The current and immediately previous accounting period for a company can be altered electronically using Inform Direct.

Can I change the Accounting Reference Date?

Yes. You may change the accounting reference date as many times as you like if it shortens the accounting period, but if the change lengthens the accounting period then the following restrictions apply:


  • Unless the company is in administration – you cannot change the accounting reference date to make the accounting period longer than 18 months.
  • You cannot extend the accounting period more than once every 5 years unless your company is in administration, you have obtained permission from the Secretary of State, or the change is to make the accounting reference date the same as a subsidiary or parent undertaking.


Note: The 5 years is calculated based on the date that you extended to, rather than the date the AA01 form was submitted.


What is the Accounting Reference Date?


Inform Direct makes changing this easy.


1) Go to the Company tab.




2) Click on the blue 'Alter Accounting Ref Date' button. This will take you to the below screen. 


Note: Inform Direct will pre-populate the first row with the period which can be changed. In the event that more than one period is available to change, the year field will be blank and a warning will appear asking you to enter the year.



3) Enter the new accounting period end date in the second row and press the green 'Next' button.


Note: You can’t change a company’s year end if the accounts are overdue. You are also only able to amend the date for the current and immediately previous accounting period. Those prior to this cannot be changed.


4) You will then be asked if approval is required.

  • Select No and you can continue the process and submit the CS01 directly to Companies House without generating an approval (summary) document. 
  • Yes and the Approval required  process begins.



Note: The approval stage is only available to subscribers of the software. If you are a PAYG (pay as you go) user then this step will not be available and you will be taken to the Final step shown below. See What Are the Benefits of Subscribing to Inform Direct?


5) You will be taken to a summary screen. If the click the red 'Submit' button the proposed change will be sent to Companies House electronically on the AA01 form. You can check all the details by clicking the View Details link.