The confirmation statement now carries an additional compliance check
A confirmation statement has never been simply a reminder that a company still exists.
It is the company’s formal confirmation that the information held by Companies House is accurate and up to date at the end of the review period.
The filing process now also interacts directly with mandatory identity verification.
Before an affected confirmation statement can be accepted, every company director must have verified their identity. The filing must include each director’s Companies House personal code and the required verification statement.
This creates a practical dependency.
The company cannot safely leave identity verification until the day the confirmation statement is due. If one director has not verified, cannot find their code or has personal details that do not match the register, the filing can be blocked.
The confirmation statement still requires the company to review its registered information, provide a lawful activities statement where required, update relevant details and pay the applicable annual fee.
This guide explains what has changed, what remains the same and how directors can prepare a complete filing.
What is a confirmation statement?
Every company, including a dormant or non-trading company, must file a confirmation statement at least once every 12 months.
The statement confirms that the information held by Companies House is correct.
It replaced the annual return, but it is not an annual accounts filing and it is not a Corporation Tax return.
The company still needs to deal separately with:
- Annual accounts
- Corporation Tax returns where required
- Corporation Tax payments
- PAYE reporting
- VAT Returns
- Other regulatory filings
The confirmation statement concerns the public company record and specific statutory information.
What has changed because of identity verification?
For the relevant confirmation statement, the company must now:
- Ensure every director has completed identity verification
- Obtain the Companies House personal code for every director
- Provide those codes in the filing
- Confirm that each director has verified their identity
- Resolve personal-detail mismatches that prevent the code from connecting
Companies House states that it will not accept the confirmation statement until all directors have verified.
The change affects the preparation timetable even where no director, shareholder or address has changed during the year.
What has not changed?
Several core requirements remain.
The company must still:
- File at least one confirmation statement every 12 months
- Review the information held on the register
- Correct inaccurate or outdated information
- File within 14 days after the review period ends
- Pay the annual fee when due
- File even if the company is dormant
- File even if nothing has changed
Identity verification adds to the process. It does not replace it.
When is the confirmation statement due?
The review period normally ends 12 months after:
- The company’s incorporation date, for its first confirmation statement
- The confirmation statement date on its previous filing
The company normally has 14 days after the end of the review period to file.
The exact confirmation date and deadline can be checked on the Companies House register.
The 14-day period is a filing window, not extra time for directors to begin finding identification documents. Verification should be completed earlier.
Can a company file early?
Yes. A company can file a confirmation statement before its current review period ends.
If it files early, it chooses a new confirmation statement date. The next review period begins on the following day.
Early filing can be useful where:
- A transaction requires an up-to-date register
- A lender or investor requests current information
- The company wants to align compliance dates
- The company has completed major share changes
- A group wants to coordinate filing timetables
However, changing the confirmation statement date can have consequences for future review periods.
It also does not necessarily change the PSC identity-verification period shown by Companies House. Official guidance says that where an existing PSC is also a director, filing early does not change that PSC’s published 14-day verification dates.
The company should check the register before assuming early filing accelerates or replaces a PSC requirement.
What information should be checked before filing?
The confirmation statement should follow a genuine review of the public record.
The company should check:
Company name and number
Confirm that the correct company is being filed and that any recent name change is reflected properly.
Registered office address
The registered office must be an appropriate address. The company should expect documents delivered there to come to the attention of someone acting for the company, and delivery should be capable of acknowledgement.
A change to the registered office normally needs to be filed separately before the statement confirms that the record is correct.
Registered email address
Companies House requires a registered email address. It uses the address to communicate with the company but does not publish it on the public register.
The address should be monitored and controlled. It should not depend solely on a former employee or adviser.
Directors
Check each director’s:
- Full name
- Service address
- Country or state of residence
- Occupation where shown
- Nationality
- Month and year of birth on the public record
- Full date of birth held privately by Companies House
- Appointment and resignation dates
- Identity-verification status
- Personal code availability
Changes to directors should be filed using the relevant appointment, resignation or change form rather than left for the confirmation statement.
Company secretary
Where the company has a secretary, confirm that the details and appointment status are correct.
People with significant control
Review the ownership and control position, including indirect interests and recent transactions.
Check:
- Who meets a PSC condition
- Whether the nature of control is accurate
- Whether a registrable relevant legal entity should be shown
- Whether a PSC has ceased
- Whether restrictions notices or protection issues apply
- The identity-verification deadline for each individual PSC
PSC changes normally need their own filing before the confirmation statement is submitted.
Standard Industrial Classification codes
SIC codes describe the company’s activities.
They should reflect what the company actually does, not only what it expected to do when incorporated.
A company can update SIC codes in the confirmation statement’s additional information section.
Share capital
Check the number and nominal value of shares, classes, currency, rights and total capital.
The confirmation statement is not a substitute for the forms and resolutions required when shares are allotted, subdivided, consolidated, redesignated, transferred or cancelled.
Shareholders
Check the shareholder information against the register of members and recent transfers or allotments.
The confirmation statement reports information. It does not create legal ownership by itself.
Trading status of shares
Confirm whether shares are admitted to trading where the filing asks for this information.
Lawful activities statement
The company must confirm that its intended future activities are lawful.
This requirement applies even where the company has no current trading activity.
Changes that should be filed before the confirmation statement
Companies House guidance says certain updates should be made before confirming that the register is correct.
These include changes to:
- Directors
- Company secretary
- PSCs
- Registered office address
- Registered email address
The correct form or online service should be used for each change.
The confirmation statement should not be used to conceal the fact that a statutory change was reported late.
Changes that can be included in the statement
The additional information section can be used for certain updates, including changes to:
- SIC codes
- Statement of capital
- Trading status of shares
- Exemption from providing PSC information
- Shareholder information
Whether another form is also required depends on the underlying event.
For example, an allotment of shares normally requires its own return. The updated capital shown on the confirmation statement does not remove the earlier obligation.
How director identity verification affects the filing
Every director receives an 11-character personal code after successful verification.
For the relevant statement, the filer needs the code for each director.
The filing also includes a statement confirming that each director has verified.
If the company has three directors, it needs three director codes, even if one person usually handles all filings.
If a director sits on several companies, the same personal code is used, but it must be connected to the appointment for each company.
The personal code is not the company authentication code. The filer may need both.
A director who is also a PSC has two requirements
It is common in an owner-managed company for the same person to be both director and PSC.
That person normally verifies once and receives one personal code.
However:
- The director code is provided within the company’s confirmation statement
- The PSC code is provided separately using the PSC identity-verification service
Completing the confirmation statement does not automatically complete the PSC role.
For an existing PSC who is also a director, the separate 14-day PSC period starts on the day after the company’s confirmation statement date.
The compliance file should record both submissions.
Read Companies House Identity Verification: What Directors and PSCs Need to Do for the role-specific deadlines.
Personal-detail mismatches can block filing
The verification details must connect to the correct person on the register.
A problem may arise where:
- A date of birth was originally filed incorrectly
- A director has changed name
- Middle names appear inconsistently
- An ACSP submitted the wrong personal information
- The filer uses another person’s code
- The code is entered incorrectly
The company should compare details before the deadline.
Where the date of birth is wrong, Companies House provides a correction process. The correction should be completed before the confirmation statement is filed.
The company should not verify the same person again unless Companies House instructs it to do so.
What is the confirmation statement fee?
At the date of this article, Companies House states that the fee is:
- £50 for an online confirmation statement
- £110 for a paper form CS01
The fee applies to the company’s annual payment period, which is separate from its review period.
The company normally pays with the first confirmation statement filed within the payment period. It can file additional statements within the same payment period without paying the annual fee again.
Changing the confirmation statement date does not change the payment period.
Fees can change, so the live Companies House figure should be checked before filing.
The review period and payment period are different
The review period determines the information being confirmed and the filing deadline.
The payment period determines whether the annual fee is due.
Confusing the two can lead a company to expect no fee when a new payment period has started, or to delay a useful additional confirmation statement unnecessarily.
The company should record:
- Current confirmation statement date
- End of the review period
- Filing deadline
- Current payment period
- Whether the annual fee has been paid for that payment period
Worked example: two directors and one PSC
Falcon Services Ltd has two directors, Amelia and Bilal.
Amelia owns 80% of the shares and is also the company’s PSC. Bilal is a director but not a PSC.
Before filing the confirmation statement, the company must:
- Ensure Amelia has verified
- Ensure Bilal has verified
- Obtain Amelia’s director personal code
- Obtain Bilal’s director personal code
- Provide both codes in the confirmation statement
- Confirm both directors have verified
- Review and update the rest of the company record
Amelia must also use the PSC service during her applicable 14-day period to connect the same personal code to her PSC role.
The confirmation statement completes the director connection for Amelia. It does not complete the PSC connection.
Worked example: an unverified overseas director
Harbour Trading Ltd has three directors. Two are UK based and have verified. The third lives overseas and has not started the process.
The company cannot assume that the two available codes are sufficient.
It should arrange for the overseas director to verify through an available GOV.UK One Login route or an ACSP. It should allow time for document review and any mismatch to be resolved.
If the third director remains unverified, the company may be unable to file an acceptable confirmation statement.
Residence outside the UK does not by itself remove the requirement.
Worked example: the register is wrong
A company prepares its confirmation statement and discovers that a director resigned four months earlier but the resignation was never filed.
It should not simply submit a statement confirming the old record.
The company should:
- Review the board and resignation evidence
- File the director termination using the correct effective date
- Check whether the late notification has other consequences
- Wait for the register to reflect the update where necessary
- Then file the confirmation statement using the current directors and their personal codes
The annual filing is a control point for finding errors, not permission to confirm information known to be wrong.
Dormant companies still need to file
A dormant company normally continues to have Companies House obligations.
It must generally file:
- Annual accounts, which may qualify as dormant accounts
- A confirmation statement
- Updates to officers, PSCs and registered details
The confirmation statement identity-verification requirements can therefore apply even where the company has no income and no transactions.
Dormancy does not remove the legal existence of the company or directors’ responsibilities.
Different assessments can apply for Companies House and HMRC purposes. For Companies House filing support, see our Company Secretarial Services.
Is the confirmation statement proof that the accounts are correct?
No.
The statement confirms specified company information on the register. It does not confirm that:
- The bookkeeping is complete
- The annual accounts are accurate
- Corporation Tax has been calculated correctly
- The company is solvent
- Dividends were lawful
- VAT Returns are correct
- Payroll is up to date
The company needs separate controls for financial and tax compliance.
Common confirmation statement mistakes
Treating it as a tick-box filing
The register should be reviewed against internal records before the statement is made.
Requesting personal codes too late
Missing verification can block the filing.
Forgetting one director
Every current director must have verified and the required code must be provided.
Confusing director and PSC submissions
A person with both roles has separate linking requirements.
Using the company authentication code as a personal code
They are different identifiers.
Confirming outdated PSC information
Ownership and control changes need proper analysis and separate notifications.
Using the confirmation statement to report every type of change
Some changes need their own form and must be filed before the statement.
Ignoring the registered email address
It should be accurate, secure and actively monitored.
Assuming an early filing removes later obligations
Early filing resets the review period but does not necessarily move a PSC’s published verification window.
Failing to keep evidence
The company should retain review notes, codes received securely, submission confirmations and payment receipts.
A practical pre-filing process
Six to eight weeks before the confirmation date
- Check the public register
- List all directors and PSCs
- Ask each director to confirm verification status
- Identify missing personal codes
- Check each PSC’s verification window
- Review registered office and email arrangements
Three to four weeks before the confirmation date
- Resolve identity-verification failures
- Correct names or dates of birth
- File director, secretary and PSC changes
- Review share transactions and statutory registers
- Check SIC codes and shareholder information
At the end of the review period
- Perform a final register comparison
- Confirm all director codes are available
- Confirm the lawful activities statement can properly be made
- Prepare the additional information section
- Check whether the annual fee is due
After submission
- Confirm Companies House accepted the filing
- Save the receipt
- Check the public record
- Complete any separate PSC code submissions
- Record the next confirmation date and filing deadline
- Retain the compliance evidence
A confirmation statement checklist
Before filing, confirm:
- The company number is correct
- The review period and filing deadline are known
- The registered office is appropriate and current
- The registered email is correct and monitored
- Every director shown is still appointed
- All appointments and resignations have been filed
- Every director has verified their identity
- Every director’s personal code has been obtained securely
- Dates of birth and names match the verification records
- PSC information is complete and accurate
- Separate PSC verification deadlines are recorded
- SIC codes reflect actual activities
- Share capital agrees with legal and accounting records
- Shareholder information agrees with the register of members
- Required allotment and capital forms have been filed
- The lawful activities statement can be made
- The annual fee position has been checked
- A submission receipt and public-register check will be completed
Frequently asked questions
Does every company need a confirmation statement?
Yes. Every company, including a dormant or non-trading company, must normally file at least once every 12 months.
What happens if nothing changed?
The statement is still required. It confirms that the information already held is correct.
Does every director need a personal code?
Yes, for the affected filing. Companies House says the statement will not be accepted until all directors have verified.
Can an accountant file the statement?
Yes, if authorised and given the necessary company and director information. The directors remain responsible for compliance.
Does a PSC code go inside the confirmation statement?
The director code is provided in the confirmation statement. PSC identity details are provided through the separate PSC service during the applicable window.
Can I change the registered office in the confirmation statement?
Companies House says changes to the registered office should be filed before sending the confirmation statement.
Can I change the SIC code in the statement?
Yes. SIC codes are among the details that can be changed through the additional information section.
Can I file early?
Yes, but this creates a new confirmation statement date and changes the next review period. It does not necessarily change the published PSC verification dates.
Is the filing deadline 14 days after the confirmation date?
The company can normally file up to 14 days after the review period ends. Check the exact deadline on the public register.
How much does it cost?
At the date of this article, Companies House lists £50 for online filing and £110 for paper filing. Check the live fee before submission.
Use the filing as an annual governance review
The identity-verification requirement makes it even more important to prepare early.
A strong process does more than obtain personal codes. It compares the public record with statutory registers, share documents, board records and current contact arrangements.
The result should be an accepted filing and a company record that genuinely reflects the legal position.
Speak to PR Accountants Ltd
PR Accountants Ltd helps limited companies review their Companies House records, prepare confirmation statements and coordinate director and PSC identity-verification requirements.
We can assist with:
- Confirmation statement preparation and filing
- Companies House identity-verification guidance
- Director and PSC record reviews
- Share capital and shareholder reconciliations
- Registered office and registered email updates
- Company incorporations and officer changes
- Dormant and non-trading company compliance
- Annual accounts and Corporation Tax returns
- Company secretarial support
- Compliance calendars and reminders
If your next confirmation statement is approaching, the director codes and register review should be completed before the filing window becomes urgent.
Related articles
- Companies House Identity Verification: What Directors and PSCs Need to Do
- Company Secretarial Services
- What Records Should Limited Companies Keep?
- Overdrawn Director’s Loan Account: What Directors Need to Know
- When to Move From Compliance Accounting to Advisory Support
Official guidance
- Companies House: Filing your company’s confirmation statement
- Companies House: Verifying your identity
- Companies House: When you need to verify
This article provides general information and does not constitute personalised accounting, tax or legal advice. Companies House requirements, fees and filing systems can change. Check the live company record and official guidance before filing.
PR Accountants Ltd
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