First-time filing checklist
1. Basic Identifiers
Ensure you have your Company Registration Number (CRN) and your 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) from HMRC. You can find your CRN on your certificate of incorporation. Your UTR is usually found on the 'Notice to deliver a Company Tax Return' letter sent by HMRC to your registered office shortly after incorporation.
2. Financial Records
Gather your final Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet figures. Make sure your bank statements are reconciled up to the very last day of your accounting period. You will need to know your total sales, itemised expenses, and exactly how much cash you held in the bank on your period end date.
3. Gateway Credentials
You will need your 6-character Companies House WebFiling Authentication Code and your HMRC Government Gateway User ID (usually a 12-digit number) and password. If you don't have your Authentication Code, you must request it from Companies House immediately, as it is sent by post and can take up to 5 days to arrive.
4. Previous Year's Accounts (If Applicable)
If this is not your first year of trading, you should have last year's submitted accounts on hand. The closing balances from last year must exactly match the opening balances for this year.