Companies House filing status explained

Received, then checked

GOV.UK guidance on the registrar's rules and powers says a document is not delivered to the registrar until the registrar receives it ¹. For digital documents, receipt happens when Companies House gives the document queued or pre-queued status ¹. For paper, the guidance sets receipt points by office and method, such as when post is handed over at a loading bay in Cardiff ¹.

For documents uploaded through the online service, Companies House says it sends a confirmation email to say whether the document has been uploaded ². An examiner then processes the document to check if it is acceptable for filing ². The filer gets a second email saying whether the document was accepted or rejected ².

What rejection means

The guidance lists the requirements for proper delivery under section 1072, and one of them is that the contents of the document are factually accurate ¹. In most cases, the registrar rejects a document that is not properly delivered and explains what to do to correct it ¹.

The registrar may still accept a document that is not properly delivered, for example where a problem is not apparent ¹. The guidance says that acceptance in that case does not mean the original requirement has been satisfied ¹.

A document rejected for inconsistency under section 1073A is treated as if it had not been delivered to the registrar ¹. Where the registrar gives notice of an inconsistency under section 1093, the company must remedy it within 14 days of the notice ¹.

Registered and annotated

An accepted upload is registered with the date it was uploaded to Companies House ². Under section 1081, the registrar must annotate the register to record the date an original document was delivered ¹. The registrar may add other annotations, for example to remedy misleading or confusing information ¹.

Registration is not permanent in every case. The registrar can administratively remove material that appears to be improperly delivered or unnecessary under section 1094 ¹. On a court order under section 1096, the registrar must remove material that meets the set criteria ¹.

Company status labels

The company status shown on the public register is not a filing status. It describes the company. Companies House publishes the labels it uses in its public data ⁴.

Deadlines and late filing penalties

For accounts, GOV.UK says delivery means actual receipt at Companies House in the correct format ³. Companies House says it cannot accept accounts until they meet the requirements of the Companies Act ³. The guidance tells directors they are personally responsible for delivering accounts before the time allowed runs out ³.

Penalties run from the date accounts are due ³. A private company or LLP pays £150 for up to 1 month late, £375 for 1 to 3 months, £750 for 3 to 6 months and £1,500 for more than 6 months ³. A public company pays £750, £1,500, £3,000 and £7,500 for the same periods ³.