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There are two parts to using Electronic Filing within Company Secretarial/Company
Formations.
Please see below for details or click on the relevant Part:
Part 1 - How to become an Electronic Filing Presenter
Part 2 - Entering presenter and company codes into IRIS
Part 3 - Electronic filing within Accounts Production
Part 4 - Electronic filing within Company Secretarial/Company Formations
In order to register for Electronic Filing either complete an Online Filing Services Credit Account Application if it is expected that fee bearing documents (such as an annual return) will be filed electronically, alternatively file a standard Presenter Application Form to electronically file non-fee bearing documents only. Once complete submit to Companies House using the address shown on the form. Once the application has been received Companies House will create an account, allocate a credit limit (where appropriate) and dispatch a start up pack to the applicant clarifying their personal Presenter ID and Authentication Code. These codes will then need to be entered into Company Secretarial so they can be included in all electronic correspondence with Companies House.
A credit agreement is necessary for the electronic Annual Return charge
to be paid. Chargeable documents will be added to the Companies House
credit account and an invoice will be sent out monthly detailing the electronic
documents that have been filed carrying that charge.
Companies House needs to receive approval from clients stipulating who they have authorised to electronically file their forms. This can be done in the form of a letter with the following details:
Clients name and registered office
Clients company registration number
Company Authentication Code - This is a 6 digit reference code that is agreed between presenter and client. The reference code can be unique to each individual client or can remain the same for all clients.
Name, address, telephone number and email address of the presenter
Signature of a director or secretary of the client
Name of the director or secretary printed in capitals
Contact number and email address of the director or secretary
Click here for an example of a suitable letter. The letter MUST be printed using the clients Company headed paper and submitted to Companies House at the following address:
Electronic Filing Administration
Companies House
Crown Way
Cardiff
CF14 3UZ
Confirmation of receipt of this letter by Companies House will not be given. Therefore it is advisable to wait an appropriate time before electronically filing in order to prevent unnecessary rejections due to the processing of the letter being delayed at Companies House.
For users of AutoMail
The Presenters Letter can be generated from within AutoMail. This Presenters
Letter will also be automatically generated when the Company Authentication
number is entered.
Bulk registrations
When a large number of codes are involved, they may be notified to Companies House in electronic format, but must still be supported by suitable signed paper copies of the notification(s). Any lists submitted in electronic format should be sent on floppy disk in a text format (suffix.txt), listing the necessary iterations of authentication codes and company number, comma separated, one iteration per line.
For instance, to notify that code 123456 should be used for companies 98954, 654876 and 2098987, send a .txt file with the following information:
123456,98954
123456,654876
123456,2098987
The company number may be zero filled to make it up to eight characters but this is not necessary for processing.
The information received from and notified to Companies House such as, presenters ID, presenters authentication code and the company authentication code, will need to be entered into Practice Options.
To enter the details in any of the products, go to:
Presenters ID - Setup | Practice Options | C/H Identifiers
Presenters Authentication Code - Setup | Practice Options | C/H Identifiers
Company Authentication Code - Edit | Company Authentication Code
To electronically file accounts to Companies House from Accounts Production, go to Reports | iXBRL and CH E-File (Limited companies only).
For more information regarding submitting accounts electronically, click here.
To electronically file a form in Company Secretarial:
Go to Reports | Company Forms, highlight the required form (see Electronic Forms for a list of forms which can be electronically filed).
Click Print Form.
Once the form has been generated and closed, Company Secretarial will ask whether to "Send details electronically to Companies House?".
Click Yes.
To electronically incorporate a company see Getting Started in Company Formations
For more information regarding all Companies House forms, click here.
System Requirements for Company Secretarial and Company Formations
Click here to view the system requirements for all aspects of Company Secretarial to be accessible.
A compatible email application (e.g. Outlook or Outlook Express) must be used as your default mail client.
For any questions regarding these requirements, please contact IRIS Technical Support.
Back to Electronic Filing