Coronavirus continues to affect the lives of people and businesses across the country, and executive agency Companies House has not been exempt from the impact of the virus.
Accounts that are filed on paper have to be manually checked.
Working with a reduced number of office staff to ensure compliance with COVID-19 guidance, the processing of paper accounts for this financial year is expected to take much longer than normal.
Accounts filed on paper are supposedly six times more likely to be rejected than those submitted electronically.
This means:
This means account submitted too close to the deadline (31st December 2020) and are subsequently rejected may not have enough time to be re-submitted.
This could lead to automatic late filing penalties.
Businesses are therefore being urged to submit their accounts as early as possible.
You might be thinking, “what else can I do to reduce this risk?”
Well, Companies House are also advising businesses to make use of their online filing service where possible.
Available 24/7, this service is said to be much quicker and also has inbuilt checks to flag any potential mistakes. This means that just 1.2% of accounts submitted electronically are rejected.
Louise Smyth, Companies House Chief Executive, said:
“We are trying to ensure that they experience peace of mind during the busy end of year filing period. We want to do all we can to help companies during the pandemic, as well as ensuring the safety and wellbeing of everyone who works for Companies House. It’s a delicate balance, but one we are determined to get right.”