What accounts information does a new Ltd. company declare to Companies Hse each year?

Question

I am currently a Sole Trader but now looking at forming a private Limited Company.

I am worried however that my competitors will be able to see how i'm trading after my 1st year accounts have been filed with them & this could affect my market credibility.

What sort of information can the public access after i have filed my annual accounts (i.e.- would they just see Share Capital or would they see my Net Profits, Balance Sheet, P&L, etc.).

Any help would be greatly appreciated here. Many thanks.

Answer 1

The public can pull down your full reports and accounts (the ones you file with Companies House) through the companies house web service at

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/c20ff8...

The reports are fairly cheap, but in practice few people use them. If you are concerned you might want to have a look at a company and see what information can be pulled down.  

Answer 2

You have to file accounts but these can be an abbreviated version of the full accounts.

This is a bit simplistic but basically they will consist of a balance sheet plus a few (not very informative) notes.

Your profits will not be immediately obvious, only the retained profit figure showing as part of shareholders funds. This figure is after your salary and any dividends paid.

You might want to make sure that the balance at bank is not too high at the year end as competitors might jump to the conclusion this means a high profit.