Accounts overdue at Companies House: what it means

What this test checks

Compares the date the company's next accounts are due, as recorded on the Companies House register, with today. If the deadline has passed and no accounts have been filed, the accounts are overdue, and the test reports by how many days.

Private companies normally have nine months from the end of their financial year to file, and a new company has longer for its first accounts. Accounts that are more than six months overdue are treated as a particularly serious concern.

What a fail looks like

The register shows the accounts as overdue. The longer the delay, the more serious it is: a few days can be an oversight, several months usually means nobody is looking after the company's affairs, and long-overdue accounts are a common trigger for compulsory strike-off.

Harmless explanations

• Accounts filed close to the deadline can be rejected for a technical reason and resubmitted a few days late.
• Companies House can extend a filing deadline on application, which moves the due date.

What to do

• Look at the filing history: one late filing is different from a company that is late every year.
• Ask the company when the accounts will be filed and why they are late.
• Treat overdue accounts together with an overdue confirmation statement as a stronger warning, and watch for a strike-off proposal.

Background: What Companies House data tells you.

Related tests

• GOV-085Confirmation Statement Overdue
• XFN-003Accounts Overdue with Financial Deterioration
• FIN-008Proposal to Strike Off
• DRV-028Accounts Overdue Status Change

Part of the test catalogue. Every check Senserity runs, with its severity and the plan it is available on.

Last reviewed 3 October 2026.