Quick answer
What's the difference between bookkeeping, accounts and a tax return?
They're linked, but different, and doing one doesn't do the others:
- Bookkeeping: recording your money and paperwork, all year.
- Management accounts: simple reports for you, to see how the business is doing.
- Annual accounts: formal year end figures, done to set rules.
- Tax return: what you send HMRC so it can work out your tax.
A sole trader mostly needs bookkeeping and a tax return. A limited company needs all of them.
The jargon
The words you'll come across, in plain English.
- Year end: the last day of the business's 12 month accounting period.
- Balance sheet: a snapshot of what the business owns and owes on one day.
- Profit and loss: what came in, what went out, and what was left over across the year.
- Gross profit: sales minus the direct costs of the jobs.
- Net profit: what's left after all business costs.
- Debtors: customers who owe you money.
- Creditors: people you owe money to, like suppliers.
- Company Tax Return: the yearly form a company sends HMRC to work out its Corporation Tax.
Sole traders
Do sole traders have to do accounts?
Not formal accounts at Companies House. A sole trader keeps records and reports their profit through Self Assessment.
It still helps to know your sales, job costs, overheads, who owes you, your tax money and your real profit during the year.
Limited companies
What accounts does a limited company need?
Company accounts come from its records, and usually include a balance sheet, profit and loss, and notes. Small companies have simpler options.
Changes to filing
- Since 1 April 2026, companies must use software to file their Company Tax Return with HMRC. HMRC's joint online filing service with Companies House closed on 31 March 2026.
- From April 2028, all companies will have to file their accounts at Companies House using software. The web and paper ways of filing accounts will close.
- A plan to make small companies file their profit and loss account has been paused (announced 23 October 2026).
Reading the numbers
How do I read my business's numbers?
Profit and your bank balance tell you different things:
- Sales: the work you've done and charged for
- Gross profit: sales minus job costs
- Net profit: what's left after all business costs
- Debtors: money customers owe you
- Creditors: money you owe
- Cash: what's in the bank, including money set aside for bills
Look at both
You check your margins, unpaid invoices, tax money and bills coming up.
Go by the bank balance
A big balance gets treated as profit, though VAT, tax, suppliers and deposits are still owed.
Deadlines
When are company accounts and tax due?
For most private limited companies:
- Accounts are due at Companies House 9 months after the company's year end.
- Corporation Tax is due 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period.
- The Company Tax Return is due 12 months after it.
The first year can be different. Companies House and HMRC deadlines are separate.
Who does what
Who should do what, and when?
Decide before the deadline:
- Who records things each week?
- Who checks the bank, VAT, CIS and payroll?
- Who does the year end accounts and returns?
- What does the accountant need, and when?
- Who checks it was actually filed?
- Where are the records and logins kept?
You're still responsible, even when someone else does the work.
Sources
Where this guide comes from.
Checked against these official pages on 27/10/2026. Next check due 27/01/2027. Rules and figures can change sooner, so check the official page again before making a tax, legal or money decision, and ask a qualified adviser about your own situation.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions.
Are accounts the same as a tax return?
No. Accounts show your figures. A tax return uses them to report your tax.
Do sole traders file accounts at Companies House?
No. You keep records and do Self Assessment.
Are company accounts public?
Yes, what's filed at Companies House is public, though small companies show less.
Can software do it all?
It helps, but someone who knows what they're doing still needs to check it.
Why is my profit high when my bank is low?
Customers may not have paid, you may have bought kit or materials, paid off debts, or have tax to pay.
What should I check in draft accounts?
Sales, who owes you, what you owe, kit, loans, payroll, tax and anything odd. Ask about anything you don't understand before you sign.
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