United Kingdom / Guides / Does a UK limited company need an accountant? The law says no — here is the real picture
United Kingdom · guideDoes a UK limited company need an accountant? The law says no — here is the real picture
The short answer
No law requires a UK limited company to use an accountant. A director is legally entitled to prepare the statutory annual accounts, file them at Companies House, and submit the Company Tax Return (CT600) to HMRC without any professional involved. Company law reserves exactly one activity to a licensed professional: the statutory audit, which only a statutory auditor eligible through a Recognised Supervisory Body may carry out, and the great majority of small private companies are exempt from audit altogether under the current size thresholds. What does not change, with or without an accountant, is that the director remains legally responsible for the accuracy of the records and the accounts — delegating the work never delegates the liability.
Key facts — verified dates on each
The legal starting point: responsibility sits with the director, not a title
Company law does not license the preparation of a limited company's accounts the way it licenses, say, practising law or medicine. GOV.UK's own guidance on running a limited company states the position directly: a director can hire people to manage things like accounts day to day, an accountant among them, but stays legally responsible for the company's records, accounts, and performance either way. There is no point at which handing the numbers to a professional transfers the legal duty off the director's desk.
That duty has teeth independent of whether an accountant is involved. A company must keep accounting records — money received and spent, assets and liabilities, stock, goods bought and sold, with the underlying receipts, invoices, and bank statements — for six years from the end of the financial year they relate to. GOV.UK's guidance is explicit that failing to keep adequate records can lead to a fine of up to £3,000 from HMRC or disqualification as a director, and neither consequence is softened by having outsourced the bookkeeping.
What filing the accounts and tax return without an accountant actually involves
Two separate filings sit on a company's calendar every year: the statutory annual accounts, which go to Companies House, and the Company Tax Return (form CT600) with its own tax computation, which goes to HMRC. A director is free to prepare and submit both directly rather than through a professional — nothing in company or tax law restricts who may complete or submit them, only who may sign them off as approved on the board's behalf.
The mechanics of doing this changed recently. HMRC and Companies House had offered a joint free online service that let very small companies file both the accounts and the CT600 together at no cost, but that service closed on 31 March 2026. From 1 April 2026, filing directly requires commercial software — there is no free government tool left for this step. A director filing without an accountant now needs to obtain software capable of producing the iXBRL-tagged accounts and the CT600 computation HMRC requires, which is a new practical cost of doing it in-house even though the legal right to do so is unchanged.
Where professional involvement typically enters, without being legally required
Even though nothing compels it, several parts of running a company tend to be where a director brings in outside help — not because the law demands a professional there specifically, but because the underlying calculation or judgement gets harder to get right without one. Corporation tax computations behind the CT600 involve capital allowances, loss relief, and adjustments that are easy to compute incorrectly by hand. Payroll run through PAYE and Real Time Information reporting, VAT returns for a VAT-registered company, and anything touching a director's loan account or an R&D tax relief claim all sit in this category.
None of this changes the legal answer. A sole director of a small, straightforward company with simple transactions can, and many do, keep the books and file everything without ever engaging an accountant. The point at which professional involvement becomes common is a practical one about complexity and time, not a licensing requirement written into company law.
The one activity the law does reserve: statutory audit
Statutory audit is the exception to the pattern above, and it is a narrow one. Under the Companies Act 2006, only a statutory auditor may conduct it — an individual or firm eligible for appointment as such because they belong to a Recognised Supervisory Body (RSB), such as ICAEW or ACCA, which is in turn overseen by the Financial Reporting Council as the UK's competent authority for audit regulation. A director, however capable, cannot self-certify an audit; it has to come from an independent, appropriately qualified external auditor giving an opinion on whether the accounts show a true and fair view.
This is a different activity from preparing the accounts in the first place. Bookkeeping, drawing up the annual accounts, and filing them are open to anyone, director included, exactly as described above. What is closed to a non-professional is the specific act of auditing those accounts and issuing an audit report — the two should not be confused, and most small companies never need the second one at all.
Audit exemption: most small companies qualify, with two exceptions worth knowing
A private limited company is exempt from statutory audit if it meets at least two of three size thresholds. For financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2025 those thresholds are: annual turnover of £15 million or less, a balance sheet total of £7.5 million or less, and 50 or fewer employees on average — a rise from the £10.2 million turnover and £5.1 million balance sheet figures that applied to financial years beginning between 1 January 2016 and 5 April 2025 (the employee threshold has stayed at 50 throughout). The large majority of small and micro companies fall well inside the current thresholds.
There are two situations where audit exemption does not settle the matter. First, certain categories of company — including public companies and some regulated entities — cannot use the small companies audit exemption regardless of size. Second, and more relevant to a typical private company, GOV.UK's own guidance states that even a company that is usually exempt must still get its accounts audited if shareholders holding at least 10% of shares, by number or value, formally request one in writing at least one month before the end of the financial year in question. Size alone does not guarantee a company will never face an audit — a qualifying shareholder can trigger one.
The figures, and when we checked them
These numbers change by year or by notification. Each one shows the date we last verified it against the source — if that date looks old, check the source before relying on it.
Questions on this
Is it a legal requirement to have an accountant for a UK limited company?
No. No statute requires a limited company to engage an accountant. A director can legally prepare and file the annual accounts and the Company Tax Return without professional help.
What can a director not legally do without a licensed professional?
Statutory audit. If a company is not exempt, or a qualifying shareholder requires an audit despite exemption, the audit itself must be carried out by a statutory auditor eligible for appointment through a Recognised Supervisory Body — a director cannot self-certify it.
Does using an accountant remove a director's legal responsibility for the accounts?
No. GOV.UK's guidance states plainly that a director stays legally responsible for the company's records, accounts, and performance even when day-to-day work, including accounting, is handed to someone else.
Can a director file the Company Tax Return (CT600) themselves?
Yes, there is no rule against it. The mechanics changed on 1 April 2026, though: the free joint HMRC/Companies House filing service closed on 31 March 2026, so filing directly now requires commercial software capable of producing the iXBRL accounts and CT600 computation.
Which small companies are exempt from a statutory audit?
A private company is exempt if it meets at least two of three thresholds: turnover of £15 million or less, a balance sheet total of £7.5 million or less, and 50 or fewer employees, for financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2025.
Can a company still be forced into an audit even if it is under the size thresholds?
Yes. Shareholders holding at least 10% of shares, by number or value, can require an audit by written notice sent at least one month before the financial year ends, regardless of the company's size.
How long must a limited company keep its accounting records?
Six years from the end of the financial year the records relate to, under GOV.UK's published guidance on company and accounting records — longer if HMRC opens a compliance check or certain transactions are involved.
What happens if a company does not keep adequate accounting records?
GOV.UK's guidance states the consequences can include a fine of up to £3,000 from HMRC or disqualification as a company director, independent of whether an accountant was ever engaged.
Who regulates who is allowed to carry out a statutory audit?
Under the Companies Act 2006, a person or firm is eligible for appointment as a statutory auditor only through membership of a Recognised Supervisory Body, such as ICAEW or ACCA, which is itself overseen by the Financial Reporting Council as the UK's competent authority for audit regulation.
Does CapEasy provide accountancy services in the UK?
Not currently. CapEasy serves accounting and compliance clients in the United States and Australia today. UK services are under consideration but not currently offered; this guide is provided for orientation only, describing what UK company law requires and does not require.
Primary sources
- GOV.UK — Running a limited company: your responsibilities
- GOV.UK — Company and accounting records
- GOV.UK — Audit exemptions for private limited companies
- GOV.UK — Filing company accounts and tax returns if you previously used the HMRC online service
- Financial Reporting Council — Supervision of Audit
Last reviewed 2026-08-14. Statutes and schedules change — the sources above are authoritative, this page is orientation.
This page is information, not an offer of services. CapEasy serves the US and Australia today; UK services are under consideration.