Overseas companies gain online route to authentication codes

Overseas companies with a UK establishment can now request a Companies House authentication code through the Find and update company information serviceGOV, under a new Overseas companies section added to the company authentication codes guidance. For an overseas company, the requester needs to create an account and follow the steps in that service; WebFiling cannot be used for overseas-company code requestsGOV.

Companies House will send the code by post to the UK establishment addressGOV, which can take up to 10 working days to arriveGOV. A company that already has a code receives a reminder instead. The code for an overseas company is limited to filing package accounts with Companies HouseGOV.

The addition fills a gap in the previous guidance, which described only the domestic route: creating or signing in to a WebFiling account, with the code posted to the company's registered office, or to a home address where the registered office cannot be accessed, and never sent by email or given over the phone. As with domestic codes, requesters should not wait until accounts are due: the guidance warns delivery can take longer in busy periods.

The 6-digit alphanumeric code authorises information filed online as the equivalent of a company officer's signature, and is distinct from the personal code issued to individuals on identity verification. It must be guarded like a bank-card PIN: anyone who knows it can change the company's details online, so it should mix letters and numbers, be shared only with someone trusted to file, and be changed if known by someone not trusted. Anyone else filing online for the company, such as an accountant, must be told of any code change, since the old code stops working.

For context, an overseas company with a UK establishment must submit its accounts to Companies House within 13 months of the end of its accounting reference date, or within 25 months of opening the establishment where the first accounting period exceeds 12 months. The new code route gives those filers the credential needed to file package accounts online rather than on paperGOV.

Legal basis: the Company authentication codes for online filing guidance (Companies House), Overseas companies section, with the overseas-accounts filing route in the File accounts in the UK as an overseas company guidance.