Good company bookkeeping is a habit, not a year end job. Do six small tasks each month and year end takes days, not weeks.
This guide gives you that monthly routine. It also covers the director’s loan account, VAT records and the year end pack. HMRC can fine a company £3,000 for poor records, so the routine matters.
Quick Answer
Each month, code the bank feed and match it to your statement. Send and chase sales invoices. Log supplier bills. Update the director’s loan account. Then check profit and who owes you money. At year end, file accounts within nine months and the tax return within twelve.
General guidance only. Your own situation may need specific advice from a qualified accountant.
What Are the Monthly Bookkeeping Tasks?
Six jobs, every month. Code the bank feed. Match the bank against your books. Raise and chase your sales invoices. Log supplier bills with their due dates. Update the director’s loan account. Then read the profit figure and the list of who owes you money.
Here’s the routine as a list:
- Code the bank feed. Every line gets a category and a date.
- Match the bank. Tick your records against the statement and explain the leftovers.
- Sales invoices. Raise them, send them, and log what’s owed.
- Supplier bills. Log each bill on arrival with its due date.
- Director’s loan account. Record every personal payment in or out.
- Read the numbers. Profit for the month, and who owes you money.
Task two catches the errors the other five create. Duplicates, wrong codings and missing sales all show up there. We explain how bank reconciliation works step by step.
Task five is the one directors skip. It’s also the one that costs the most when it goes wrong.
Pick a fixed day each month and stick to it. Same day, every month.
The Records Behind the Routine
A company keeps two kinds of records. Accounting records cover money in and out, assets, debts and stock. Company records cover shareholders, share deals and board decisions. GOV.UK lists both under company and accounting records.
How long you keep each one depends on the record. We set out the HMRC record-keeping rules in full.
How Do You Track a Director’s Loan Account?
Log every payment between you and the company that isn’t salary or an expense refund. Company money you spend personally goes on one side. Your own money paid in goes on the other. Dividends credited to you go in too. The balance goes on the balance sheet at year end.
A director’s loan account is a simple two column record. It stops being simple when nobody keeps it.
Two figures make it matter.
The 33.75% charge. Say you owe the company money at the end of its accounting period. You have nine months to repay it. Miss that and the company pays an extra 33.75% tax on what’s still owed. GOV.UK sets out the director’s loan rules in full. The company gets that tax back after you repay, but the cash goes out now.
The £10,000 line. Say you owe the company over £10,000 at any point in the year. If you pay little or no interest, that’s a benefit in kind. You report it on your own return. The company pays Class 1A National Insurance on it.
Both figures depend on a balance you only know if you track it monthly. A year end rebuild from bank statements usually finds more than the director expected.
Keep it clean with three habits. Use the business card for business only. Record any personal spend the same week. Repay before the nine month mark, not after.
How Does VAT Bookkeeping Work in a Limited Company?
VAT registration adds a quarterly return and stricter records. You record everything bought and sold, including zero rated, reduced rate and exempt items. You also keep a VAT account. Making Tax Digital means you keep these records digitally and file through software.
GOV.UK covers this under keeping VAT records. Your VAT account shows four figures:
- total VAT on sales
- total VAT on what you buy
- VAT you owe HMRC
- VAT you can reclaim
Keep VAT records for at least six years.
Match the bank before every return. A return built from unmatched books can be wrong either way.
Watch the coding on three things. Entertaining, fuel and anything bought partly for personal use.
What Do You Need for Year End Accounts?
A clean bank match to the final day. A stock count if you hold stock. A list of who owes you and who you owe. Your director’s loan balance. Invoices for equipment you bought. Then the paperwork behind anything unusual, so your accountant isn’t guessing.
Deadlines set the pace. GOV.UK lists the filing deadlines for a private company:
| Item | Deadline |
|---|---|
| First annual accounts | 21 months after registration |
| Annual accounts after that | 9 months after the financial year end |
| Corporation Tax payment | 9 months and 1 day after the accounting period ends |
| Company Tax Return | 12 months after the accounting period ends |
Note the order. You pay the tax before you file the return. That surprises most first year directors.
Here’s the year end pack your accountant wants:
- bank statements to the last day of the year
- a bank match with no unexplained items
- stock value at the year end date
- a list of unpaid sales invoices
- a list of unpaid supplier bills
- the director’s loan account balance
- invoices for anything you bought as a fixed asset
- loan and finance agreements
You get most of this as a by-product of a monthly bookkeeping service. Companies that leave it to year end pay for the catch up instead.
What Software Suits a Limited Company?
Any cloud package that handles double entry, VAT and bank feeds will do the job. Companies need a balance sheet, so a simple cash book isn’t enough. Pick one your accountant already works in. The shared login saves more time than any feature comparison.
Company accounts include a balance sheet. Single entry records can’t produce one. So a basic spreadsheet won’t work for most companies.
Beyond that, the differences are smaller than the marketing suggests. All the main UK packages handle bank feeds, VAT returns and reports.
Two practical points decide it. Does your accountant work in it daily? Can you put the director’s loan account on its own code?
Starting the Routine
Open a business bank account first if you haven’t. Company money and personal money have to stay apart. A director’s loan account can’t work without that split.
Then fix your monthly day. Track the loan account from day one. Rebuilding it two years later is the most expensive tidy up we see.
DASA’s monthly bookkeeping service covers the coding and the bank matching. We also handle the VAT figures and the year end pack. Tell us your year end date and whether you’re VAT registered. Get a quote and we’ll send you our current pricing.
This article gives general information about limited company bookkeeping in the UK. HMRC and Companies House set these deadlines and rates, checked in October 2026. It’s not tax or legal advice. Speak to a qualified accountant about your own situation.
Last reviewed October 2026 by Raqeeb Marzook, ACCA.
Frequently Asked Questions
What bookkeeping does a limited company need each month?
Code the bank feed, match the bank, raise and chase invoices, log bills, update the director’s loan account and check profit.
What happens if a director’s loan isn’t repaid in time?
If it’s still owed nine months after the accounting period ends, the company pays an extra 33.75% tax. It gets this back after repayment.
When are limited company accounts due?
First accounts 21 months after registration. After that, 9 months after the year end.
Do I pay Corporation Tax before filing the return?
Yes. Payment is due 9 months and 1 day after the period ends. The return is due at 12 months.
Can a limited company use a spreadsheet for bookkeeping?
Rarely. Company accounts need a balance sheet, so you need double entry records. Cloud software is the easiest way.