dormant company files instead of full statutory accounts.
Guide
Form AA02: dormant company accounts (DCA) explained
The paper dormant accounts form — who can still use it, how to fill it in, and why the route closes in April 2028.
Tool
Am I dormant? — free checker
Answer 8 questions to confirm dormancy under both the Companies Act and HMRC definitions.
Guide
File dormant company accounts online
Both filings a dormant company owes, filed through software — £19/year with deadline monitoring included.
Guide
£9 one-off services compared
What the cheapest dormant accounts services include, what they leave out, and when they're the right choice.
Not dormant, or not an ordinary company?
When a company isn't trading but can't file as dormant — for example because it's repaying a Bounce Back Loan — plus the entity types worth knowing about: a CIC's accounts go by a route no software can use (though we do file its tax return), an LLP files its own form, and flat management and RTM companies have a dormancy test of their own.
Guide
Filing accounts for a non-trading company with a Bounce Back Loan
Why a repaid loan breaks dormancy, and how to file FRS 105 micro-entity accounts and a nil CT600 instead.
Answer
What are micro-entity accounts (FRS 105)?
The short-balance-sheet accounts a non-trading company files instead of dormant ones.
Guide
Dormant vs non-trading company
The legal difference, and which accounts each one files.
Tool
Micro-entity eligibility checker
Enter three figures to confirm your company qualifies as a micro-entity before you file FRS 105 accounts.
Guide
How to file CIC accounts — including for a dormant CIC
Community interest companies can't use the normal dormant routes — the CIC34 report, the £15 fee, the routes Companies House accepts, and how the Company Tax Return we do file fits alongside them.
Answer
Can a CIC file dormant company accounts?
Why the AA02, WebFiling and software routes are closed to CICs, what a dormant CIC files instead, and which half of its year DormantFile can cover.
Guide
How to file dormant LLP accounts with Companies House
Deadlines, the statements a dormant LLP balance sheet must carry, designated members, and the nil SA800 DormantFile files when HMRC's notice arrives.
Answer
Can an LLP be dormant?
The no-significant-accounting-transactions test applied to LLPs, and what a dormant one still has to file.
Guide
How to file dormant accounts for a flat management or RTM company
What an FMC or RTM company is, the trust-vs-books test that decides whether it's dormant, and how filing works.
Answer
Is a flat management company dormant?
The trust-vs-books test, honestly explained — and why it isn't automatic either way.
Answer
Does an RTM company need to file accounts?
Yes — an RTM company files accounts and a confirmation statement like any other company.
Answer
Does a flat management company need to file a CT600?
Guarantee companies are within Corporation Tax scope — what the common HMRC no-return letter means, and when a nil CT600 is due.
Answer
Does DormantFile support companies limited by guarantee?
Yes — dormant and micro-entity accounts for FMC and RTM companies, with the correct legal form and CT600 support.
Authentication and access
Getting and using your Companies House authentication code.
Guide
Companies House authentication code: the complete guide
How to request, replace, and use your 6-character authentication code.
Answer
What is a Companies House authentication code?
Plain-English explanation of the 6-character code that authorises filings.
Answer
What is WebFiling?
Companies House's online filing service — and why it's being phased out for some filings.
Confirmation statements
The annual filing that runs alongside your accounts.
Guide
Annual accounts vs confirmation statement
The two separate annual filings every UK company makes, and how they differ.
Answer
What is a confirmation statement (CS01)?
The annual statement that confirms your company's basic details.
Answer
What are persons with significant control?
Who counts as a PSC, and what the register actually requires.
Deadlines and dates
When Companies House filings are due, and the consequences of missing them.
Guide
Dormant company filing deadlines explained
Accounts, CT600, and confirmation statement deadlines and how they interact.
Tool
Dormant deadline calculator
Enter your incorporation date and we'll calculate your next three filing deadlines.
Tool
Late filing penalty calculator
How much you'll owe if your dormant accounts are late — the exact penalty band.
Answer
What is an accounting reference date?
The end date of your accounting period and how it's set.
Penalties and overdue accounts
If your accounts are late, what it costs and how to recover.
Guide
Late filing penalties for dormant companies
The Companies House penalty bands from £150 to £1,500 per period.
Answer
What are Companies House late filing penalties?
Plain-English explanation of how the penalty system works.
Guide
Catching up on overdue dormant company filings
Practical playbook for clearing a backlog of overdue accounts.
ECCTA and director verification
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act changes that apply to every dormant-company director.
Guide
ECCTA identity verification for dormant directors
The new mandatory identity check for every director, and what dormant-company directors need to do.
Tool
Companies House public-record audit
Free health check for any UK company — overdue filings, ECCTA status, strike-off risk.
Answer
What happens if a director doesn't verify?
The offence, the penalties, the register annotation — and when your personal deadline falls.
Fraud and company hijacking
Dormant companies are the register's favourite hijacking target — a clean history nobody is watching. How to lock yours down.
Guide
Company hijacking: how to protect your dormant company
How hijacking works, why dormant companies are the prime target, and the three protections that stop it.
Answer
What is the Companies House PROOF scheme?
The free scheme that blocks paper filings of the highest-risk forms — and how to sign up.
Answer
How do I report a false filing?
Found a director or address change you didn't make? The same-day steps that undo the damage.
Tool
Company hijack check
Free: every register change on any company in the last 90 days, with the suspicious ones flagged.
April 2028 accounts reforms
From April 2028 all accounts must be filed through commercial software, and small companies and micro-entities must file a profit and loss account.
Guide
April 2028 reforms — the complete hub
Software-only filing, P&L for small and micro companies, WebFiling closure, and what it means for dormant companies — all in one place.
Guide
Companies House accounts changes from April 2028
Software-only filing, profit and loss for small companies, and the privacy opt-out — the full reform package explained.
Guide
WebFiling is closing for accounts — what to use instead
What's closing, what stays on WebFiling, and your filing options from April 2028.
Guide
Profit and loss filing for small and micro companies from 2028
The new P&L filing requirement, and how the publication opt-out keeps your figures off the public register.
Closing or keeping the company
Whether to dissolve or keep paying for dormant filings — and how to do either.
Guide
How to close a dormant company (and when to keep it open)
DS01 strike-off process, costs, and reasons to keep the company alive.
Guide
Dissolve vs keep dormant company — 2026 decision
The financial and practical comparison between dissolving and keeping dormant.
Guide
How to reactivate a dormant company
Practical steps to bring a dormant company back to life.
Don’t scramble in 2028 — get a heads-up
We’ll email you when the Companies House timeline firms up, and (optionally) watch your company’s deadlines for free in the meantime. No card, no spam — just the changes that affect you.
Ready to file your dormant or non-trading company returns?
Set up in minutes. File in about two. Done for the year.
Get started →Not ready to file? Get the free deadline watchdog — Companies House deadline reminders and strike-off alerts, no card needed.