The next step

http www companieshouse gov uk infoandguide sic sicconversiontable shtml

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Changes to company returns

Annual return. As a director you’re responsible for submitting an annual return (Form AR01) to Companies House (CH). This must include details about your company’s finances, e.g. shareholders, mortgages etc., as well as the nature of its trade. If any of the information is missing or clearly incorrect, the form will be rejected. From October 1 2011 there’s a change to some information required on the form.

First change - new codes. For annual returns covering a period ending after October 1 2011 you must include the new style five-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes. These replace the old four-digit versions. You can include up to three SICs which tell CH the main types of trade(s) carried on by your company. You’ll find the new code which corresponds to your trade on CH’s website.

Tip. Instead of trawling through the long list of trade descriptions to find the new SIC code you can, assuming the nature of your company’s main business hasn’t changed since your last annual return, use CH’s conversion table (see The next step). Simply find the existing code on the table, which is in numerical order, and the new one is shown next to it.

Second change - list of shareholders. This change also applies for annual returns covering a period ending on or after October 1 2011.Where your company’s shares have never been listed on a recognised stock exchange, you must provide a full list of all shareholders on the first annual return due after the company was incorporated. You must also include a full list every third annual return thereafter. In the interim years you only need to report share transfers that have taken place during the year. Maintaining the company register is often seen as unimportant but recording changes in shareholders is both a statutory requirement and will save you time when it comes to filing your annual return.

For a weblink to the SIC conversion table, visit http://companydirector.indicator.co.uk (CD 13.03.01).