New Limited Company? Your First-Year Checklist

In a new limited company's first year, you need to register for corporation tax within three months of starting business, open a company bank account, keep proper records and statutory registers, and diarise the first confirmation statement and first accounts — the accounts are normally due 21 months after incorporation.

Incorporation takes minutes online, which makes it easy to forget that it starts a series of legal duties. Most first-year problems are simply missed dates. This checklist walks through what to do in the first weeks, the first months and the first anniversary, so nothing catches you out.

Key takeaways

• Register for corporation tax within three months of starting business activity.
• Open a bank account in the company's name and keep company money separate.
• First accounts are normally due 21 months after incorporation.
• A first corporation tax period cannot exceed 12 months.
• Set up payroll before paying any salary, including to yourself.

What "running a limited company" involves

A limited company is a separate legal person. It owns its income and assets, owes its own tax, and has to report to both Companies House and HMRC. As a director, you are responsible for making sure that happens on time. GOV.UK sets out the duties on its running a limited company guide, and corporation tax registration is explained on GOV.UK's corporation tax set-up page.

Your first-year timeline at a glance

The first accounts and the first tax periods

Your company's first accounting reference date is usually the last day of the month in which its first anniversary falls, so the first accounts often cover slightly more than 12 months. Corporation tax works differently: an accounting period for tax can never be longer than 12 months. When the first accounts cover more than a year, there are two tax periods, two Company Tax Returns and two payment dates. Our guide to company accounts deadlines explains how later dates are worked out.

Paying yourself in the first year

Money in the company account is not yours to take freely. Directors are usually paid through a salary via payroll, dividends from profits after tax, or by repaying expenses they have paid personally. Dividends can only be paid if the company has enough retained profits, which is often not the case early on. Money taken without the right paperwork goes to the director's loan account. Our guide to salary vs dividends explains the options.

Records and registers you must keep

From day one, the company must keep accounting records: money received and spent, what the company owns and owes, and stock if it has any. These records generally need to be kept for at least six years from the end of the financial year they relate to. Bookkeeping software linked to the company bank account is the simplest way to meet this duty.

The company must also keep statutory registers, including registers of directors, members (shareholders) and people with significant control, and minutes of board and shareholder decisions. Companies House reforms are changing some of these record-keeping rules, so check current guidance on GOV.UK. If you issue new shares or change directors during the year, those changes need to be reported, not just recorded internally.

Checklist: your first 90 days

1. Open a company bank account and move all business transactions into it.
2. Choose bookkeeping software and link it to the bank account.
3. Register for corporation tax once the company starts business activity.
4. Set up statutory registers of directors, members and people with significant control.
5. Decide how you will be paid and set up payroll if a salary is involved.
6. Check VAT and whether voluntary registration makes sense.
7. Diarise the key dates: confirmation statement, first accounts and tax.
8. Check identity verification requirements for directors with Companies House.

Worked example (illustrative example)

"Brightwater Digital Ltd", an invented illustrative example, was incorporated on 15 September 2026 and started invoicing clients on 20 September. The director opens a business account in the first week and registers for corporation tax in October, well inside the three-month window.

Its first accounting reference date is 30 September 2027, so the first accounts cover just over 12 months and are due by 15 June 2028, 21 months after incorporation. The first corporation tax period starts when trading begins on 20 September 2026 and, because it cannot exceed 12 months, ends on 19 September 2027; a second short period runs to 30 September 2027. The accountant therefore prepares two Company Tax Returns for that first set of accounts. The first confirmation statement is filed in September 2027. The director takes a small salary through payroll from January and waits for the first year's profits before considering dividends. The company and dates are invented to show the sequence.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting corporation tax registration because incorporation felt like enough.
• Using a personal account for company income and costs.
• Taking dividends before there are profits to pay them from.
• Missing the second tax return when first accounts exceed 12 months.
• Leaving the first confirmation statement until a reminder arrives.

Start your company on the right foot

Our limited company packages start from £75 per month and cover bookkeeping, payroll, accounts, tax returns and the key Companies House filings, with every deadline tracked. Read our guides to the confirmation statement and what limited company packages include for more detail.

Just incorporated, or about to? Get in touch or see our pricing.