Companies Act 2006: Changes to forms from October 2009
13 October 2009
Bookmark and Share
 
   
Email article : Print article : More articles like this

The final provisions of the Companies Act 2006 came into effect earlier this month and with it the way that your business provides information to Companies House. From this date, ALL forms that you may be familiar with have changed. 

New forms must be used for all company events that take place on or after 1 October 2009. If you use an old form it will be rejected. Company events which take place before 1 October must be submitted on 1985 Act forms.
 
There are over 200 forms in the new Companies Act.  Some of these forms will be revised versions of existing forms and some are completely new forms. 
 
The most commonly used Companies House forms - and their new equivalents - include:
    • Initial Company Formation forms 10 and 12 were formerly used when a company is first created, however you must now use form IN01.

    • Director & Secretaries forms 288a, 288b and 288c have been replaced with a variety of new forms, depending on your company structure, for appointing directors and secretaries (AP01- AP04), terminating the appointment of directors and secretaries (TM01/TM02) and change of directors' and secretaries' details (CH01-CH04).

    • Annual Return form 363a has been replaced with form AR01. Every company is required to submit an Annual Return each year and will be penalised for not doing so.

    • Change of Registered Address form 287 has been replaced with form AD01. Every limited company must have a registered address. This address cannot be a PO Box.

    • Change of Accounting Reference Date form 225 has been replaced with form AA01. The date to which the company's accounts are made up to each year can be amended using this form.

    • Dormant Company Accounts form DCA has been replaced with form AA02.
From 1 October, records may be held at the registered office address or at a single alternative inspection location (SAIL). This site will have to be in the same part of the UK as your registered office.
 
You must notify Companies House to set up a SAIL address or if the SAIL address is moved using form AD03.
 
More information
 
To view a full list of all the new forms visit the Companies House website.
 
You can also use this helpful comparison tool to find out which form you should be using, based on the form you are currently using.
 
WebFiling service
 
Companies House is encouraging all businesses to submit their company forms, where possible, via the WebFiling service. You can register for the service here. The Companies House list of forms denotes which forms you can submit online.
 
The WebFiling service also offers you added protection from fraud. From 1 October 2009, it operates under the Registrar's Protected Online Filing (PROOF) scheme. 
 
You agree with the Registrar that they will only file certain documents electronically. These include:
  • Appointments
  • Terminations
  • Change of Particulars (Company Officers)
  • Change of Registered Office Address
  • Annual Return
Once registered for the PROOF scheme, Companies House will reject any paper versions of these forms and send them back to the registered office address.  This helps to ensure that any changes made have been registered by the company itself. Find out more here.
 


Related articles