Confirmation statement deadline rules for identity verification

What is a confirmation statement and when is it due?

A confirmation statement is the annual filing every UK company makes to Companies House to confirm its registered information is correct: officers, PSCs, registered office, SIC codes, share capital.

Each company has a confirmation date (usually the anniversary of incorporation or of the last statement) and a filing deadline fourteen days after that. So a company incorporated on 12 July 2018 has a confirmation date of 12 July each year and the statement must be filed by 26 July.

Companies can change their confirmation date, but in most firms the date sits stable year on year.

How does the confirmation statement date drive identity verification deadlines?

The transition rules state that every existing director and PSC must verify their identity by their company's next confirmation statement date after the rules came into force on 18 November 2025.

In practical terms: if you act for a company with a 12 July confirmation date, every director and PSC of that company must be verified by 12 July 2026. If you act for a company with a 3 March confirmation date, the deadline is 3 March 2026.

Multiply this across an accountancy firm's client base and you get a hundred different deadlines spread across the twelve-month transition window. That is what makes spreadsheet-based tracking break down: the rule is simple, the volume of distinct deadlines is the problem.

What is the 14-day birth-month window?

On top of the per-company deadline, each individualhas a 14-day window anchored to their birth month within which their verification should fall. The window is a Companies House operational measure to spread verification volume across the year and is paired with each individual's personal record.

For your firm this means two layers of timing to track:

• The hard deadline: the company's next confirmation statement date.
• The recommended window: a 14-day stretch in the individual's birth month within which the verification ideally falls.

In practice, missing the birth-month window without missing the confirmation statement deadline is not penalised. Missing the confirmation statement deadline is.

What happens if a director misses their verification deadline?

Three consequences, in escalating order:

1. The confirmation statement cannot be filed with an unverified director or PSC listed. Companies House rejects the filing until the verification is in place.
2. Late filing penalties accrue on the confirmation statement itself, as for any other late statutory filing.
3. Companies House can take action against the company under powers granted by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, including financial penalties at Companies House discretion and, in serious cases, strike-off proceedings.

For the director personally, missing verification ultimately means they cannot lawfully act as a director on the register. For your firm, missing a client's deadline creates client-facing problems and potentially a complaint to your professional body.

How do new appointments work?

For any director appointed after 18 November 2025, the rule changes. They must verify their identity immediately on appointment, not at the next confirmation statement.

In practice this means the appointment form (AP01) cannot be filed without the new director already holding a Personal Code from Companies House. Your firm needs to fold identity verification into your standard new-director onboarding workflow.

The same rule applies to new PSCs added to the register.

How do I track all these per-client rolling deadlines?

For each client you act for, your firm needs to capture and keep current:

• The company's next confirmation statement date.
• Every active director and PSC on the register at that company.
• Each individual's verification status: pending, in progress or verified.
• Each individual's Personal Code reference (masked) and expiry date once issued.
• Each individual's 14-day birth-month window.
• Evidence of verification: One Login confirmation, ACSP record, or both.

For a firm of one hundred corporate clients with an average of three to four officers each, that is three to four hundred individual records to keep current across the transition window.

Spreadsheets handle one deadline. They collapse on a hundred. The full per-client workflow is covered in the Companies House IDV 12-month transition checklist. For the mechanics of the two verification paths, see how to verify directors via GOV.UK One Login and ACSP registration explained.