How to Read UK Company Accounts on Companies House (Balance Sheet & Turnover Guide)

UK limited company accounts are publicly filed at Companies House and viewable for free by anyone. Small companies file abbreviated accounts, typically just a balance sheet and notes, without the full profit and loss. The size thresholds rose for financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2025: small is now turnover under £15 million, balance sheet under £7.5 million and fewer than 50 employees (previously £10.2 million and £5.1 million), and micro-entity is turnover under £1 million and balance sheet under £500,000 (previously £632,000 and £316,000). A company must meet two of the three. Micro-entities file an even simpler balance sheet. The full accounts, including the profit and loss, go to shareholders, but only the abbreviated version is public.

The balance sheet is the core of a small company's public filing. It shows, at the company's year-end: fixed assets (property, equipment, investments), current assets (debtors, money owed to the company, cash at bank, stock), current liabilities (creditors due within one year, trade creditors, VAT owed, PAYE), and net assets (total assets minus total liabilities, which equals the total equity, shareholders' funds). The size of the retained profit reserve in shareholders' funds reveals cumulative profits never distributed, a large undistributed reserve is a sign the company is profitable but the director hasn't paid themselves (perhaps to defer tax, perhaps due to neglect).

What debtors and creditors tell you. If a company's debtors (money owed to it) are very large relative to turnover, it may have collection problems. If creditors are very large relative to the balance sheet, the company may be using suppliers as informal financing, stretching payment terms. For a potential supplier or client, these are early warning signs worth checking before committing to a large contract.

The audit and dormancy status. Most small companies state in their accounts that they are exempt from audit (for years beginning on or after 6 April 2025, turnover under £15m and no public interest; £10.2m for earlier years), this is normal. Dormant company accounts show a balance sheet with only share capital and any retained loss or profit, no trading activity. If a company you're about to deal with filed dormant accounts when you expected trading accounts, that is worth querying.

For your own company: your accountant prepares the full accounts (with profit and loss) for you to approve and HMRC to tax. The abbreviated version goes to Companies House. Checking what is publicly visible about your own company annually takes five minutes at beta.companieshouse.gov.uk and is a good habit, it shows what any bank, client, or investor sees when they look you up.

Statutory accounts show where your business stood at year-end, but running a growing business needs figures during the year too. A Power BI dashboard connected to accounting software such as Xero, QuickBooks or Zoho keeps cash flow, margins and money owed to you up to date, refreshed automatically. Fileminder's data team builds these financial dashboards alongside our accountants.