First-year deadlines calculator for new companies
Enter the date your company was incorporated and see every deadline for its first year, worked out for you: registrations, the confirmation statement, your first accounts, both Corporation Tax periods and their payment dates. Then send them all to your calendar in one click.
Where to find it
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Usually the same day, but not always. HMRC counts your first sale, advertising, renting premises, hiring someone or buying stock as the start. The Corporation Tax clock runs from this date, not from incorporation. If you have not started yet, put your best estimate.
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The first date the company will pay you or anyone else a salary. Enter it and we work out the exact window in which you can register for PAYE. You can only register as an employer inside a window: no earlier than two months before your first payday, because HMRC will not accept it before then, and no later than about three weeks before, because HMRC takes up to 15 working days to send the employer PAYE reference you need to run the first payroll. Miss the window and you cannot pay yourself on the planned date. You will need the company's UTR, registered office, your details as director, the planned first payday and the number of employees.
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Companies House sets your year end (the "accounting reference date") as the last day of the month you incorporated in. Many directors move it to 31 March so the company year lines up with the tax year, which makes dividend planning simpler and tidies away the awkward split first period. You can shorten your year as often as you like, but only extend it once every five years and never beyond 18 months. Toggle to see how your dates change.
- Private limited company, first accounts filed under standard deadlines.
- HMRC deadlines that land on a weekend or bank holiday are shown as the statutory date; payments should reach HMRC by the last working day before.
- Your personal Self Assessment is described in the workings rather than dated, because it runs on tax years (5 October to register, 31 January to file) rather than on your incorporation date.
- Illustrative, not advice. Always check the dates HMRC and Companies House send you.
Your first-year timeline
Show the workings
PAYE: You can only register as an employer inside a window: no earlier than two months before your first payday, because HMRC will not accept it before then, and no later than about three weeks before, because HMRC takes up to 15 working days to send the employer PAYE reference you need to run the first payroll. Miss the window and you cannot pay yourself on the planned date. You will need the company's UTR, registered office, your details as director, the planned first payday and the number of employees. Enter your planned first payday above and the exact window appears in your timeline. VAT only when taxable turnover heads for £90,000, or by choice. Your own Self Assessment: Plan to file a Self Assessment return every year as a director. Strictly, HMRC requires one if you have untaxed income (dividends above £500, benefits, other income) or if HMRC sends you a notice to file, which covers nearly every director who takes dividends, so most accountants register directors from day one. Register by 5 October after the end of the tax year, then file and pay by the following 31 January.
Calculated at sjecapital.co.uk/first-year-deadlines-calculator. Illustrative, not advice: always check the dates HMRC and Companies House send you. SJE Capital Limited, company no. 15837169.