Annual Filing Requirements for Establishments

Annual filing requirements for the establishments or branch offices: the establishment is seen as a branch of an overseas limited company in the United Kingdom and not a legal entity in its own right like a subsidiary company. For this reason it is not necessary for the establishment to file its accounts separately from its overseas parent entity. Many overseas firms will have to file their accounts in the Great Britain for the whole of their business, including that of their establishment, but all the paperwork will be filed together. Knowing about filing your accounts, the procedure and the timing obviously assumes a lot of specialist knowledge, which is why our experienced incorporation team at Coddan will be happy to advise you on how your accounts should be filed and we'll even do it for you.

Not necessarily governed by law, establishments are viewed as a part of a bigger private company. However, the law will apply to parent companies with the establishment, who are trading in the Great Britain. How an overseas parent corporation files its overseas annual accounts with Companies House depends on the country in which the company was incorporated and if that country legally insists upon your accounts being prepared, disclosed and audited.

There are some overseas companies who are not required by their parent law to file accounts, but will still be expected to do so in the United Kingdom. If no parent law exists to guide a company in how they should prepare, audit and disclose their accounts, the company should do it in accordance with international accounting standards (IAS). These accounts need to be filed within 13 months of the end of the financial period to which they refer.

Both EEA and non-EEA companies who are required by their parent law to prepare their account documents before auditing and disclosing them, must do the same for Companies house and send them to arrive within 3 months from the date which the same documents were required to be delivered in the parent country.

The documents must include the annual financial accounts for a company, a director's report for the same time period and, if an audit has taken place, the report provided by the auditor. There must be an accompanying statement that declares the company's parent law and where the accounts were prepared.

The statement must also inform whether the accounts were prepared in accordance with GAAP and if they have been audited. If there hasn't been an audit, there may be a requirement for an audit to be carried out.