Every UK company, including dormant and non-trading ones, must file a confirmation statement (form CS01) with Companies House at least once every 12 months. It confirms that the information Companies House holds about your company is up to date. It contains no accounts. It costs £50 online or £110 on paper, and you have 14 days after your review period ends to file it.
The filing itself takes a few minutes. The harder part is making sure the records it confirms are right, because some changes must be filed before the statement, and since 18 November 2025 every director must have verified their identity.
What the confirmation statement confirms
Think of it as a yearly sign-off on your company's public record. GOV.UK's guidance on running a limited company lists what you need to check:
- the registered office, directors, secretary and the address where you keep your records
- the statement of capital and shareholder information, if the company has shares
- the SIC code, which is the number that identifies what your company does
- your people with significant control (PSCs)
Two further items now sit alongside these: a registered email address and a lawful purpose statement. Both are covered below.
You must file even if nothing has changed. Companies House does not treat a quiet year as an exemption, and a dormant company has the same duty as a trading one.
The statement is not your annual accounts. Accounts report the company's financial performance and position. The confirmation statement checks the company information on the public register and carries no financial figures. Filing one does not replace the other, and they have separate deadlines.
The confirmation statement replaced the annual return in 2016. The old name still turns up, and GOV.UK's filing service page is still titled "confirmation statement (annual return)", but the document you file today is the confirmation statement.
The review period, the confirmation date and the 14 days
Three terms matter here, and Companies House uses them exactly.
- Review period: the 12 months in which you review your records. It ends 12 months after the date of incorporation (for your first statement), or 12 months after the "confirmation statement date" on your last statement.
- Confirmation date: the date you give on the statement. The CS01 form says you must deliver it within 14 days of that date.
- The 14 days: Companies House guidance says you can file up to 14 days after the review period has ended.
So the deadline is the end of the review period plus 14 days.
| Company | Review period ends | Filing deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Incorporated 1 June 2024 (first statement) | 31 May 2025 | 14 June 2025 |
| Last statement dated 15 September 2024 | 15 September 2025 | 29 September 2025 |
| Review period ending 31 August | 31 August | 14 September |
You do not need to work this out by hand. You can check your confirmation date and filing deadline on the company information register, and sign up for an email reminder for when it is time to file.
Filing early moves your whole cycle
You do not have to wait for the review period to end. If you file early, you choose a new confirmation date, and your next review period starts the day after that date.
For example, if you file on 1 March and give 1 March as your confirmation date, your next review period starts on 2 March. Your annual deadline has moved from its old date to 1 March plus 12 months, with the 14 days on top. Some directors do this deliberately, for instance to line the statement up with other filings. Just do it knowingly, because it changes every future deadline.
What it costs
The fee changed on 1 February 2026. Companies House now charges:
- £50 to file the confirmation statement online
- £110 to file a paper form CS01 by post
The fee runs on a payment period, which is separate from your review period. A payment period covers 12 months, and you cannot change it. It starts on the date of incorporation. For older companies it ends on the anniversary of the return date of the last annual return (form AR01).
You pay only with the first confirmation statement you file in each payment period. You can then file as many statements as you like in that period without paying again.
Companies House's own example runs like this. A payment period runs from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022:
- A statement filed on 30 September 2022 attracts the fee.
- Another statement on 1 December 2022 does not.
- A statement on 5 January 2023 attracts the fee again, because it falls in a new payment period.
The two clocks only line up neatly for some companies. If you file early and shift your review period, your payment period stays where it was.
The lawful purpose statement and the registered email
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act added two requirements, in force for statements dated from March 2024.
Lawful purpose. You must state that the company's intended future activities are lawful. On the online service this is a confirmation box. On the paper CS01 it is a tick box reading: "The company confirms that the intended future activities of the company are lawful." The statement is about what the company intends to do from now on, not a review of the past year.
Registered email address. You must provide one in your confirmation statement if you have not already done so. Companies House uses it to contact you about the company, and it is not published on the public register. GOV.UK is blunt about the follow-on duty: you must read any emails your company receives at that address.
That last point matters more than it sounds. If the address belongs to a former accountant or a director who has left, the reminders and warnings go to someone who will not act on them.
You cannot change a registered email address through the confirmation statement. Changing an address you have already registered is a separate filing. The CS01 itself tells you to use form EM01 for that. Part 5 of the paper form is only for companies incorporated on an application delivered before 4 March 2024, where this is the first statement with a confirmation date after that day.
Directors' personal codes and identity verification
Since 18 November 2025, identity verification has been a legal requirement for directors and PSCs. It now sits directly in the confirmation statement process.
Companies House guidance says that before you file, all directors must verify their identity. On the next confirmation statement you must:
- give each director's unique identifier, called a Companies House personal code
- tick a statement confirming that each director has verified their identity
The consequence is stated plainly: Companies House will not accept the company's confirmation statement until all directors have verified.
A few practical points:
- Verification is normally done through GOV.UK One Login, and a director only needs to do it once. A director who has already verified can find their personal code in their Companies House account. A director who has not yet verified can verify online.
- If your company has more than one director, you need every director's personal code. One unverified director holds up the filing for the whole board.
- The code belongs to the individual, not the company. A director uses the same code for every company they act for, but it must be connected to each role separately.
- PSCs must also verify and provide their personal codes. The period for doing this depends on your situation. A person who is both a director and a PSC verifies once but uses the code separately for each role.
If you want the detail on how verification works, our guide to Companies House identity verification covers it. For the confirmation statement, the practical advice is to check your directors' status well before your deadline. Verification is the step most likely to be outstanding when the filing date arrives.
Changes to file first
The confirmation statement is not where you report most changes. It is where you confirm that the register is right once those changes have been made.
Companies House says you must tell it about changes to the following before you send the statement:
- directors and secretary
- people with significant control
- registered office address
- registered email address
The CS01 form puts it slightly more loosely: these changes must be made separately, before or at the same time as the confirmation statement. The safe approach is to file them first and get them accepted, so that what you confirm is already on the register.
The statement itself has an additional information section for a shorter list of changes:
- Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code
- statement of capital
- trading status of shares
- exemption from providing PSC information
- shareholder information
If you know something on the register is out of date, do not confirm it as correct. Fix it first.
How to file online, step by step
- Get your credentials. You need your Companies House password and authentication code. If you do not have them, register for online filing first. Do this early, as an unavailable authentication code is a common reason for missed deadlines.
- Check the register. You can check your company details for free on the Companies House service. Compare the registered office, officers, PSCs, SIC code, share capital and shareholders against your own records.
- File any changes that must come first. Directors, secretary, PSCs, registered office and registered email all go in before the statement.
- Confirm identity verification. Have each director's personal code ready, and make sure every director has verified.
- Start the confirmation statement on the Companies House WebFiling service and work through it. Use the additional information section for any SIC code, capital, share trading status, PSC exemption or shareholder changes.
- Tick the lawful purpose statement and add your registered email address if one is not already on record.
- Pay the fee if this is the first statement in your payment period. It is £50 online.
Before you start, sign up for the free email reminders so next year's date does not depend on anyone's memory. You can add up to four recipients, which helps if the person who normally handles filings is away.
The filing is made on behalf of the company, but the legal responsibility stays with the directors. If an accountant or agent files for you, the directors are still answerable for what is filed.
If you file late
Companies House's guidance puts it directly: you can be fined up to £5,000, and your company may be struck off the register if you do not file. It may also issue a financial penalty.
Strike-off is the outcome to take most seriously. A company removed from the register ceases to exist as a legal entity, and that creates real problems for its bank accounts, contracts and assets. Dormant companies are not exempt, and a company that has done nothing all year can still be struck off for not filing.
If you miss the deadline, file as soon as you can, and make sure anything out of date on the register is corrected at the same time. Then find out why it was missed. The usual causes are unglamorous:
- reminders going to an old email address
- a registered office nobody is monitoring
- unclear responsibility for filings
- an authentication code that cannot be found
- a director who has not completed identity verification
- company records not kept up to date during the year
If a company has already been struck off and is being restored to the register, the rules differ. You must file a paper CS01 and put the confirmation date that was due before it was struck off. If you are unsure of that date, contact Companies House before filing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to file if my company is dormant or has not traded?
Yes. Every company, including dormant and non-trading companies, must file at least once every year, even if nothing has changed.
Is a confirmation statement the same as annual accounts?
No. Accounts report the company's finances. The confirmation statement confirms the company information on the public register and contains no accounts. Each has its own deadline.
Can I file more than one statement in a year without paying twice?
Yes, within the same payment period. You pay the fee with the first statement in each 12-month payment period and nothing for further statements in that period.
Can I change my registered office or directors through the confirmation statement?
No. Changes to directors, secretary, PSCs, registered office and registered email must be filed separately, before the statement. The statement can only carry changes to the SIC code, statement of capital, trading status of shares, PSC exemption and shareholder information.
Can an accountant file it for me?
Yes, but the directors remain legally responsible. Each director will still need to have verified their identity, and the filer will need their personal codes.
If you want accounts and tax handled alongside your Companies House filings, see Deplexify UK. Contractors running their own limited company can also look at accounts for contractors.