I've Just Become a Company Director: What Do I Need to Do?

Mike Jackson FCCA

13 hours ago

4 min read

Short answer

Verify your identity with Companies House, get to know the seven general duties every director has under the Companies Act 2006, and put the company's deadlines in the diary: annual accounts, the Company Tax Return, paying Corporation Tax and the confirmation statement. Keep proper records, and check whether you personally need a Self Assessment return, especially if you take dividends.

Becoming a director, whether you've set up your own company or joined the board of an existing one, makes you legally responsible for how the company is run and for making sure information reaches Companies House and HMRC on time. Here are the questions we're asked most often by new directors.

Do I need to verify my identity with Companies House?

Yes. Identity verification for directors became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025. If you're a new director, you provide your Companies House personal code as part of your appointment filing, or when the company is incorporated. If you were already a director, you provide your code in the company's next confirmation statement.

You can verify through GOV.UK One Login, using the app, answering security questions online, or entering your photo ID details and then visiting a participating Post Office. Alternatively, an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) can verify you. In most cases you only need to verify once, and the personal code belongs to you rather than to any one company.

What are my legal duties as a director?

You must follow the company's rules, set out in its articles of association, and you have seven general duties under the Companies Act 2006:

act within the company's constitution
promote the success of the company
exercise independent judgement
exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence
avoid conflicts of interest
not accept benefits from third parties
declare any interest you have in a proposed transaction with the company

Even if you pay someone else to do the paperwork, you remain legally responsible for the company's records, accounts and performance.

What does the company have to file, and when?

These are the main deadlines for a private limited company:

First accounts to Companies House: 21 months after the company was registered.
Annual accounts to Companies House after that: 9 months after the end of the company's financial year.
Corporation Tax payment: 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period, for companies with taxable profits up to £1.5 million (larger companies pay in instalments).
Company Tax Return (CT600): 12 months after the end of the accounting period.
Confirmation statement: at least once every 12 months, filed up to 14 days after the review period ends. It costs £50 online.

What changes do I have to tell Companies House about?

You must tell Companies House within 14 days of changes to directors (including their personal details, such as a new address), people with significant control, and where the company keeps its records. New shares must be reported within one month. If you want to move the registered office, the new address only takes effect once Companies House has registered it.

What records does the company need to keep?

The company must keep accounting records of all money received and spent, its assets, debts owed by and to it, stock at the year end, and goods bought and sold. You also need the receipts, invoices and bank statements behind them, plus company records such as shareholder details and the results of votes and resolutions.

Records must be kept for 6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, and sometimes longer. If a company doesn't keep accounting records, HMRC can fine it £3,000, or the director can be disqualified.

How should I pay myself?

There are three common routes, and each has different rules:

Salary: the company deducts Income Tax and National Insurance from your pay and pays employer's National Insurance on top.
Dividends: these can only be paid out of available profits, including profits kept from earlier years. They must be declared at a directors' meeting, minuted and recorded on a dividend voucher. For 2026/27 the dividend allowance is £500, and dividend tax rates above it are 10.75% (basic rate), 35.75% (higher rate) and 39.35% (additional rate).
Director's loans: money you take out that isn't salary, dividends or repaid expenses. The company must keep a record of it. A loan still outstanding 9 months after the end of the company's Corporation Tax accounting period means extra Corporation Tax for the company, and owing the company more than £10,000 at any point in the year can create a taxable benefit in kind.

The right mix depends on your profits and your personal position, so it's worth planning before you take money out.

Do I need a Self Assessment tax return?

Not automatically. HMRC says directors need to send a return in some circumstances, including where you receive dividends or have other untaxed income besides your director's salary. If your dividends are more than both your unused Personal Allowance and the £500 dividend allowance, you'll need to tell HMRC about them.

Figures checked against GOV.UK guidance on 1 November 2026 for the 2026/27 tax year. Written by the Jackson Lee Accountants team, chartered certified accountants in Bury.

Need a hand with this? We're accountants in Bury, and our limited company accounts service covers your accounts, Company Tax Return, confirmation statement and salary and dividend planning for a fixed fee.

Talk it through with us

If you've just become a director and want to know what's due and when, book a free, no-obligation 30-minute chat by phone, Teams or at our Bury office, or see your fixed fee online in 2 minutes. Prefer to talk now? Call 0161 327 0047.

Sources: GOV.UK – Running a limited company: your responsibilities (company changes you must report; company and accounting records; confirmation statement; taking money out of a limited company); GOV.UK – Being a company director; GOV.UK – Verifying your identity for Companies House; GOV.UK – When you need to verify your identity for Companies House; GOV.UK – Accounts and tax returns for private limited companies; GOV.UK – Pay Corporation Tax; GOV.UK – Tax on dividends; GOV.UK – Directors' loans; GOV.UK – Director information hub: Self Assessment for directors.