Changing Year End Date

The simple answer is yes. You can change your accounting date to be any date in the year.  It can be a good idea to have the year end during a quiet time, especially if you need to carry out a stocktake which may require you to close the business for a day.

If you change the year end of a company, you should also review the Annual return date or ARD of the company.  The ARD cannot be later than 9 months after the company year end date. For example, if you make your accounts until 31st December, your ARD cannot be later than 30th September the following year.

You can bring forward your ARD simply by filing your annual returns earlier than the date of your current ARD.  If you would like to keep October for example, as your ARD for the future, you just need to notify the CRO on the B1 form that you wish to change the date.

You may also extend your ARD but you may only do this once every five years. This is done by submitting a form B1 and a form B73 to the CRO.  The maximum that the date can be extended by is 6 months.  As set out above it must also be no later than 9 months after the accounting year end date.

Date published 17 Mar 2014

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.