What Accounting Records Must a UK Limited Company Keep in 2026?
What accounting records must a UK limited company keep in 2026?
Good records are not simply an accountant’s preference. UK companies have legal and tax record-keeping responsibilities, and directors remain responsible even when day-to-day bookkeeping is delegated to someone else.
1. Money received and money spent
Your accounting records should show the money received and spent by the company and what each receipt or payment relates to. In practical bookkeeping, this normally means keeping the source documents that explain the transactions rather than relying only on a bank balance.
2. Assets and liabilities
A company’s records need to show what it owns and what it owes. That can include bank balances, equipment, vehicles, amounts due from customers, supplier balances, loans and other liabilities. These records are part of the information needed to explain the company’s financial position.
3. Sales and income evidence
Keep invoices, contracts, sales records, till records or other evidence supporting money received by the business. The exact records depend on how the company trades, but the objective is the same: the figures reported in the accounts and tax return should be traceable back to the underlying activity.
4. Purchase and expense evidence
Receipts, supplier invoices, orders, delivery notes and other supporting documentation help show what the company spent and why. They are particularly important where the tax treatment depends on the nature or business purpose of an expense.
5. Bank statements and financial correspondence
Bank statements help reconcile the accounting records to actual cash movements. Relevant correspondence can also be important where it explains a transaction, financing arrangement, tax position or unusual item.
6. Stock records where the company deals in goods
Companies dealing in goods may need records of stock held at the end of the financial year, stocktaking information and records of goods bought and sold. Companies House guidance sets out additional requirements for businesses dealing in goods.
7. Company records beyond bookkeeping
Running a company also creates corporate records. Depending on the circumstances, these can include shareholder information, resolutions, share transactions, secured lending and other company information that must be maintained or reported.
Invoices, contracts, platform reports, till records and other income evidence.
Supplier invoices, receipts, orders and supporting expense documentation.
Business bank statements and reconciliations.
What the company owns, owes and is owed.
Year-end stock and stocktaking records where relevant.
Shareholder, resolution and company-structure information where applicable.
How long should company records be retained?
For Corporation Tax purposes, GOV.UK states that company records generally need to be kept for six years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, with longer retention required in some circumstances. Companies House company-law requirements and tax requirements are not always expressed in exactly the same way, so businesses should follow the retention rule applicable to the particular record and obligation.
Why clean records matter beyond compliance
Record keeping is also the foundation for useful management information. Current bookkeeping can make cash flow, customer balances, supplier obligations, margins and tax liabilities visible during the year. Poor records turn year-end accounts into a reconstruction exercise; good records make the accounts the final output of a process that has already been controlled.
Directors remain responsible
A company can appoint an accountant or bookkeeper to handle day-to-day financial work, but GOV.UK makes clear that directors remain legally responsible for the company’s records, accounts and performance. Outsourcing the work therefore does not remove the need for directors to understand whether the accounting process is functioning properly.
GOV.UK — Company and accounting records
Companies House — Preparing and filing company accounts
GOV.UK — Directors’ responsibilities
Need help getting the records under control?
Britvex provides bookkeeping, annual accounts, management reporting, payroll, tax and company-compliance support for UK limited companies.
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