The cheapest way, in short
Filing dormant accounts yourself on the Companies House online service is free. The Companies House fees list, updated 25 September 2026, does not include a fee for filing a UK company's annual accounts. So every price on this page is a service or software fee, not a government fee.
If you want someone to check and file them for you, SimpleFilings charges £4.99 per filing, with no subscription. The other services we checked charged from £8.99 to £282 in total, and every price is in the table above. What each price includes is set out below.
The cheapest option is not always the right one. A company that has had any transactions, or has a tax return to file, may need more than a dormant accounts filing.
What every route has in common
Dormant accounts are a short, simplified set of accounts for a small company with no significant accounting transactions in the financial year. GOV.UK says you do not have to include an auditor's report with them.
Filing dormant accounts does not deal with your other obligations. You must still file a confirmation statement each year. Its Companies House fee is £50 online for the first statement in a 12 month payment period, whichever route you use.
Filing it yourself
Companies House runs an online service for filing annual accounts. If you are confident the company qualifies as dormant and you have the authentication code, this is the cheapest route.
Two changes are worth knowing. The joint online service for filing accounts and a Company Tax Return together has closed. And Companies House has announced that from April 2028 all companies must file their accounts using commercial software. Its web and paper filing for accounts will close then. Confirmation statements and director updates can still be filed on the web service.
The risk is getting the eligibility or the balance sheet wrong. You carry the checking yourself.
SimpleFilings
For £4.99 we check dormancy eligibility and balances, prepare one set of dormant accounts and file them with Companies House after a director approves them. We email you when Companies House accepts the filing.
There is no subscription or automatic renewal. Each filing is paid for separately. Confirmation statements and HMRC tax returns are not included.
Low-cost online filing services
File Dormant Accounts charges £8.99. Its page says this includes preparing, submitting and confirming the dormant accounts, with same-day submission and no subscription. It says it will resolve the issue or refund you if Companies House rejects the accounts.
Easy Dormant Accounts charges £30. Its page lists filing the dormant accounts, updating HMRC about the company's dormant status and advice for the future. It files within 3 working days of receiving your questionnaire answers, or offers a same-day service for £40.
Neither page says whether VAT is added, so we show the price as published.
Software you file through yourself
SimpleCompanyTax charges £10 a year per company as an annual subscription. You enter the balance sheet figures and submit through its software, which includes direct submission to Companies House. Its page says the confirmation statement is a separate filing that the product does not cover.
Inform Direct's pay as you go price for dormant company accounts is £25 + VAT, which is £30.00 in total. It prepares the accounts in its software and you file them online. Its pricing page also lists a monthly subscription, priced per company, under which it does not charge the pay as you go fee for dormant accounts.
Software suits someone who is happy to do the filing but wants the format handled. You still carry the responsibility for the figures.
Filing agents and accountants
The four formation agents we checked each charge £49.99 + VAT for a standard dormant accounts filing, which is £59.99 in total. 1st Formations, Quality Company Formations and Formationswise say they prepare and file form AA02. Rapid Formations says it files the accounts within 1 working day of receiving the information. 1st Formations and Quality Company Formations also say they confirm when Companies House accepts the accounts. Formationswise lists free lifetime customer support.
Express options exist. 1st Formations shows £79.99 + VAT (£95.99 with VAT) for filing within 24 hours (1 working day); its pricing page says all prices are subject to VAT at 20%. Formationswise offers 24-hour filing for £79.99 + VAT. Quality Company Formations says its standard service files within 1 working day of purchase. Rapid Formations asks you to order at least 3 working days before your deadline and says it cannot take responsibility for late filing penalties if you order later.
Your Company Formations charges £118 + VAT (£141.60 with VAT). Its accountants send you questions by email, then file the accounts and notify you when Companies House accepts them. It says it files within two business days for a company that has never traded, and that a company that traded before may take longer.
1st Cloud Accountants' 2025/2026 price list (updated 10 March 2025) shows a fixed £150 + VAT fee for dormant accounts for a company that has never traded, and £235 + VAT where the company traded before but has no transactions. Its list also adds a 25% supplement if work arrives within 1 month of an annual statutory filing deadline. An accountant can also handle Corporation Tax, payroll and company secretarial work for you.
Worked example: one dormant year
Here is the total for one year of dormant accounts, with no Companies House accounts fee to add. The confirmation statement is separate on every route.
Show the sum for each option (11)
- File it yourself: £0.
- SimpleFilings: £4.99.
- File Dormant Accounts: £8.99, as published.
- SimpleCompanyTax: £10 for the year's subscription, and you do the filing.
- Inform Direct pay as you go: £25 + £5.00 VAT = £30.00, and you do the filing.
- Easy Dormant Accounts: £30, as published.
- Formation agent, standard: £49.99 + £10.00 VAT = £59.99.
- Formationswise express: £79.99 + £16.00 VAT = £95.99.
- Your Company Formations: £118 + £23.60 VAT = £141.60.
- 1st Cloud Accountants, never traded: £150 + £30 VAT = £180.00.
- 1st Cloud Accountants, never traded, within 1 month of the deadline: £150 plus a 25% supplement of £37.50, then VAT, is £225.00.
Don't forget HMRC
Being dormant for Companies House is not the same as being dormant for Corporation Tax. Filing dormant accounts with Companies House does not by itself tell HMRC anything.
GOV.UK says you can tell HMRC that a company is dormant for Corporation Tax. If HMRC has already sent a notice to file a Company Tax Return, you still need to file that return. SimpleFilings has a separate service to prepare the HMRC dormancy notification. It does not file the Company Tax Return.
Which route suits you
- File yourself if the company has clearly had no transactions and you are happy checking the rules. It costs nothing.
- Use SimpleFilings if you want the eligibility and balances checked and the filing done for £4.99, with nothing renewing.
- Use software if you want to file yourself with the format handled, or you manage several companies.
- Use a formation agent if you want a 1 working day or 24-hour option or an annual renewal set up with one provider.
- Use an accountant if the company had any activity, has a tax notice to deal with, or you want one firm to handle everything.
When another option may suit you better
- Filing it yourself costs nothing in service fees and suits a clearly dormant company with a simple balance sheet.
- File Dormant Accounts states same-day submission and a refund if Companies House rejects the accounts and the issue cannot be resolved.
- Easy Dormant Accounts lists updating HMRC about the company's dormant status as part of its £30 service. SimpleFilings prices the HMRC dormancy notification as a separate filing.
- Software such as Inform Direct or SimpleCompanyTax suits you if you want to file yourself and keep doing so each year from one account.
- Filing agents offer annual renewal, so the service is set up again each year without you starting from scratch.
- 1st Formations and Formationswise offer a paid 24-hour express filing for urgent deadlines.
- 1st Formations also sells a separate Hassle-Free Compliance Service at £149.99 + VAT a year for wider compliance support.
- An accountant can deal with an HMRC notice to file, a Company Tax Return and any doubt about whether the company was truly dormant.