HOW TO READ COMPANY ACCOUNTS

How to read a UK company's accounts

Every UK company files its accounts at Companies House — free to read, but written for accountants. Here's what's inside a set of accounts and what each figure means, in plain English.

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Sourced from Companies House filings · Not a credit reference agency · We describe what's filed; the decision stays with you.

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The snapshot

A balance sheet in six lines

The balance sheet records what a company owned and owed on the last day of its financial year. Six lines do most of the work.

  1. 01Net assets (or net liabilities)
    Total assets minus total liabilities. A positive figure is shareholders' funds; a negative one means liabilities exceed assets on that date. A company can still trade with net liabilities — a figure to weigh in context.From: 'net assets' / 'total equity'
  2. 02Fixed assets
    The long-term resources a business keeps to operate — property, equipment, vehicles, and intangibles like goodwill or software. Book value isn't market value.From: 'fixed assets'
  3. 03Current assets
    What's expected to turn into cash within a year: stock, money owed by customers (debtors), and cash itself.From: 'current assets'
  4. 04Cash at bank
    The most liquid line on the sheet. Healthy paper profit and thin cash can sit side by side — which is why cash is read alongside the profit-and-loss, not instead of it.From: 'cash at bank and in hand'
  5. 05Creditors due within one year
    Bills, loans and tax falling due in the next twelve months. Set against current assets, this is the short-term liquidity picture.From: 'creditors: amounts falling due within one year'
  6. 06Creditors due after one year
    Longer-term debt such as bank loans and leases — how the company is funded beyond the next year.From: 'creditors: due after more than one year'
The story of the year

The profit & loss, in plain terms

Where the balance sheet is a snapshot, the profit-and-loss account is what came in, what it cost, and what was left.

  1. 01Turnover (revenue)
    Total sales for the year — the top line everyone knows.From: the profit & loss account
  2. 02Gross & operating profit
    Gross profit is turnover minus the direct cost of sales; operating profit is what's left after running costs. The gap shows where the money goes.From: the profit & loss account
  3. 03Profit before & after tax
    The bottom lines, once interest and tax come out. A company can have large turnover and little profit, or the reverse — the shape matters as much as the headline.From: the profit & loss account
  4. 04Why some companies show no profit & loss
    Small companies can choose not to file a P&L at all (Companies Act s.444), leaving a balance sheet only. It's a legal exemption, not a red flag — but it limits what's visible.From: accounts type / exemptions
Beyond the numbers

What experienced readers check

Individual lines mean more in combination — and in trend. Four things to read across the whole filing.

  1. 01Direction of travel
    One year is a snapshot. Turnover, profit and cash across several filings show whether a company is strengthening or sliding.From: up to 7 years of accounts
  2. 02Going concern
    Accounts assume the company keeps trading. A 'material uncertainty' or going-concern note is the clearest sign the directors or auditor saw doubt about that.From: the notes + audit report
  3. 03The audit opinion
    Where a company is audited, an 'unqualified' opinion is the standard clean result; a 'qualified' one flags something worth understanding. Many small companies are audit-exempt.From: the auditor's report
  4. 04Filing behaviour
    Overdue or persistently late accounts are a signal in themselves — companies in difficulty often go quiet at the registry before the numbers show it.From: filing history
Capabilities

Everything in one search.

Balance sheet, explained

Net assets, cash and creditors from the latest filing, in plain English.

Multi-year trend

Turnover, profit and cash across up to 7 years — direction, not a single snapshot.

Every figure sourced

Each number traced back to the exact Companies House filing it came from.

What's been left out

Flags abridged, audit-exempt or overdue filings so you know how much the figures can carry.

The people too

Directors and their track record across 27.8m UK appointments.

In minutes

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Who it's for

Built for the people who run these checks.

Credit & finance teams

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Journalists & researchers

Pull the facts directly from the filed public record.

How it works

Three steps from company name to plain-English brief.

01 · Search

Type any UK company

Search by name or registration number across 5m+ UK companies. We pull filings, accounts and director list directly from Companies House.

02 · Read

Get the plain-English brief

Five briefings answer the questions an analyst would ask — cash, profit, ownership, filing history, and red flags hiding in the notes.

03 · Decide

Add the brief to your file

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FAQ

Quick answers.

What are a UK company's accounts?

A public, annual record every active UK limited company files at Companies House: a balance sheet (what it owns and owes at year-end), usually a profit-and-loss account (what it earned and spent), and notes explaining both.

Where can I find a UK company's accounts?

Free on the Companies House register at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Verif-AI reads the same filings and explains them in plain English in a few minutes.

What do 'net assets' mean?

Total assets minus total liabilities — what would remain on paper after settling everything at book value. Negative net assets (net liabilities) mean liabilities exceed assets on the filed date.

What's the difference between turnover and profit?

Turnover is total sales for the year; profit is what's left after costs. A company can have high turnover and little profit, or the reverse.

What does 'going concern' mean in company accounts?

That the accounts assume the company will keep trading for at least the next year. A going-concern or 'material uncertainty' note signals the directors or auditor saw doubt about that.

Why do some companies not show turnover?

Small companies can choose not to file a profit-and-loss account (Companies Act s.444), so only a balance sheet is on the public record. It's a legal exemption, not a sign of trouble.

What is an 'unqualified' audit opinion?

The standard clean result: the auditor judged the accounts give a true and fair view. A qualified opinion flags an issue worth understanding. Many small companies are audit-exempt and have no opinion either way.

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