Move company records back to the registered office (AD04)
Bring company records back from SAIL to the registered office.
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How it works: Move records back to the registered office (AD04)
Find your company
Search by name or number. We fill in the public details.
Answer the questions
Answer only what the register cannot tell us.
Pay by card
Approve the details and pay the total shown.
We submit to Companies House
We check it and send it to Companies House. Updates come by email.
About this filing
Tell Companies House that company records have returned from your SAIL to the registered office using form AD04.
There is no Companies House fee; the SimpleFilings service fee is £4.99. Tell us which records are now kept at the registered office.
Read more
Before anything is sent, we review the list with you and you sign off the AD04. Nothing on the register changes until Companies House accepts it.
What an AD04 notice does, and the 14 day rule
AD04 is the Companies House notice for company records that are returning to the registered office from the SAIL. GOV.UK describes it simply: use it to tell Companies House which company records are returning to the registered office. It can be filed online or on paper. GOV.UK says paper forms sent by post take longer to process.
The filing is a notice. It records where the company's records can be inspected. It does not move anything itself. Make sure the records are actually at the registered office, and available for inspection there, before you report the move.
GOV.UK says you must tell Companies House within 14 days if you change the address where you keep your records, or which records you keep there. For the register of members, the Companies Act makes it an offence by the company and every officer in default if notice is not given within 14 days.
Records you can list on an AD04
The AD04 lists the records that a company may keep at a SAIL instead of its registered office. Tick only the ones that are now back at the registered office:
- Register of members, and the historic register of members.
- Directors' service contracts.
- Directors' indemnities.
- Records of resolutions and meetings.
- Contracts relating to the purchase of the company's own shares.
- Documents relating to the redemption or purchase of own shares out of capital by a private company.
- Register of debenture holders.
- Copies of instruments creating and amending charges.
- Public companies only: the report to members on an investigation into interests in its shares, and the register of interests in shares disclosed to the company.
Why the register of directors and PSC register are not on the AD04
Since 18 November 2025, companies no longer keep their own register of directors, register of directors' residential addresses, register of secretaries or PSC register. The Companies House register is the record. That is why those registers are not on the AD04, and why there is nothing to move back for them.
If your old paperwork mentions those registers being kept at the SAIL, you do not need to report them returning.
Before you start: AD04 checklist
- The records have physically returned to the registered office and can be inspected there.
- Every record of that type has moved. The law does not let a company split one kind of record between the registered office and the SAIL.
- You know exactly which record types are coming back. Leave out any that stay at the SAIL.
- Companies House has already been told those records were at the SAIL with an AD03. If it was never filed, the AD04 form says to file an AD03 with it.
- The records were not always at the registered office. The AD04 form says it cannot be used in that case.
- You have the company authentication code and you are authorised to make the filing.
- The authenticating person’s full printed name and capacity, such as director or secretary. AD04 requires a name rather than a signature; these details appear on the public record.
What happens after you order your AD04
Find your company and tell us which records are now kept at the registered office. We check your instructions against the AD04 record list and ask about anything unclear, for example a record type that only applies to public companies. You approve the filing before it is submitted.
Companies House updates the public register only when it accepts the filing. Paying us, or getting a receipt for the submission, is not the same as acceptance. Everything on the AD04, including the name of the person authenticating it, appears on the public record.
Records you included on an earlier AD04 do not need to be listed again. Each AD04 only needs the records returning this time.
Common AD04 mistakes
- Filing an AD04 for records that have always been at the registered office.
- Ticking records that are still at the SAIL, or leaving some of one record type behind.
- Listing the register of directors or the PSC register, which companies no longer keep.
- Confusing AD04 with AD01. Changing the registered office address itself is a separate filing.
- Waiting until the confirmation statement. The change should be reported within 14 days.
Moving records to a SAIL or changing the SAIL address instead
If records are going the other way, from the registered office to the SAIL, that is AD03. A company can only have one SAIL. It must be in the same part of the UK as the company's registration and must be notified to Companies House, which is done with AD02.
If your registered office address is changing as well, file that change separately with AD01. Records still held at the SAIL stay recorded there until an AD04 says they have returned.
See also: Move records to a SAIL address (AD03) · Set up a SAIL address (AD02) · Change registered office address
File it yourself or use SimpleFilings
You can always file directly with Companies House. Here is how that compares with using SimpleFilings.
| Question | File it yourself | Use SimpleFilings |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | No fee | £4.99 (no Companies House fee) |
| Who fills in the form | You complete the Companies House form yourself. Official guidance | We do, from your answers, after checking the public register |
| Approval | You submit it yourself | You confirm you are authorised and approve the details before we submit |
What this request covers
We check your instructions and submit the filing once it is approved. The register changes only when Companies House accepts it.
Before you start
- The listed records must have returned from SAIL to the registered office. Records always held at the registered office do not use AD04.
- We check previous AD03 and AD04 notices and your exact records list before payment. A missing AD03 requires a separately reviewed accompanying notice.
- We verify the named authenticator’s capacity and authority from the current register or supplied evidence. AD04 requires a printed name, not a signature; specialist capacities and UK Societas cases require route review.
Fees
£4.99 SimpleFilings service fee. The Companies House fees page lists no fee for an AD04. The service covers one AD04 notice telling Companies House which records are now kept at the registered office. It does not include physically moving or writing up the records, changing the registered office address, or setting or changing the SAIL address.
No Companies House filing fee for this standard filing.
Total: £4.99. There is no Companies House fee for this standard filing.
Step by step
- Find your company. Find your company by name or number. We fill in its public details from the Companies House register, such as the registered office, officers and people with significant control.
- Answer the questions. Answer only the questions we cannot fill in from the register, add any documents asked for and give the email address for your receipt and filing updates. Confirm that you are authorised to arrange the request and that you have checked and approve the details.
- Pay by card. Approve the details and pay the total shown by secure card payment. We check your answers before preparing the filing. There is no Companies House fee for this standard filing.
- We submit to Companies House. We check your answers and any documents, then submit to Companies House. Updates go to your email, and you can follow progress through your private request link. A payment receipt is not confirmation that Companies House has accepted the filing.
Official sources
Guidance checked .
- Move your company's records to the registered office (AD04) — Companies House
- Companies House forms to file a change of address — GOV.UK
- Move your company's records to the single alternative inspection location (AD03) — Companies House
- Register a single alternative inspection location (AD02) — Companies House
- Running a limited company: company changes you must report — GOV.UK
- Companies Act 2006, section 114: register of members to be kept available for inspection
- Companies Act 2006, section 1136: where certain company records may be kept
- Companies (Company Records) Regulations 2008, regulation 3: single alternative inspection location
- Companies Act 2006, section 162 (omitted from 18 November 2025): register of directors
- Companies Act 2006, section 790M (omitted from 18 November 2025): register of people with significant control
- Companies House fees — GOV.UK
Move records back to the registered office (AD04): common questions
What is form AD04?
AD04 is the Companies House notice of a change of location of company records to the registered office. You use it to tell Companies House which records have returned from the single alternative inspection location (SAIL).
Is there a Companies House fee for AD04?
The Companies House fees page lists no fee for AD04. Filing it through us costs the £4.99 SimpleFilings service fee and nothing else.
How long do I have to tell Companies House that records have moved back?
GOV.UK says you must tell Companies House within 14 days of changing where you keep your records or which records you keep there.
Can I file an AD04 if the records were never at a SAIL?
No. The AD04 form says it cannot be used if the records have always been at the registered office. There is nothing to report in that case.
Do I list the register of directors or PSC register on an AD04?
No. From 18 November 2025 companies no longer keep those registers, so they are not on the AD04.
What is the difference between AD03 and AD04?
AD03 tells Companies House that records have moved to the SAIL. AD04 tells it that records have moved back to the registered office. If an AD03 was never filed, the AD04 form says to file one with it.