If you run a UK limited company, you already know you have to file annual accounts with Companies House every year — trading or not. What trips people up is that “annual accounts” isn’t one single document. Which version you file depends on your company’s size and activity, and getting it wrong can mean a rejected filing (which counts as not delivered) and an automatic penalty.
This guide walks through every filing type — dormant, micro-entity, small, medium, and full/large — what qualifies you for each, and exactly what you need to include.
The short version
Thresholds apply to accounting periods beginning on or after 6 April 2025. A company must meet any 2 of the 3 conditions to qualify for a category.
| Company type | Filing type | Turnover | Balance sheet total | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dormant | Dormant accounts (AA02, if never traded) | No significant transactions in the period (turnover, balance sheet, and employee figures are not relevant tests) | — | — |
| Micro-entity | Micro-entity accounts | £1 million or less | £500,000 or less | 10 or fewer |
| Small company | Full accounts or abridged accounts | £15 million or less | £7.5 million or less | 50 or fewer |
| Medium-sized company | Full accounts (with medium-sized exemptions) | £54 million or less | £27 million or less | 250 or fewer |
| Large company | Full accounts | Over £54 million | Over £27 million | More than 250 |
A company is “large” if it exceeds the medium-sized thresholds — there’s no separate large-company test to meet, it’s simply everyone left over.
Now let’s go through each one properly.
1. Dormant company accounts
A company is “dormant” for Companies House purposes if it’s had no significant accounting transactions during the financial year. Filing fees paid to Companies House, penalties for late filing, and payment for shares taken by subscribers when the company was formed don’t count as significant — so a shell company that’s paid nothing but its incorporation fee is still dormant.
Every company must still file, even if dormant. There’s no size threshold that lets you skip filing altogether.
Two routes, depending on history:
- Never traded since incorporation → you can use the simplified AA02 form, free to file online via WebFiling. It only requires a balance sheet showing subscriber share capital — no profit and loss account, directors’ report, or notes.
- Previously traded, now dormant → you cannot use AA02. You must file in whichever format your company size would otherwise require (micro-entity, small, or full), just with no trading activity to report.
What dormant accounts must contain:
- A balance sheet with a director’s signature and printed name, stating the company was dormant throughout the period
- Prior year comparative figures
- A statement confirming audit exemption under section 480 of the Companies Act 2006
Dormant companies are audit-exempt if they’ve been dormant since incorporation, or since the end of the previous financial year while also qualifying as small.
2. Micro-entity accounts
Micro-entities are the smallest category of trading company, with the lightest reporting burden of any active business.
Qualifying thresholds (accounting periods beginning on or after 6 April 2025) — you need to meet any 2 of these 3:
- Annual turnover of £1 million or less
- Balance sheet total of £500,000 or less
- 10 employees or fewer on average
You need to meet the conditions in the current year and the previous year to qualify (first-year companies just need to meet them in year one).
Who can’t use micro-entity accounts: public limited companies, charitable companies, overseas companies, limited or qualifying partnerships, and certain financial services firms.
What micro-entity accounts must contain:
- A simplified balance sheet in the prescribed format, with minimal notes
- A profit and loss account (prepared for members, but not filed with Companies House)
- A statement above the director’s signature confirming the accounts were prepared under the micro-entity provisions
What you get in return: no requirement to file a directors’ report or profit and loss account at Companies House, and (if you qualify as small too) audit exemption.
Coming change: from 1 April 2028, micro-entities will have to deliver a profit and loss account to Companies House, though there’ll be an option to opt out of it appearing on the public register.
3. Small company accounts
Qualifying thresholds (accounting periods beginning on or after 6 April 2025) — again, any 2 of 3:
- Annual turnover of £15 million or less
- Balance sheet total of £7.5 million or less
- 50 employees or fewer on average
(These thresholds roughly doubled from the previous limits of £10.2m turnover / £5.1m balance sheet, which applied to periods starting before 6 April 2025 — worth checking which figures apply to your accounting period.)
What small company accounts must contain, for members:
- Profit and loss account
- Balance sheet, signed by a director
- Notes to the accounts
- Directors’ report
- Auditor’s report, unless audit-exempt
What goes to Companies House can be less: small companies currently don’t have to deliver a copy of the directors’ report or the profit and loss account to Companies House at all. If members agree, you can instead file abridged accounts — a balance sheet with fewer line items, and optionally a condensed P&L too, provided every member consents.
Audit exemption: available if you qualify as small, aren’t in an excluded sector (banking, insurance, MiFID firms, etc.), and no shareholder holding at least 10% has formally demanded an audit.
Coming change: from April 2028, small companies will lose the option to abridge accounts, and will be required to file a profit and loss account with Companies House.
4. Medium-sized company accounts
Qualifying thresholds (accounting periods beginning on or after 6 April 2025) — any 2 of 3:
- Annual turnover of £54 million or less
- Balance sheet total of £27 million or less
- 250 employees or fewer on average
What medium-sized accounts must contain and file:
- Full profit and loss account
- Balance sheet
- Notes to the accounts
- Directors’ report
- Strategic report
- Auditor’s report (medium companies don’t get audit exemption)
Unlike small companies, medium-sized companies must deliver all of these components to Companies House — nothing is held back. The main relief they get is the ability to omit certain non-financial KPIs from the strategic report and to file a slightly reduced version of the profit and loss account.
5. Full (large company) accounts
If your company doesn’t meet the thresholds for micro, small, or medium, it’s classed as large, and must prepare and file full statutory accounts — the most detailed tier. That means a complete profit and loss account, balance sheet, full notes, directors’ report, strategic report, and a mandatory audit, with none of the disclosure exemptions available to smaller companies.
A few things that apply across the board
- Deadlines: private companies have 9 months from their accounting reference date to file; public companies have 6 months. First accounts can have a longer window. Late filing triggers an automatic penalty, from £150 (up to 1 month late) to £1,500 (more than 6 months late) for private companies — doubled for public companies.
- Size is assessed over two years: generally, you need to meet the size conditions in the current year and the previous year to move down a category (e.g., from small to micro). The exception is a company’s very first financial year, where meeting the conditions once is enough.
- Rejected accounts aren’t “late” — they’re not filed at all. If Companies House bounces your submission (wrong format, missing statement, unsigned balance sheet), you haven’t met your deadline until a corrected version is accepted, so leave a buffer before the due date.
- Reform is coming. From 1 April 2027, small companies and micro-entities will need to file using commercial software (WebFiling and paper routes are being phased out), and from 1 April 2028, abridged accounts disappear and both small companies and micro-entities will need to include a profit and loss account.
Choosing the right one
In practice, most small business owners work through it in this order:
- Has the company actually traded this year? If not, and it’s never traded → dormant (AA02).
- If it’s traded (or traded previously and is now dormant), check the size thresholds against turnover, balance sheet, and employee numbers, starting from the smallest category (micro-entity) and working up (small → medium → large).
- Remember you need to satisfy two of the three conditions in both the current and prior year to qualify for the smaller category.
If your company is anywhere near a threshold boundary, or you’re not sure whether you can claim audit exemption, it’s worth a quick check with an accountant — filing in the wrong format is one of the more common reasons accounts get rejected.
This guide reflects Companies House guidance as of July 2026. Thresholds and requirements are subject to change — always check gov.uk for the latest figures before filing.