Statutory Accounts & Financial Reporting

The framework is decided first, then the accounts are built from a reconciled trial balance rather than from last year's file rolled forward. Fixed asset registers, accruals, prepayments, loan balances and intercompany positions are agreed to evidence before the numbers are typed. You receive a draft with a covering note explaining what changed and why, then we file with Companies House and prepare the corporation tax computation from the same figures.

Talk this through on a call

Micro-entity and small company accounts carry fewer disclosures, but the thresholds have to be tested each year and the reduced format is only a benefit if the business is not planning to borrow, sell or take investment soon. Lenders and buyers often want more than a filleted balance sheet shows. Where the reduced format is right for you we use it; where it would cost you later, we say so before filing.

Talk this through on a call

A dormant company still owes Companies House a set of accounts and a confirmation statement every year, and it stops being dormant the moment a transaction passes through its bank account. Dormant company accounts are prepared in the simplified format, the status is confirmed with HMRC so that corporation tax returns are not demanded, and the filing dates go on the same calendar as your trading entities.

Talk this through on a call

Group and consolidated accounts start with a reconciliation of every intercompany balance, because consolidation only works when the two sides of each loan, recharge and dividend agree. Goodwill on acquisitions, minority interests and the elimination of intragroup profit are worked through with a schedule you can follow. Where the group qualifies for an exemption from consolidation we check whether taking it is actually in your interest.

Talk this through on a call

Charity and not-for-profit accounts follow their own reporting rules, with restricted and unrestricted funds tracked separately and a trustees' report that says what the organisation did with the money. We prepare accounts for smaller charities and companies limited by guarantee in a form that is ready for independent examination, and we keep the fund accounting straight through the year so the year-end is not a reconstruction.

Talk this through on a call

Management accounts and reporting packs are only useful if they arrive while the month is still fresh and say something the bank statement does not. Each pack carries a profit and loss against budget, a balance sheet with the working capital movements explained, cash and debtor positions, and a short written commentary on what moved and what needs a decision. The format is agreed with you once and then kept consistent.

Talk this through on a call

Departmental and divisional reporting depends on how transactions are coded when they are entered, not on how hard someone works at the end of the quarter. We design the tracking categories, cost centres and job codes so that revenue and cost land in the same place, then test the output on a real month before you rely on it. The result is a profit and loss by division, site or project that reconciles to the whole.

Talk this through on a call

Multi-currency and FX reporting goes wrong in two places: the rate used on the day, and the retranslation of bank balances, debtors and loans at the year end. We set the rate policy, post exchange differences to the right line, and separate realised gains and losses from the unrealised movement so the profit figure is not distorted by a currency swing that has not yet happened in cash.

Talk this through on a call

An accounting framework review asks a simple question before any work starts: which set of rules does this company actually have to follow, and does anything about its size, group membership or plans mean a different one applies? Getting it wrong means accounts that have to be reprepared, or a lender or buyer discounting figures they cannot rely on. The review takes an hour of your time and settles the question in writing.

Talk this through on a call

Going concern and disclosure support matters when cash is tight, a facility is due for renewal, or a major customer has gone. Directors have to form a view on the company's ability to continue for at least twelve months and the accounts have to say what that view rests on. We build the cash forecast that supports the assessment, draft the disclosure in plain terms and document the directors' conclusion so it stands up if anyone asks.

Talk this through on a call

Accounts rescue and prior period corrections begin with finding out what actually happened: a bank reconciliation that was forced, a director's loan posted as sales, stock that was never counted, or a framework that was simply wrong. We quantify each error, decide whether it is corrected in the current year or by restating the comparative, and file amended accounts and tax returns where they are needed so the record is clean going forward.

Talk this through on a call

Overdue and late accounts catch-up is a sequence, not a scramble. The oldest year comes first, because every later balance depends on it, and each year is filed as soon as it is finished rather than waiting for the set. We deal with Companies House and HMRC correspondence on your behalf, make the penalty position as good as the facts allow, and end with the company back on a normal filing calendar.

Talk this through on a call