Research
Do accountancy firms file on time?
Accountancy firms have to file their own accounts and confirmation statement on time, like every company. Here is how their record compares with all UK companies, and what Companies House shows about their borrowing.
The answer
On 1 October 2026, 3.3% of trading UK accountancy companies (1,769 of 54,279) had their accounts or confirmation statement shown as overdue on Companies House. For all trading UK companies the figure was 6.6% (300,363 of 4,577,368), about 2 times as high. 5.5% of accountancy companies had a lender's charge still outstanding, against 13.1% of all companies.
Overdue filings
| Filing | Accountancy companies | Share | All trading UK companies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual accounts overdue | 605 | 1.1% | 1.7% |
| Confirmation statement overdue | 1,260 | 2.3% | 5.2% |
| Either overdue | 1,769 | 3.3% | 6.6% |
| Companies counted | 54,279 | 100% | 4,577,368 |
"Overdue" here means the next due date in the Companies House file was before 1 October 2026. A company may have filed shortly before the file was produced, so a few of these may already be up to date. Companies House shows the same flag on each company's page. Every company record on our site reads it live.
By who owns the firm
| Ownership type | Companies | A filing overdue | Charge outstanding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Only individuals listed as owners | 50,163 | 3.2% | 4.1% |
| Owned through a holding company | 2,805 | 2.5% | 23% |
| Part of a group | 775 | 8.5% | 33.5% |
| No ownership record | 536 | 7.6% | 10.3% |
Firms that are part of a group are far more likely to have a lender's charge outstanding: 33.5%, against 4.1% for firms that list only individuals as owners. A group that buys firms may borrow to do it, but the register does not say why each charge was created. Group-owned firms also show more overdue filings (8.5%). One possible reason is that some companies bought by a group stop trading and are folded into the group; we have not checked each one. Ownership types follow our definitions.
What a registered charge is
A charge is security a lender takes over a company's assets, for example for a loan or overdraft. Companies House keeps a register of them. Having a charge is common and is not a sign of trouble. An outstanding charge means the register does not show it as paid off.
Why this matters if you run a business
Filing on time is a legal duty for every company. A firm that keeps its own filings up to date is showing one small, public part of how it works. It says nothing about the quality of its advice. If you are choosing an accountant, our form can help you work out what support to look for, and every company record shows its filing record.
How we counted accountancy companies
- Who is included: companies with status "Active" that do not file dormant accounts and do not use the dormant company activity code. Accountancy companies are those with SIC code 69201, 69202 or 69203. On this basis the file holds 54,279 accountancy companies; our other research pages count 54,295, because they use the company list built on 12 October.
- Overdue: the next accounts due date or the next confirmation statement due date in the bulk file is before 1 October 2026.
- Charges: the bulk file's counts of charges registered and charges outstanding for each company.
- Companies, not practices: one practice can run several companies. A group may hold many companies that do little trading.
Sources
- Companies House, Free Company Data Product (bulk company file dated 1 October 2026), fields for next accounts due date, next confirmation statement due date and charges. download.companieshouse.gov.uk/en_output.html.
- Companies House, people with significant control snapshot (12 October 2026), for ownership types. How our research works.