Every client's dates on one board, and where each one came from.
Accounts and confirmation statements from Companies House, VAT, corporation tax and self assessment from HMRC and the books, PAYE, CIS and pensions for the employers: one board for the whole practice, each date saying what it rests on, each row saying where the firm has got to.
Deadlines
Hartley & Co, 42 clients
Thursday 8 October
- Due in 30 days
- 14
- Records out
- 5
- Ready for approval
- 2
- Filed this month
- 9
| Client | Obligation | Due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakfield Joinery LtdLtd | VAT return, Q3 | 7 Nov | Ready for approvalPrepared today |
| Harbour Street DentalLLP | Accounts, year end 31 Jan | 31 Oct | PreparedFRS 105, balanced |
| Mira PatelSole trader | Self assessment 2025/26 | 31 Jan | Records requestedRecords requested 2 Oct |
| Brightwater Cafes LtdLtd | Confirmation statement | 14 Oct | ChasedChased yesterday, second step |
| Kestrel Groundworks LtdLtd | CIS return, month to 5 Oct | 19 Oct | Records in11 subcontractor bills |
| Fennel & Co LtdLtd | VAT return, Q3 | 7 Nov | FiledApproved by R. Hughes, filed 7 Oct |
The board, on example clients. Dates from Companies House, HMRC and the books; the status is where the firm has got to.
Three things to know first.
- Dates from the source, not from a spreadsheet
- A company's accounts and confirmation statement dates come from Companies House's register. VAT periods come from the firm's HMRC agent account and the books. The standard dates come from the rules. A date the board could only estimate says so.
- Status is the work, not a colour
- Each row is records requested, chased, in, prepared, approved or filed. The agent moves a row when it drafts a chase or prepares a return; only a person can mark approved or filed.
- The board runs the morning
- Every morning the agent reads the board and drafts a chase for each client whose records are still out, stepping up as the date nears. The board is where the chasers, the portal and the filings meet.
The dates a UK practice lives by.
Companies House
Accounts due, the confirmation statement, and the directors' identity verification, read from the register for every company and LLP on the list.
VAT
Each registered client's periods and payment dates, monthly, quarterly on its stagger, or annual, with the obligation read from HMRC where the firm's agent account allows.
Corporation tax
The CT600 due nine months after the period end and the payment due nine months and a day, for every company, from the accounting period on the register.
Self assessment and MTD for Income Tax
The return and payment dates for sole traders, partners and landlords, and for those in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax the four quarterly updates and the final declaration.
Payroll
The FPS to HMRC on or before each pay day, PAYE payment dates, P60s to employees by 31 May, P11D and P11D(b) by 6 July, and pension re-enrolment every three years.
CIS
For contractors, the monthly return by the 19th and the payment and deduction statements, worked out from the subcontractor bills in the books.
From the register to the row.
01
A client is added
The company number, the VAT registration, the payroll and CIS facts. Companies House is read for the registered dates; the books say what is registered for VAT.
02
The rules fill in the rest
Standard dates follow from the facts: nine months for the CT600, the 7th for an update, the 19th for CIS. Each says it is a standard date, an HMRC date, a Companies House date, or an estimate.
03
The morning job reads the board
Records still out with a date near: a chase is drafted. A return due with records in: the figures are prepared. A date filed: the row closes.
04
A person moves what only a person may
Approved and filed are set by a named person, and the approval is checked against the figures they saw.
Every kind of date the board carries.
| Date | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Accounts to Companies House | The register: nine months after the accounting reference date for a private company. |
| Confirmation statement | The register: within 14 days of the review date. |
| Directors' identity verification | The register, as Companies House phases it in. |
| Corporation tax return (CT600) and payment | The accounting period on the register: twelve months for the return, nine months and a day for the payment. |
| VAT return and payment | The firm's HMRC agent account and the books: the period end and one month and seven days after it. |
| Self Assessment return and payment | The standard dates: 31 January, and 31 July for the second payment on account. |
| MTD Income Tax quarterly update and final declaration | The standard quarters to 5 July, 5 October, 5 January and 5 April, due by the 7th of the month after the next; the declaration by 31 January. |
| Payroll: FPS, PAYE, P60, P11D, pension re-enrolment | The pay dates, the 22nd for an electronic PAYE payment, 31 May, 6 July, and three years from the staging date. |
| CIS return and statements | The tax month to the 5th, the return by the 19th. |
Straight answers.
- Where do the dates come from?
- Companies House's register for a company's dates, HMRC's agent services and the books for VAT, and the statutory rules for the rest. Every row says which, and an estimated date is marked as one.
- Can we add our own dates?
- Yes. A date the firm adds sits beside the statutory ones and is marked as the firm's.
- Who moves a row?
- The agent moves a row to chased or prepared when it drafts the chase or prepares the figures. Only a named person marks a row approved or filed.
- Does it replace our practice management system?
- For the deadlines, the chasers, the filings and the client portal, yes. For time and billing, the firm's own capacity and jobs are on the board too; ask us what you run today.
See your own client list on the board.
Tell us how many clients and which books. We put the demo company on the board first, then your clients.