Overdue accounts at Companies House: how worried should you be?

Updated 12 July 2026 · 5 min read · Kestrel Alert

A private UK company must file accounts within nine months of its financial year end. Once that deadline passes, the accounts are overdue, automatic penalties start at £150 and escalate to £1,500, and persistent failure can lead to the company being struck off. Late accounts don't always mean insolvency, but companies in financial distress file late far more often than healthy ones.

When are a company's accounts due?

Private companies: nine months after the accounting reference date (year end).
Public companies: six months.
First accounts of a new company: 21 months after incorporation.

The moment the deadline passes, Companies House marks the accounts overdue on the public register, and late-filing penalties apply automatically, from £150 for up to a month late, rising to £1,500 for more than six months (and doubling if it happens two years running). Filing late is also a criminal offence for the directors. There is no grace period and no discretion.

Do overdue accounts mean a company is in trouble?

Not always: sometimes it's a change of accountant, an office move, or plain disorganisation. But it correlates strongly with distress, for practical reasons:

Bad news travels slowly. Directors of struggling companies delay publishing numbers that would spook lenders, credit insurers and suppliers.
The accountant isn't being paid. Accountants down tools on clients in arrears; auditors resign or refuse to sign off going-concern statements.
Housekeeping has collapsed. A company that willingly accepts £1,500 in penalties rather than filing has stopped managing the basics.

The pattern matters more than the single event. Overdue accounts plus a new charge, a director resignation, or slowing payments is a very different picture from overdue accounts alone.

Can a company be struck off for not filing?

Yes. If accounts or confirmation statements stay outstanding, Companies House will begin compulsory strike-off proceedings: a notice is published in The Gazette, and unless someone objects, the company is dissolved a few months later. If that happens while the company owes you money, collecting becomes much harder, you'd need to have the company restored to the register first. If you see a strike-off notice for a debtor, object to Companies House and chase the debt immediately.

What should a supplier do about a customer with overdue accounts?

Ask them about it; a good customer will have a boring explanation.
Check the rest of the record: charges, directors, Gazette notices.
Tighten your own position while you wait: keep balances low, invoice promptly, chase on time.
Watch for the accounts actually arriving, and what they say when they do.

Kestrel Alert checks the filing status of every company on your watch list daily and alerts you the day a customer's accounts go overdue, one of the earliest, cheapest warning signs there is.