Companies House filing deadlines: the complete SQE1 list
A candidate in a study group asked for this recently: a single complete list of the filing requirements in business law, because course materials tend to mention one or two forms per topic and move on. Here is the whole picture in one place: every filing event tested in FLK1, its form, its deadline and its statutory source, followed by the events that need no filing at all, which is where the exam traps live.
Verified against the Companies Act 2006 and Companies House guidance, July 2026.
At incorporation
One package to the registrar: the application (form IN01), the memorandum of association, your own articles if the company is departing from the model articles, the statement of capital and initial shareholdings, the statement of proposed officers, the statement of initial significant control, and the statement of compliance. Since March 2024 the company must also give a registered email address and confirm it is being formed for a lawful purpose (Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 changes). Since 18 November 2025, proposed directors and registrable people with significant control must have verified their identity with Companies House, and a director cannot lawfully act until that is done. The company exists from the date on the certificate of incorporation.
Event-driven filings: the deadline is the exam point
Most SQE1 questions on this area turn on a number. Here is every event with its clock:
| Event | What is filed | Deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Director appointed | AP01 | 14 days | s.167G CA 2006 |
| Director leaves | TM01 | 14 days | s.167G CA 2006 |
| Director’s details change | CH01 | 14 days | s.167H CA 2006 |
| Secretary appointed / leaves / details change | AP03 / TM02 / CH03 | 14 days | ss.279G–279H CA 2006 |
| PSC change confirmed | PSC01 / PSC04 / PSC07 | 14 days from confirming the change | ss.790LA–790LF CA 2006 |
| Special resolution passed | copy of the resolution | 15 days | ss.29–30 CA 2006 |
| Articles amended | amended articles (+ the resolution) | 15 days | s.26 CA 2006 |
| Name changed | NM01 + special resolution | 15 days (resolution); effective on the new certificate | ss.77–81 CA 2006 |
| s.551 authority to allot granted | copy of the ordinary resolution | 15 days | s.551(9), s.30 CA 2006 |
| Capital reduced (solvency statement route) | special resolution + solvency statement + statement of capital + compliance statement | 15 days; effective on registration. Separate trap: the solvency statement itself must be made no more than 15 days before the resolution (s.642(1)(a)) | ss.642–644 CA 2006 |
| Registered office moved | AD01 | no fixed period; effective on registration | s.87 CA 2006 |
| Charge created | MR01 + certified copy of the instrument | 21 days beginning with the day after creation | s.859A CA 2006 |
| New shares allotted | SH01 + statement of capital | 1 month | s.555 CA 2006 |
| Own shares bought back | SH03 (+ SH06 if cancelled) | 28 days from delivery of the shares to the company | ss.707–708 CA 2006 |
| Buyback out of capital (private company) | special resolution + directors’ statement + auditor’s report | resolution 15 days; statement and report to the registrar by the date of the Gazette notice | ss.709–723 CA 2006 |
One dating point on this table. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 rewired the people-filings on 18 November 2025: companies no longer keep their own registers of directors, secretaries or PSCs (Companies House now holds the single register), and the old two-step PSC filing (14 days to update your own register, then 14 more to file) became a single 14-day notice. Notes written before that date cite s.167 and s.276 for officer filings and s.790M for PSCs; the provisions in force are ss.167G–167H, 279G–279H and 790LA–790LF. The deadlines above are the current law, which is what both the July 2026 and January 2027 sittings assess.
The brutal one: charges
The 21-day charge window is the harshest deadline on the list and the most heavily tested. Two things make it dangerous. First, the count: the period is 21 days beginning with the day after the date of creation, so a charge created on 3 June has 4 June as day one and 24 June as the last day for delivery. Second, the consequence: late means the charge is void against a liquidator, an administrator and any creditor (s.859H), the secured money becomes immediately payable, and the only way back is a court order under s.859F. The lender keeps a valid debt and loses the security, which is the whole reason it lent. Try the exact exam question on this — the date arithmetic is where most people slip.
The annual clock, regardless of events
- Confirmation statement (CS01): the review period is 12 months and the statement is due within 14 days of it ending (s.853A). Since 2024 it also carries the lawful-purpose confirmation.
- Annual accounts: a private company files within 9 months of its accounting reference date; a public company within 6 months (s.442). A private company’s first accounts, where the first period runs longer than 12 months, are due 21 months from incorporation.
The traps: events with NO Companies House filing
Three events that feel like they should trigger a filing and do not:
- A transfer of existing shares. Nothing goes to Companies House at the time. Stamp duty goes to HMRC (0.5%, rounded up to the nearest £5) where the consideration exceeds £1,000, the company updates its register of members once the stock transfer form is stamped, and the registrar catches up at the next confirmation statement. Examiners love pairing this against the allotment rule, where a filing is required within one month.
- Declaring or paying a dividend. No filing, whatever the size.
- Board resolutions. Minutes must be kept for ten years (s.248), and none of it is filed. Members’ special resolutions are filed; ordinary resolutions generally are not, with the s.551 allotment authority as the classic exception.
Deliberately left out as outside what SQE1 tests: re-registration between company types, public-company trading certificates, changes of accounting reference date and community interest companies.
Partnerships and LLPs
A general partnership files nothing at Companies House, ever: it has no registration there, and its dealings are with HMRC. An LLP is the opposite: it is incorporated at Companies House (form LL IN01) and carries company-style obligations, including notification of members joining or leaving within 14 days (CA 2006 s.167G, as applied to LLPs), an annual confirmation statement, annual accounts and the same 21-day charge regime. See the LLP revision note for how the two are tested against each other.
How to remember it
Group the deadlines by what they attach to and the list compresses to one line: 14 = people (directors, secretaries, LLP members, PSCs), 15 = resolutions and the constitution, 21 = charges, 28 = buybacks, 1 month = allotments. Add the two annual clocks (CS01 at 12 months + 14 days; accounts at 9 or 6 months) and the three no-filing traps, and that is the whole area as SQE1 tests it.
Filing mechanics sit inside three syllabus topics, each with a full revision note: incorporation and constitution, share capital and financing and charges.
Questions candidates ask
What has to be filed when a company allots new shares?
A return of allotment (form SH01) with an updated statement of capital, within one month of the allotment (s.555 Companies Act 2006). If the directors needed a s.551 authority to allot, that ordinary resolution must itself be filed within 15 days — one of the few ordinary resolutions Companies House ever sees. Any special resolution disapplying pre-emption rights is filed within 15 days too.
What happens if a charge is registered late at Companies House?
The particulars must be delivered within 21 days beginning with the day after the charge is created (s.859A Companies Act 2006). Miss that and the charge is void against a liquidator, an administrator and any creditor of the company (s.859H), and the secured money becomes immediately payable. The charge stays valid as between the company and the lender, and the debt survives; the lender simply loses its security. Only a court order under s.859F can extend the period.
Do share transfers have to be filed at Companies House?
No, and this is a favourite exam trap. When existing shares are transferred, nothing goes to Companies House at the time. The buyer pays stamp duty to HMRC (0.5%, rounded up to the nearest £5) if the consideration is over £1,000, the company updates its register of members once the stock transfer form is stamped, and Companies House only learns of the new shareholder at the next confirmation statement. Contrast an allotment of NEW shares, which needs an SH01 within one month.
What is the difference between the confirmation statement and the annual accounts?
They run on separate clocks. The confirmation statement (CS01) confirms the registered information is current: the review period is 12 months and the statement must be delivered within 14 days of that period ending (s.853A). Annual accounts report the finances: a private company files within 9 months of its accounting reference date, a public company within 6 months (s.442). A company must deliver both, every year, whatever else has or has not happened.
Before you book a £1,934 exam
In July 2025, 59% failed SQE1. Find out if you’re ready — before you’re one of them.
- ✓An AI tutor on every question that already knows the answer — the part nothing else has
- ✓5 full mock papers at real exam pace, plus unlimited drilling — no daily cap
- ✓The whole 2,000+ bank, verified and source-cited to the law, all 137 areas
- ✓Your weak-spot map: exactly where you’re losing marks
Free. No card. 25 questions, about 15 minutes. Full SQE1 courses run £1,500–£4,000 — this starts at £0.