Accounts and returns
These regulations set out the content, form and auditing requirements of the financial accounts and other reports that companies have to produce.
You can find the regulations that relate to accounts and returns below to the left.
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The Companies Act 2006 (Transfer of Audit Working Papers to Third Countries) Regulations 2010 Amends provisions in Companies Act 2006 on the transfer of audit working papers to third country audit regulators. Implements Commission Decision under the Audit Directive. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Companies Act 2006 (Accounts, Reports and Audit) Regulations 2009 Implements EU Accounting Directives. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Companies Act 2006 (Annual Return and Service Addresses) Regulations 2008 Details the information to be provided in the annual return of a company and prescribes conditions to be met by a service address (as defined in section 2 of the Companies Act 2006). Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2008 Amends regulations on registration of auditors of companies outside the European Economic Area which issue securities on UK markets. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Large and Medium-sized Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts) Regulations 2008 Sets out the form and content of accounts for medium and large sized LLPs. Allows abbreviated accounts for mediums. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Small Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts) Regulations 2008 Specifies the form and content of the accounts of limited liability partnerships (LLPs) who can take advantage of the small LLPs regime. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008 Applies accounting and audit rules from Companies Act 2006 to LLPs. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Accounting Standards (Prescribed Body) Regulations 2008 Establishes the Accounting Standards Board under the articles of association of The Financial Reporting Council. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Companies (Defective Accounts and Directors’ Reports) (Authorised Person) and Supervision of Accounts and Reports (Prescribed Body) Order 2008 Establishes the Financial Reporting Review Panel under the articles of association of the Financial Reporting Council. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Partnerships (Accounts) Regulations 2008 Applies 4th and 7th Company Law Directive accounting framework and Audit Directive to those partnerships and limited partnerships where all members have limited liability. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors (Amendment) Regulations 2008 Corrects errors in the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2007. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Statutory Auditors (Delegation of Functions etc) Order 2008 Delegates most of the Secretary of State’s functions under Part 42 of the Companies Act 2006 (statutory auditors etc) to the Professional Oversight Board of the Financial Reporting Council. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 Specifies the form and content of the accounts and reports of companies other than for the small companies regime. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Small Companies and Groups (Accounts and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2008 Defines “small companies regime” including the form and content of the individual accounts. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Companies Act 2006 (Amendment) (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 Raises thresholds for qualifying as a small or medium-sized company or group for certain accounting and audit exemptions. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Companies (Summary Financial Statement) Regulations 2008 Enables companies to send out summary financial statements in place of their full accounts and reports. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Companies (Revision of Defective Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 Sets out requirements for preparing revised annual accounts, directors’ reports, directors’ remuneration reports and summary financial statements. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Independent Supervisor Appointment Order 2007 Appoints the Professional Oversight Board as Independent Supervisor of the Auditors General. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2007 Completes the UK’s original implementation of the Audit Directive. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Companies (Principal Business Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2002 Amends a form and prescribes the system of classifying business activities in its annual return using the Standard Industry Classification 1992 Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Rate of Interest) (No. 3) Order 2002 Allows creditors to apply statutory interest rates on certain debts. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002 Repeals the Secretary of State’s power to specify excepted categories of contracts where late payment interest is not to be payable; and the corresponding Order. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Companies (Principal Business Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 1996 Prescribes the system of classifying business activities in its annual return using the Standard Industry Classification 1992. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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The Companies Act 1985 (Audit Exemption) Regulations 1994 Exempts small companies from having their accounts audited under the Companies Act 1985. Includes consequential amendments to other legislation still in force. Read More… (opens in a new window)
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Tell us what you think should happen to these regulations and why, being specific where possible:
- Should we scrap them altogether?
- Could their purpose be achieved in a non-regulatory way (eg through a voluntary code?) How?
- Could they be reformed, simplified or merged? How?
- Can we reduce their bureaucracy through better implementation? How?
- Can we make their enforcement less burdensome? How?
- Should they be left as they are?
Accounts are complicated by the requirement to use values other than historic cost in the statement of financial position and then to record movements in those values in profit and loss or OCI. Notes are then full of clutter trying to explain what has happened.
iXBRL could be utilised to simplify matters. Accounts can be prepared on an historic cost basis with relevant fair values disclosed in the notes along with a reconciliation of the movement in those fair values. iXBRL tagging of such fair values would allow users of accounts who are interested in a statement of financial position showing fair values to create such a statement.
This would reduce the cost of preparation of accounts while at the same time making them easier for the non-expert to understand and use, and would not reduce the information available to more sophisticated users of accounts.Comment Tags: accounting standards, cut clutter, reporting, simplify