Filing Accounts for Flat Management and Freehold Companies
If you own the freehold of a building — or run a flat management company that collects service charges and pays maintenance costs — Clear Books Tax can file your annual accounts with Companies House and your CT600 with HMRC.
This guide also applies to residents management companies (RMCs) and property management companies limited by guarantee — common structures for roads, shared areas, and small residential estates.
Is Your Company Dormant?
Freehold and flat management companies are almost always not dormant, even if they make no profit and pay no tax. A company is dormant only if it has no accounting transactions at all during the year.
If your company:
- Collects service charges or maintenance contributions from leaseholders or members
- Pays for building insurance, repairs, or maintenance
- Holds a bank account used for company purposes
How to File With Clear Books Tax
Company Type to Select
When starting your filing, select Trading Company as the company type.
Company
What type of company is this?
Select the company type that matches your situation. This affects which fields appear.
Freehold and management companies are not "property companies" in the tax sense (which is for companies receiving rental income). Your income is service charges — contributions from shareholders, leaseholders, or guarantee members — which is treated as trading income.
Profit & Loss
Enter your figures in the P&L section:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Turnover | Total service charge or management fee income received |
| Other charges | All maintenance, insurance, repairs, and admin costs |
| Staff costs | If you employ a site manager or caretaker |
Balance Sheet
Enter your assets and liabilities at the period end:
- Current Assets — The company's bank balance at year end
- Creditors (within 1 year) — Any unpaid invoices or accruals
- Share Capital — Typically £1 or £4 for freehold companies (one share per flat). If your company is limited by guarantee (no shares), enter £0.
- Retained Earnings — Accumulated surplus/deficit (usually near £0)
Do You Need to File a CT600?
A CT600 (corporation tax return) is required if HMRC has sent your company a Notice to Deliver (form CT603). If you have never received one, you may not need to file a CT600 — only Companies House accounts.
If HMRC has issued you a notice, Clear Books Tax will file the CT600 for you. With nil profit, the return simply confirms £0 tax is due.
What You'll Need
To file with Clear Books Tax, have ready:
- Company number — to add your company to Clear Books Tax
- Service charge income total — for the year
- Total expenses — maintenance, insurance, repairs, etc.
- Bank balance at year end
- Companies House authentication code — 6-character code to submit accounts (request one at gov.uk if you do not have it)
- Company UTR and HMRC Gateway credentials — only needed if also filing a CT600
Common Questions
Can I file without an accountant?
Yes. Flat management and residents management companies typically have simple accounts — income in, expenses out, nil profit. Clear Books Tax guides you through the form step by step.
What accounts format does Clear Books Tax produce?
Clear Books Tax generates micro-entity iXBRL accounts — the standard electronic format required by Companies House. These are filed directly; there is no need to post anything.
What if my company is limited by guarantee?
Companies limited by guarantee have no shares and no shareholders. You still file in exactly the same way — select Trading Company, enter your income and expenses, and set Share Capital to £0 on the balance sheet. Clear Books Tax fully supports limited-by-guarantee companies.
What if my shareholders are also my leaseholders?
This is the typical structure for freehold companies — shareholders hold the freehold through shares, one per flat. You would file as normal; the shareholder/leaseholder relationship does not affect the filing itself.
Do I need to file for every year?
Yes. Companies House requires accounts every year. If you have unfiled years, Clear Books Tax will show them on your dashboard once you add your company.
Should I show unspent service charges as creditors or retained earnings?
Both approaches are used by small management companies, and Clear Books Tax supports either.
The creditors approach is technically more rigorous: unspent amounts collected from members are held on their behalf for future maintenance. They remain a liability — money the company owes on the members' behalf — rather than profit the company has retained.
The retained earnings approach is simpler and also common. If your company has no obligation to return unspent funds (they simply accumulate as a contingency reserve), treating the surplus as retained earnings is a reasonable simplification for micro-entity accounts.
Whichever you choose, make sure your balance sheet balances. If you record a surplus on the P&L — that is, income exceeds your actual expenditure for the year — that surplus flows to retained earnings automatically, and a small corporation tax liability may arise on the profit.
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