You run a UK limited company. Someone has to keep the company's record at Companies House tidy and on time, and from late 2025 that someone has to be either you (with your identity verified) or an authorised firm. We're Total Books Accountants Ltd, an AAT-licensed practice in Cardiff, Newport and Bristol, and a Companies House authorised agent (ACSP). We file on your behalf.
The Companies House regime changed under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. New identity rules took effect on 18 November 2025. The rest land through 2026. This page sets out what an ACSP does, what we file, what changed, what it costs, and how to put us on the company's record as your agent.
- Total Books is a Companies House authorised agent (ACSP), registered to verify directors and file documents on behalf of UK companies.
- The service covers director identity verification, confirmation statements, PSC and director changes, annual accounts and company secretarial work.
- Director ID verification has been compulsory for new directors and PSCs since 18 November 2025. The transition window for existing directors and PSCs closes 18 November 2026, per Companies House.
- The three offices, Cardiff (Alexandra Gate, CF24 2SA), Newport (Tramshed Tech, NP20 1FX) and Bristol (Easton Business Centre, BS5 0HE), cover South Wales and the West of England face to face. The Virtual Finance Office runs the same service remotely UK-wide.
- Most directors take Companies House work inside our Limited Companies service from £175 + VAT a month, alongside the annual accounts, Corporation Tax, bookkeeping in Xero, VAT, payroll and director self-assessment.
- The firm holds AAT licence 4019, is an HMRC registered tax agent and a Xero Certified Advisor. Founder Buhir Rafiq has handled over 7,000 accounts, tax and consultancy engagements.
What a Companies House authorised agent (ACSP) actually does
An ACSP is a firm that Companies House has formally registered to verify directors and to file documents on behalf of UK companies, under the Authorised Corporate Service Provider regime created by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. The category exists to clean up the public register and shut down shell-company fraud.
Plainly: with us on the company's record as your agent, your Companies House filings stop being your administrative problem. We hold the personal verification codes Companies House issues to each director, we file every form to the published deadline, and we keep a written audit trail of every submission and response in case the company is ever asked to evidence its compliance history. No reminders, no chasing, no scramble.
The status carries weight because the rules are tightening. From spring 2026, third-party Companies House filings are expected to need a verified ACSP (per Companies House, confirmed in published briefings from ICAEW, IFA and CIOT/ATT). A spouse with the login, a part-time bookkeeper, or the friend who set the company up will not be permitted to file. That route closes.
Total Books is on the Companies House register as Total Books Accountants Ltd, company number 13693978. Our agent scope covers the full filing set for small and medium UK companies: confirmation statements, director and PSC filings, accounts, share allotments, registered office changes and the rest.
15-minute call
Free business call to understand the company and the directors.
Proposal & engagement
GoProposal quote and digitally signed letter of engagement.
Agent registration
We're added to the company's record at Companies House and HMRC.
Director IDV
Identity verification completed and personal codes held on file.
Ongoing filings
Every Companies House filing runs from our calendar from then on.
Director identity verification (IDV), done by a verified Companies House agent
Identity verification is now a personal legal duty for every UK director and every person with significant control, and we carry it out for you as your ACSP.
The Companies House deadlines:
- Directors appointed on or after 18 November 2025 are verified before the appointment is filed.
- Existing directors and PSCs in post before that date complete verification by 18 November 2026, the close of the transition window.
- Once the transition window closes, every Companies House filing for a non-listed company has to come from a verified filer.
We verify directors using passport or UK driving licence and address evidence, in line with the GOV.UK One Login process and AML rules. Companies House then issues you a personal verification code. We hold it on file and use it under your authority for every future filing.
A few details most directors miss until they start. The verification is on the person, not the company. So a director of three companies verifies once, not three times. The code belongs to you, and you can use it yourself, but you can also authorise us to file with it on your behalf. Each director's deadline inside the transition window is set by the company's next confirmation statement date, so two directors of the same company can have different cut-offs. We tell you yours at onboarding.
Confirmation statement filing service
Once a year, every UK company tells Companies House that the directors, shareholders, registered office, SIC code and PSC information on the register are still correct, and we file that confirmation statement for you.
Two numbers to know. The Companies House filing fee is £34 online or £62 by post, with a £13 annual subscription that covers unlimited confirmation statements inside the same year, per Companies House published fees. Miss the filing, and the company can be struck off the register, with directors at risk of prosecution. Routine until the year it isn't.
The annual cycle on our side is short. We send you the current Companies House record for confirmation, ask about anything that may have changed since last year, file the statement on the due date, and send you the Companies House receipt. Mid-year changes are filed separately as they happen, because Companies House requires director, address and PSC changes within 14 days of the event rather than holding them for the next confirmation statement.
People with significant control (PSC) updates and director changes
A change to the company's directorship, address or ownership is filed with Companies House within 14 days of the event, and we file the change as your authorised agent.
The forms we handle in this part of the service:
Appointment of a new director.
Resignation of an existing director.
Change to a director's details, including a change of home address.
New person with significant control when a shareholder crosses the 25% threshold.
Change to PSC details, or cessation of PSC status.
Share allotments, with the supporting stock transfer forms kept on the company's internal register.
Change of registered office.
Directors quietly slip into late filings here, because the trigger is a real-life event (a new co-founder joining, a parent gifting shares to a child, a director moving house) and the 14-day clock starts running without anyone noticing. Our regular check-in catches the change inside the window. No forgotten PSC01.
Annual accounts and the Companies Act year-end
Annual accounts go to Companies House nine months after the accounting reference date, and we prepare and file them inside the Limited Companies service.
Year-end runs as one continuous process because Total Books is the full accountancy practice as well as your Companies House agent. We close the books in Xero, prepare statutory accounts to the Companies Act 2006 format that fits the company's size (micro-entity, small or full FRS 102), agree the figures with you, file the accounts at Companies House, and file the matching CT600 Corporation Tax return at HMRC. The same numbers feed your director self-assessment.
The biggest cause of late accounts in small companies isn't the deadline itself. It's two different firms working from two slightly different sets of numbers and trying to reconcile in the last fortnight. Under one roof, that loop disappears.
Company secretarial services for SME directors
Total Books holds the company's statutory registers, drafts the board minutes, prepares dividend vouchers and updates the articles when the company grows out of the defaults. The work runs in the background of the monthly relationship for clients on the Companies House agent service.
What it covers in practice:
- Maintaining the statutory registers: members, directors, PSCs and charges.
- Drafting board minutes for material decisions: dividend declarations, share issues, director loans, year-end approval.
- Preparing dividend vouchers shareholders need for their personal tax returns.
- Holding the registered office at our Cardiff, Newport or Bristol address where useful, so post from Companies House and HMRC reaches us before it reaches you.
- Reviewing the articles of association on request and updating them where the default model articles no longer fit the company.
The registered-office option deserves its own line. Using an accountant's address as the registered office is the right call when statutory mail must not go to a home address, when the company is operated remotely, or when the directors travel. It changes a fragile compliance setup into a steady one.
What changed at Companies House in 2025 and 2026
The Companies House regime has moved more in two years than in the previous two decades under ECCTA, and the implementation timetable is still rolling. Here's where directors stand as at May 2026.
In force now:
- Companies House fees rose on 1 May 2024 (confirmation statement filing fee £34 online or £62 by post; £13 annual subscription covering unlimited confirmation statements in the year), per Companies House.
- PO boxes are no longer permitted as a registered office, under the "appropriate address" rule.
- Director and PSC identity verification has been compulsory for new appointments since 18 November 2025, per Companies House guidance.
- Existing directors and PSCs are inside the transition window, which closes 18 November 2026.
Coming:
- Mandatory ACSP filing for third-party submissions is expected in spring 2026, per Companies House and confirmed in published briefings from ICAEW, IFA and CIOT/ATT. Once it lands, only verified ACSPs and verified individuals will be able to file on behalf of a company.
- Companies House continues to roll out new identity-check tooling and cross-references against HMRC and other government registers.
A wrong date on a compliance page isn't a small thing. We review this page every quarter until the rollout settles.
Companies House agent in Cardiff, Newport, Bristol and UK-wide
Total Books covers Companies House work across South Wales and the West of England from three offices, with a UK-wide remote service for directors based elsewhere.
Cardiff
Alexandra Gate Business Centre 2, Ffordd Pengam, CF24 2SA
Our head office. We work with directors of limited companies across the city centre, Cardiff Bay, Penarth, Cyncoed and the wider CF postcodes, with in-person meetings on request.
Cardiff accountants page →Newport
Tramshed Tech, Griffin Street, NP20 1FX
From the Newport office we support directors across the city, Caerleon and the Severn-side business community, including local trading companies that have recently incorporated.
Newport accountants page →Bristol
Easton Business Centre, Felix Road, BS5 0HE
The cross-border office. We cover directors across BS1, BS5, BS8, the Filton corridor and the wider city region. The Severn Bridge brings clients to either side.
Bristol accountants page →Every Companies House filing in our service runs remotely with no loss of quality. Directors who engage us live in London, Manchester, Birmingham and further afield. They pick us because regulated quality (AAT-licensed, HMRC-registered, Xero-certified, ACSP) matters more than postcode proximity. The Virtual Finance Office wraps the whole engagement.
Why use a regulated ACSP rather than file yourself
The case for using a Companies House authorised agent comes down to two costs and one structural change.
The first cost is asymmetric. A missed confirmation statement is a criminal offence, and the company can be struck off without the directors realising until a bank, supplier or HMRC flags it. Restoring a struck-off company is possible. Restoring it cheaply is not. Filing it right the first time costs the Companies House fee. Fixing it later costs the legal fee.
The second cost is your time. Companies House fees are low. The cost of a director spending three hours puzzling through a PSC02, or chasing a stuck identity verification at year-end, is not. Clients tell us the value of the service isn't the filing itself. It's the absence of the filing as a thing they ever have to think about.
The structural change lands in spring 2026. The only people Companies House will accept as third-party filers will be verified ACSPs and verified individuals. Anyone a director currently leans on (a spouse with the login, a part-time bookkeeper, the friend who set the company up three years ago) loses that route. Putting a verified agent on the record now avoids the spring scramble.
Keep your company compliant and tax-efficient
The Companies House agent service sits inside our Limited Companies service, the full accountancy, tax and compliance setup for SME directors.
A side benefit worth naming. Because Total Books is also an HMRC registered tax agent and a Xero Certified Advisor, the Companies House work joins up with your Corporation Tax, payroll, VAT and director self-assessment under the same team. That single-team setup is what the Virtual Finance Director service is built around.
Where does your company stand on Companies House compliance?
Five short questions on the things directors most often get wrong. Answer them all and we'll tell you whether you're on top of it, need to tighten a couple of weak areas, or should book a full review now.
Real outcomes from Total Books clients
We use published case studies as proof rather than scenarios. These are real, reported results for specific clients. They aren't a promise of the same outcome for a new client; every company's facts are different, and the rules around tax, Companies House and reliefs apply on those facts.
Rupali came to Total Books to open a new company alongside her existing ones, and stayed for the ongoing structure. Buhir handled the formation, kept the filings tidy across multiple entities, and gave her a single playbook to run them all from.
"Buhir is respectful, knowledgeable and sincere. The advice and work they carried out was concise, timely, and reasonably priced with no hidden charges."
Read the full case study → Media businessAndrew wanted content creation to become a proper limited company rather than a side hustle. We incorporated it, set up cloud bookkeeping in Xero, and ran regular Virtual Finance Director sessions with forecasts and tax planning. Inside nine months he left his employed job.
A clean Companies House record from day one sat behind the headline outcome.
More client outcomes →
Pricing and how the engagement works
Companies House work sits inside the Limited Companies service for most clients, from £175 + VAT a month. The same fee covers the annual accounts, Corporation Tax return, bookkeeping in Xero, VAT, payroll and the director's personal tax return.
One-off pieces of work (a single director IDV, a one-off confirmation statement, a one-off PSC change) are scoped on the free 15-minute call and quoted as a fixed fee. We don't charge by the hour for Companies House filings. The work is defined; the time shouldn't be the variable.
- 15-minute call. A free business call to understand the company and the directors, and where Companies House currently sits.
- Proposal in GoProposal. Fixed-fee, no surprises, with the digitally signed letter of engagement.
- Agent registration. We're added to the company's record at Companies House and HMRC.
- Director identity verification. We complete IDV for each director and hold the personal codes on file.
- Filings carry on. Confirmation statement, PSC changes, accounts and director changes run from our calendar.
About Total Books and Buhir Rafiq
Total Books is a regulated, founder-led practice based in Cardiff, with offices in Newport and Bristol, led by Buhir Rafiq MAAT. The firm holds AAT licence 4019, is an HMRC registered tax agent, a Xero Certified Advisor (Bronze partner), and a Companies House authorised agent (ACSP).
Buhir founded Total Books in 2009. Thirty years in accounting and finance sit behind the practice, and over 7,000 accounts, tax and consultancy engagements have been handled in that time. He leads the Companies House agent service in person.
The practice holds a five-star rating across more than 400 client reviews.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Companies House authorised agent?
A Companies House authorised agent is a firm formally registered with Companies House under the Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) regime, with the legal right to verify directors and PSCs and file documents on behalf of UK companies. The category was created under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) and is overseen by Companies House.
Do I have to verify my identity with Companies House?
Yes, identity verification is a legal duty for every UK company director and every person with significant control. The duty has been live for new directors and PSCs since 18 November 2025, and the transition window for existing directors and PSCs closes on 18 November 2026, per Companies House.
Can Total Books verify my identity for Companies House?
Yes. As a Companies House authorised agent (ACSP), Total Books verifies directors and PSCs and files the verification on your behalf. The verification itself takes around 15 minutes once your documents are ready, after which Companies House issues you a personal verification code which we hold on file for future filings.
Do you only work with directors in Cardiff, Newport or Bristol?
No. The three offices (Cardiff CF24 2SA, Newport NP20 1FX, Bristol BS5 0HE) cover in-person work for directors across South Wales and the West of England. The same Companies House agent service runs remotely for directors anywhere in the UK through our Virtual Finance Office.
Does the Companies House agent service include my Corporation Tax and annual accounts?
For most clients, yes. The Limited Companies service from £175 + VAT a month covers Companies House filings, annual accounts, Corporation Tax, bookkeeping in Xero, VAT and payroll as one joined-up service. Where the brief is a one-off Companies House filing or a single director IDV, we scope and quote separately on the free 15-minute call.
What happens if I miss a Companies House filing deadline?
Late filing of annual accounts triggers an automatic penalty of £150 to £1,500 for a private company, doubling if filings are late in two consecutive years, per Companies House published rates. A missed confirmation statement is a criminal offence with the company at risk of being struck off. Our process is built to remove that risk; we hold your filing calendar and act in time.
Talk to a Companies House authorised agent
Total Books handles director identity verification, confirmation statements, PSC and director changes, annual accounts and company secretarial work for UK directors, from Cardiff, Newport and Bristol, and remotely UK-wide. The next step is a free 15-minute business call.
Disclaimer: this page is general guidance on Companies House and ACSP filings. It is not advice for your specific situation. The taxpayer and the company's directors remain responsible for the filings and disclosures they sign. Speak to us, or to another regulated accountant, before acting on it.
