When it is due
Your due date is calculated from your financial year end, which you set in Set up your business. Bumara applies the statutory window that follows and shows the resulting date on the filing. Filings that already exist keep the due dates they were created with. Correcting your year end only affects future ones.What the return contains
Working the filing
1
Open the filing
PACRA workspace → Filings → your annual return for the year.
2
Review the pre-filled particulars
Bumara pre-fills from your organisation record and from what was filed last year. Your job is
to check it, not to retype it.
3
Correct anything that has changed
A new director, a share transfer, a moved office. See the important note below about filing
changes separately.
4
Enter the financial figures where required
Depends on your company type. The form tells you what is needed.
5
Confirm the details
Review and approve tasks — you are formally confirming these particulars are correct.
6
Upload any required documents
Typically financial statements or a directors’ confirmation, depending on your company type.
7
Pay the fee
The PACRA fee plus Bumara’s handling fee.
8
Request submission
Bumara lodges it and returns the acknowledgement to your vault.
Filing a change during the year
All are in the PACRA service catalogue. See Request a service.
What happens if you miss it
PACRA escalates steadily, and the cost rises at every stage:1
Late filing
A penalty is applied, and it grows the longer the return is outstanding.
2
Continued non-filing
The company is flagged as non-compliant. This shows up in searches, which is noticed by banks,
tenderers and prospective clients.
3
Strike-off notice
PACRA issues formal notice of intention to strike the company off the register. This is your
last practical warning.
4
Struck off
The company ceases to exist as a legal entity. It cannot trade, hold contracts, or operate its
bank accounts.
5
Restoration
Getting the company back requires a restoration application — substantially more expensive and
slower than filing on time, and all the outstanding returns and penalties still have to be paid.
Catching up on missed years
If you have several years outstanding, do not simply start filing the current one.1
Run a compliance health check
It establishes exactly which years are outstanding, what penalties have accrued, and whether
a strike-off notice has been issued. See
Compliance health check.
2
Accept the backfill recommendation
Bumara creates filings for each missed year so you can work through them in order.
3
File oldest first
PACRA generally expects the sequence to be complete. Filing this year while three prior years
are outstanding does not restore good standing.
4
Settle the penalties
Outstanding penalties must be paid for the company to return to good standing.
After acceptance
- The acknowledgement is filed in your document vault
- Your company’s good standing is confirmed
- Next year’s return is created with its due date
- The filing stays permanently as evidence
A current annual return is often required as evidence when tendering, opening a bank account, or
applying for finance. Keeping it current is not just a compliance matter — it is commercially
useful.