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Accounts Centre related :
- How do I become a member of Accounts Centre?
In order to become a member of Accounts Centre, you must be subscribed to at least one of its services.
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- How does Anytime, Anywhere Access work?
‘Anytime, Anywhere Access’ means you can work on your accounting from anywhere with an Internet connection (e.g. from the road, a client site, or in your home office after hours). All that is required is an internet connection and your computer in order to register, subscribe and then login to begin using the Accounts Centre accounting solutions. In this manner, your business finances are always available to you in an updated manner.
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- Can anyone become a member of Accounts Centre?
Yes, all Private Limited Companies, incorporated in the United Kingdom, can subscribe to Accounts Centre.
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- How do I subscribe?
To subscribe, please visit the member's registration page, and fill out the given simple form.
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- Do I have a choice to subscribe to all or part of the Accounts Centre services?
Yes, you certainly have a choice when registering for services at Accounts Centre. You may register for all or a mix of the following:
- Services
- Accounting Solutions
- Softwares
- Products
You can subscribe, as you require, to all or some of the above when registering with Accounts Centre. For a detailed description of the above list, please visit the Profile page.
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- I’m a member of Formations House/ Graphics4Less: do I need to register with Accounts Centre?
No, you can use the customer ID already assigned to you to log on to Accounts Centre.
If you have previously formed a company through Formations House, you will see its accounting related details in Accounts Centre Global View, after you have logged in. You can also switch back to Formations House/Graphics4Less from Accounts Centre, if you logged in using the Formations House/Graphics4Less user ID.
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- I have formed more than one company from Formations House: how do I view their information in Accounts Centre?
All the companies formed using Formations House online company formation service can be viewed on the Global View page of Accounts Centre. As soon as a company is formed through Formations House, it is also entered into the Accounts Centre database, where it can be viewed and subscribed to various accounting softwares/services.
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- What kind of software or hardware do I need to use Accounts Centre?
Accounts Centre offers an online accounting system, where the only software and/or hardware that you require is a computer, an internet browser (preferably IE 5 or higher) and an internet connection.
You do not need to buy costly software and database licenses, servers, routers, RAID-array drives or any other complex and expensive computing services. All of the technology required to operate your accounting system is provided by Accounts Centre, directly over the Internet.
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- How long does it take to install the Accounts Centre software(s)?
InfiniAccounts softwares work just like any other software. However, instead of installing it on your computer, you can access it through your internet browser (preferably IE 5 and above).
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- Do I need to back up my data safe when I am using the Accounts Centre software(s)?
You do not need to worry about maintaining or losing valuable data due to computer or human error, since your data is backed up automatically. New features In InfiniAccounts software(s) are added automatically, so that you never have to purchase or install additional software.
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- Will InfiniAccounts work on a dialup modem?
Yes; the Accounts Centre system is designed to be extremely bandwidth-efficient, therefore, it has no large/heavy graphics, long periods of download or complicated operational plug-ins to install. Accounts Centre servers are linked directly to the Internet backbone with multiple, ultra-high-speed OC-3 and OC-12 connections. This minimizes the problems of Internet congestion that plague conventional Internet-based services. As a result, even while using a standard 56K dialup modem, you will find acceptable performance. However, the use of T1, DSL or any broadband Internet connectivity for high-speed data transfer is highly recommended.
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- Can you ensure that no one else will access my data?
Your critical financial data is stored on firewall-protected servers. Once you sign up, only the people whom you yourself invite can access your data. Each user has a unique login and password, and you can track their activity with the always-on activity log. Your data belongs to you and no one and Accounts Centre has access to your password. No one can see your information without your authorization.
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- Is it safe to transmit my data over the Internet?
Accounts Centre uses encrypted transmission of information between the servers. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) helps ensure that your information is protected during transmission over the Internet. Accounts Centre utilizes the 128-bit SSL encryption, which is also used by banks and online trading and financial companies for their information transfers and security over the Internet.
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- What is E-filing? And how long does the E-filing process take?
Electronic filing is known as E-filing. If the internet connection is stable and the details of CT600 are correct and match with the records of Inland Revenue, the actual process of E-filing will take no more than 15 min.
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- Will I be able to print out and/or save a copy of my Tax Return form?
Yes, as you finish filling-in your CT600 form, click the PRINT button, given at the end of the last page of form, to take a printout to save as a hardcopy. To save online, click the SAVE button, which provides the Tax Return form in the PDF format.
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- Will I be reminded of the due (and over-due) date(s) of my Annual Accounts and CT600?
Accounts Centre’s automated service will send out reminders, at the end of your company’s financial year and/or when you only have less then 3 months left for filing of accounts and returns.
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- Do all companies have to submit audited accounts and records?
No, all companies are not required to submit audited accounts. Auditing is mandatory only when a turnover threshold is reached i.e. when the company has a turnover of over £1 million per annum and a balance sheet value of over £1.4 million. Companies falling below this threshold are considered small companies. They may submit abbreviated financial statements which do not require to be audited.
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- What are abbreviated accounts?
A company that qualifies as a small or as a dormant company may file abbreviated accounts, consisting of:
- An abbreviated version of the balance sheet together with abbreviated notes.
- A statement immediately above the signature[s] of the director[s] that they have relied upon the exemptions available to the company as a small-sized company.
- A special auditor's report stating that the requirements for qualifying as a small-sized company have been met.
- A copy of special auditor's report must be included in the full accounts issued to shareholders.
There is no requirement for a profit and loss account or a directors' report to be included in the abbreviated accounts.
A company that qualifies as a medium-sized company may file abbreviated accounts consisting of:
- The full balance sheet together with notes and a statement immediately above the signature[s] of the director[s] that they have relied upon the exemptions available to the company as a medium-sized company.
- A profit and loss account which can be abbreviated and does not need to disclose turnover.
- A special auditor's report stating that the requirements for qualifying as medium-sized have been met. A copy of this statement must be included in the full accounts issued to shareholders. Director's report.
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- What does SME stand for?
According to HMRC, an SME is a company:
- With fewer than 250 employees,
- With either an annual turnover not exceeding £50M or a balance sheet totaling £43M,
- That is not part of a larger enterprise that would fail these tests.
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- I do not have my tax reference number: whom should I contact?
Your company’s Tax Reference number (UTR) is present on form CT41G and form CT603. If you don’t have these forms, please call 0207 667 2557.
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- If I fail to file on time, how will that affect my company?
In case you are unable to file your tax returns on time, you are usually required to pay heavy penalties.
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- What is the Government Gateway?
The UK government has created an electronic gateway to collect information from people. This has led to facilities such as electronic filing (E-filing) of various documents and forms that are periodically required to be submitted to HMRC and other government organisations.
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- Do I require a Gateway registration?
The Gateway is an important feature in the strategy to provide a singular point of connectivity where all government departments are quickly available for communication and transaction with the people. This means that once you've registered for Gateway services, you no longer need to send forms and documents to HMRC manually, as all is done electronically. This includes the transfer of secure information and instant updates in your database maintained at HMRC.
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- What is Gateway Activation PIN and how do I activate the PIN?
When a company registers itself with the Government Gateway for online filing, an Activation PIN is sent to the registered office address of the company within 7 days of registration. The PIN can be activated on the Government Gateway website. Accounts Centre customers can submit the PIN by following the steps given below:
- Login to www.accountscentre.com
- On the Global View page, click on the Company Name.
- Now click on the “Activate your Government Gateway PIN” blinking button.
- Check the appropriate box.
- Enter the Activation PIN already sent to you by Government Gateway.
- Click Submit to submit the PIN.
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- How can Accounts Centre help me with Gateway registration?
Accounts Centre is one of the first accounting service providers to facilitate its clients by helping them quickly register with the Gateway for E-filing, in relation to Payroll matters and Company Tax Returns. If you are a registered member of Accounts Centre, you can simply place a request for Gateway registration, for the following:
You will have to place a separate request for each of the above services, which will take approximately 5-10 minutes of processing time.
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- I have other queries: Whom do I contact?
If you have any further queries regarding Accounts Centre and any of its services/products, please call (numbers given above) or send an email to support@accountscentre.co.uk
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Collection Services (merchant processing) related :
- What are Collection services (merchant processing services)?
Accounts Centre offers its merchant processing services (Collection Services) to all its customers who wish to conduct online transactions, especially related to E-commerce. Collection Services may not only be used for accepting online credit / debit card payments, but can also be used for receiving payments made through other methods such as Bank Draft, Wire Transfer and Cheques.
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- What are the advantages of using Collection Service?
Collection Services offers the following advantages over other online payment collection services:
- Efficient Setup.
- Simplified and reduced fee structure.
- Ease of Setup as there is no need to go through separate procedures for merchant account opening and payment gateway setup.
- No need to contact 3rd party intermediaries.
- For customers who require a UK bank account and are unable to do so on the basis of non-residency or other problems, Collection Services offers a viable alternative.
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- Are there any related costs other than the set up costs for Collection Services?
The Fee for merchant processing, Collection Service is £250.00 (one time setup fee). There are no annual charges for this service. For offshore customers the setup fee is £150.00.
The customers are going to be charged 4-5% per transaction, which can be reviewed and can vary depending upon the customer’s business activities. Additionally, 10% of transaction amount will be kept as the rolling reserve for 6 months, to take care of charge backs. There are no other penalties for charge backs.
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- Are there any limits to transaction per month?
Since Collection Services offers validation and clearing of online transactions, there is a limit of no more than 10 possible transactions per each 24 hours.
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- How will I receive payments?
Initially, the payments will be sent to you after 30 days. If there are no significant charge backs for the first 3 months, this 30 days period will be brought down to 2 weeks.
You must nominate a regular current bank account, where your payment will be sent through bank transfer. Accounts Centre will not use cheques, drafts or any other methods to transfer payment. This is to make sure that the payment is sent out to the actual customer and no frauds occur.
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CT600 related :
- What is Corporation Tax?
Corporation tax is the tax on your company’s taxable income.
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- What is CT600?
CT600 is the company tax return form which has to be submitted along with the company accounts, for the period covered by the return. The computations in the annual accounts show how values are entered in the return form.
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- What accounts do I need to attach with CT600 form?
A company’s statutory accounts, audited and declared by the Director(s), are to be attached with the CT600 form. In case the company is dormant, it has to attach Dormant Company Accounts with declaration by Director(s) of the company.
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- When do I have to file/send in my CT600 form?
A company can file its CT600 at any time after the end of its financial period, but before 9 months after the end of company’s financial period and three months after the company receives a “NOTICE TO DELIVER A COMPANY TAX RETURN FORM CT600” from HM Revenue & Customs.
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- How do I know that my Tax Return has been received by HMRC?
In case of e-filing, HMRC provides you acknowledgment at the end of the CT600 e-filing process, which you may wish to save to avoid any problem. In case you are submitting the tax return manually, you can get the acknowledgement by calling at your local HMRC.
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- My company is dormant; do I still need to file CT600?
Yes, you are still required to file the CT600 form. However, it is filed empty.
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- I am not a UK resident: do I still need to file CT600?
Whether your company is in the UK or you live any where else in the world, filing of the CT600 is still required.
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Annual Returns related :
- What are Annual Returns?
An annual return contains certain company information, accurate up to the made-up date. It is distinct from a company's annual accounts. An annual return must contain the following information:
- The name of the company.
- Its registered number.
- The type of company it is, for example, private or public.
- The registered office address of the company.
- The address where certain company registers are kept if not at the registered office
- The principal business activities of the company.
- The name and address of the company secretary.
- The name, usual residential address, date of birth, nationality and business occupation of all the company's directors.
- The date to which the annual return is made-up (the made-up date).
And if the company has share capital, the annual return must also contain:
- The nominal value of total issued share capital.
- The names and addresses of shareholders.
- The number and type of shares held or transferred from other shareholders.
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- What is the made up date?
This is the date at which all the information in an annual return must be correct. The made-up date is usually the anniversary of:
- The incorporation of the company.
or
- The made-up date of the previous annual return registered at Companies House.
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- What information does Companies House require?
Companies House requires the following information from the Director(s) of a Limited Liability Company: the company management, activities, capital structure and accounts. The directors are personally liable to provide the above information to the Companies House on the appropriate occasions.
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- What kind of company accounts and records are required to be maintained?
All companies are required to maintain a proper record of incomes, expenditures, assets and liabilities of the business. A proper set of financial statements (profit and loss account, balance sheet, cash flow statements etc.) is to be submitted to the Companies House annually.
Limited liability companies are required to file their annual financial statements and returns with the Companies House before the closing date. Any delays will give rise to penalties. The set of accounts include:
- A profit and loss account (income and expenditure account);
- A balance sheet, signed by the director;
- An auditors' report (this would apply to companies with turnover over £1m per annum);
- A directors' report, signed by the company directors and secretary;
- Notes to the accounts;
- Group accounts (where appropriate);
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- When must the annual return be delivered to Companies House?
All annual returns must be delivered to Companies House within 28 days of the made-up date given on the form.
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- What is the difference between a Corporation Tax Return and Annual Returns?
Corporation Tax is the tax charged on the profits of the company for which the Company has to file a corporation tax return (form CT600), within nine months of the end of the company’s financial period. Corporation Tax Return contains the details of the company’s liability to corporation tax, or details losses available to carry forward, to setoff against future profits.
Annual Returns are filed on the form 363, containing the following information of a company:
- The name of the company.
- The company's registered number.
- The type of company - private or public.
- The company's registered address.
- The address where certain company registers are kept - if different from the registered address.
- The principal business activities of the company.
- The name and address of the company secretary.
- The name, residential address, date of birth, nationality and business occupation of all the company's directors.
- The company's made-up date along with the name, registration number, type, address a company must submit.
- Share capital information.
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- What is a dormant company?
A company that has made no significant financial transactions during a financial year is a dormant company. This means there are no entries in company's accounting records, except for the records of the amount paid for shares when the company is first formed.
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- My company is dormant. Do I still have to send accounts and a return?
Yes, dormant companies do need to submit accounts and returns to Companies House. However, since no active trading activity is carried out, these accounts are in an abbreviated form and do not carry too much detail.
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Annual Accounts related :
- What is the period that the accounts should cover?
A company's first accounts’ record must begin from the day of incorporation. The first financial year must end on the 'accounting reference date' (ARD). Subsequent accounts start on the day following the year-end date of the previous accounts and end on the next 'accounting reference date'.
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- How is accounting reference date (ARD) set?
The accounting reference date is the date each year to which accounts will be drawn up. The date depends on the date of incorporation as it is the last day of the month in which the first anniversary of incorporation falls. For example, if your company is incorporated on 2nd July this year, the accounting reference date will be 31st July, and its first financial year must end on 31st July, next year.
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- Can the accounting reference date (ARD) be changed?
Yes. You may change it by sending in the Form 225 to the Companies House registrar. You must do this during the accounting period affected by the change, or during the period allowed for delivering the associated accounts to the Companies House.
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- How long do I have to deliver accounts?
The first accounts of a private company must be delivered:
- Within 22 months of the incorporation date, or
- If the accounting reference period is more than 12 months, within 22 months of the date of incorporation or 3 months from the end of accounting reference period, whichever is longer.
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- What happens when the accounts are filed late?
A late filing of accounts is penalized depending on the delay and the company status. The currently applicable penalties are:
Length of delay |
Private Company |
3 months or less |
£100 |
3 months one day to 6 months |
£250 |
6 months one day to 12 months |
£500 |
More than 12 months |
£1,000 |
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- Does Companies House notify when the accounts and returns are to be filed?
Yes, Companies House delivers several letters annually to companies and concerned officials. These letters include different notifications for submission of various documents and other company related information. Directors of a company are responsible to maintain this correspondence and they must be aware of the appropriate due dates for the different events.
Please make sure that Companies House has your correct registered office address. All the correspondence from Companies House, Inland Revenue and other government departments is received at this registered office address.
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