Guidance on Companies House Forms for a Company

Companies House forms exist to facilitate a myriad of tasks involved in the running of a company according to UK law.

When a company undergoes specific changes, the secretary is responsible for completing the required forms and sending them to Companies House for approval.

There are more than a hundred forms prescribed in the 2006 Company Act, which contain a variety of documents serving specific purposes.

What kind of information must a company send to Companies House?

There’s actually a good deal of information that companies must register at Companies House. This information needs to be sent on first registration or incorporation and then again throughout a company’s lifetime.

While it won’t be possible to discuss every single form in detail, we shed light on some of the key forms which companies must register with Companies House:

First registration

When a UK company is incorporated, it must send the following information to Companies House:

• Articles of association;
• Memorandum of association;
• Form IN01 which contains:
  • Complete company name;
  • Registered office address;
  • Company articles;
  • Details of the company secretary if there is one;
  • Registration details on corporate secretary if there is one;
  • Details of directors – e.g. name, date of birth, occupation, nationality, residential address, etc.;
  • Statement of capital which shows specific details of class, number allotted, nominal amount, etc.

Changes to company details

If a company undergoes certain changes, they must use the right form to inform Companies House. Typical examples include:

• NM01 along with a copy of the resolution for changing the company’s name;
• AP01 for appointing a director;
• AP03 for appointing a company secretary;
• CH01 for changing director’s detail (such as a change in address);
• AD01 for moving to a different registered office;
• AA01 for changing the accounting reference date.

These are just examples as there are more forms, many of which were introduced after Company Act 2006. A visit to the Companies House website will let you download all these forms – however, our accountants will be happy to sit down with you and explain which forms are relevant to your company’s current circumstances.

Directors’ addresses

All directors’ details are to be registered at Companies house and entered in the company’s own register of directors. Both the ‘service’ address and home address are to be included.

Confirmation statement

Companies must file a confirmation statement at Companies House every year. The confirmation statement contains much of the same information that’s on-file at Companies House – however, it’s important to understand its key purposes:

• It encourages companies to bring forth any information which has changed and must be updated;
• It makes searching the current company file at Companies House a lot easier.

Statutory registers

Other than the disclosure requirements at Companies House, companies must also maintain a complete set of statutory registers, which can be inspected by the public at any point in time.

It’s important to understand which Companies House forms apply to you at any moment. Our accountants can offer you up-to-the-minute advice to save you time and unnecessary costs.