This week will see the biggest test of the CRO’s filing system CORE. Approximately 50K companies will be required to file an Annual Return and upload its Financial Statements electronically. For some companies and practitioners this is a new departure from the manual system of filing annual returns and for many uploading the PDF financial statements electronically will be a completely new process.
Of course with anything new there will always be problems and this will be particularly challanging for audit exempt companies at risk of losing their audit exemption.
This article will highlight some of the important areas to consider in advance of the deadline and hopefully will help you to avoid as many issues as possible!
The Dates
The reason so many companies have to file this month is because the companies have a 31st December 2016 financial year end and a 30th September 2017 ARD. With the 28 day deadline falling on Saturday and the Bank Holiday on the Monday, companies have until Tuesday 31st October 2017 to E-file the Annual Return (for 30th September 2017 ARD’s) .
If you leave it until 31st October to file the annual return you risk spending all day trying to file returns or worse still missing the deadline altogether! The best advice is to file on the Thursday or Friday and enjoy the Bank Holiday in peace!
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ARD 30th Sept 2017
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E-File Annual Return –
Latest 31st October 2017
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28 Days from the date the A/R was e-filed to upload the PDF Financial Statements & file Signature Page
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If e-filed on 31st October 2017 the deadline for filing is 28th September 2017
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Our Top Tips When E-Filing
1. Don’t leave filing the Annual Return until 27th or 31st October 2017 as CORE could CRASH!!
With so many companies looking to file on the last day there is no doubt the system will slow or crash and anyone with audit exempt companies could risk missing the deadline and loosing audit exemption.
2. CRO are not sending rejection notices by post.
The CRO will reject the document in CORE and send an email to the presenter. The company will then have 14 days to re-file the Annual Return, have the Return re-signed and filed in CRO.
3. Check what Presenter email address has been entered on the B1 Form – if the Annual Return is incorrect or has to be rejected for any reason, the CRO will contact the Presenter by Email (they no longer send the Annual Return back by post.)
Whichever email addressis listed forthe presenter will recieve the notification - so check who this is and who's monitering it. If its yourself keep a check your Clutter, Spam and Junk folders, as often the emails end up here.
The Annual Return is not filed until it is showing up as Received and Registered in CRO
4. The B1 must be signed by 2 separate people.
The company secretary may not also sign as the director.
5. If the Electronic Filing Agent has signed the B1 on behalf of the Company then a separate certificate must be signed by a Director and Secretary of the Company certifying the Financial Statements are a true copy of the original.
If you have filed the Annual Return in CORE and the Director and Secretary signed the form there is no requirement for a separate certificate.
6. Express Post (not Registered Post) should be used when sending documents to the CRO particularly audit exempt companies or any company close to the deadline.
Express Post gives a time guaranteed date of delivery and the only system CRO will stand over. Registered Post does not give a guarantee date of delivery.
7. The format of the Financial Statements must be correct and all exemption statements should be included on the balance sheet otherwise the Financial Statements could be rejected.
8. Check before you file if there has been any changes in the Company during the year and make sure this is reflected on the B1 - particularly transfer of shares as this does not require a CRO form to be filed.
9. To Avail of the Audit Exemption both the last Annual Return to which Financial Statements were attached and the current Annual Return should be filed on time.
If the 6 month was filed late and the next Annual Return is filed on time these Financial Statements may be audit exempt.
10. AGM’s are still required to be held for all companies or else pass a written resolution of the members - this may be passed for all LTD companies or other single member companies.
And lastly don't forget :
The job is NOT completed UNTIL the Annual return and Financial statements are Received And Registered with CRO – many companies loose audit exemption because the Annual Return or Financial Statements go missing or they are returned to the presenter and not returned within 14 days. The job is not done until the B1 and Financial Statements are registered! If you DO miss the deadline the District Court Application may help...
If you've any questions about E-filing Contact Us
* Please Note:
Our blog aims to bring you practical information and news from the market. We cover the topics that matter to your business and advise on important Company Law decisions.
Please remember this article is a guide and legal advice should be obtained if necessary. If you have any queries Contact Us and we ‘d be happy to help.