M and N - so near and yet so far!

M and N - so near and yet so far!

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Are any other readers being affected by trying to file data at Companies House electronically? It would seem as though upgrades to their systems now enable them to identify new and wonderful discrepancies between the information we supply, and that that they have already entered. If the previous accountant supplies all previous filings, this is not a problem. If they don't, we end up having to buy the original filing for a £1 to see what was filed. Today we had a discrepancy because the paper form had gone in years ago with an "n" that was entered by CH as an "m". 

Choice a). File the annual return with the correct information, have CH report an inconsistency on the company public record, and then to get this removed pay another £14 to have the record amended back to the incorrect information.

Choice b). File a correction to the director's appointment, then file the annual return with the correct information.

Choice c). Write a letter to CH and ask them to amend, though they will helpfully point out they have the right information. Aargh...you have the wrong information that someone with poor handwriting or someone with poor eyesight misinterpreted years ago.

Any readers from CH want to post a reply? Surely CH could be a little bit more flexible here?

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By Tax24-7
11th Jul 2012 13:23

CH Information

Good point on Companies House.  Your comments no doubt highlight a benefit of the electronic filing system in handwriting errors being eliminated.

 

You don’t mention the software you use or whether you use the Companies House service directly.  We use software and have long thought it a weakness that the Companies House data beyond basic information cannot easily be checked prior to submission.  Surely with the Company’s Authentication Code mechanism a free data feed available for key software could be considered?

 

I note a couple of ideas we have recently implemented:

 

For companies where we have concerns over the data we use the Companies House own web filing system to check information for free (although this does take time).  We often file using the Companies House software in year one and manually load the data to our system at the same time ready for next year.

 

We noted an amendment required to a filed Annual Return recently as a result of the previous Accountant having made a mistake.  Companies House proved helpful with updating the record although the client had to sign the full paper Annual Return which required filing with a note to allow CH to accept this as the client company is within the PROOF (non-paper) system.  No further fee was payable.
 

Good luck with your future filings.

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