> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bumara.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Annual returns

> The yearly PACRA filing that keeps your company in good standing — what it contains, when it is due, and what happens if you miss it.

An annual return confirms to PACRA that your company still exists and that its registered
particulars are correct. It is not a tax return and it is not your accounts — it is a statement of
who runs the company, who owns it, and where it is.

Every registered company must file one every year, whether or not it traded.

## When it is due

Your due date is calculated from your **financial year end**, which you set in
[Set up your business](/start/set-up-your-business). Bumara applies the statutory window that
follows and shows the resulting date on the filing.

<Warning>
  If your financial year end in Bumara is wrong, your annual return due date is wrong, and you will
  be reminded on the wrong date every year. Check it once, carefully.
</Warning>

Filings that already exist keep the due dates they were created with. Correcting your year end
only affects future ones.

## What the return contains

| Section                   | What you confirm                                                       |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Company details**       | Registered name, number, registered office address, principal activity |
| **Directors**             | Every current director, with their details                             |
| **Company secretary**     | Where your company type requires one                                   |
| **Shareholders**          | Every current shareholder and their holding                            |
| **Share capital**         | Nominal capital, shares issued, nominal value                          |
| **Financial information** | Summary figures for the year, where required for your company type     |

## Working the filing

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the filing">
    PACRA workspace → **Filings** → your annual return for the year.
  </Step>

  <Step title="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.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Correct anything that has changed">
    A new director, a share transfer, a moved office. See the important note below about filing
    changes separately.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the financial figures where required">
    Depends on your company type. The form tells you what is needed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm the details">
    Review and approve tasks — you are formally confirming these particulars are correct.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Upload any required documents">
    Typically financial statements or a directors' confirmation, depending on your company type.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pay the fee">
    The PACRA fee plus Bumara's handling fee.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Request submission">
    Bumara lodges it and returns the acknowledgement to your vault.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  **Changes must be filed separately, and on time.** If a director changed in March, that change
  had its own filing deadline in March. Recording it for the first time on your annual return in
  December does not cure the late notification — it flags it. File changes when they happen, as
  their own service request.
</Warning>

## Filing a change during the year

| Change                         | Service request                                |
| ------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Director appointed or resigned | Change of directors                            |
| Registered office moved        | Change of registered address                   |
| Shares transferred             | Share transfer                                 |
| Company name changed           | Change of name — requires name clearance first |
| Secretary changed              | Change of secretary                            |

All are in the PACRA service catalogue. See [Request a service](/compliance/request-a-service).

## What happens if you miss it

PACRA escalates steadily, and the cost rises at every stage:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Late filing">
    A penalty is applied, and it grows the longer the return is outstanding.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Continued non-filing">
    The company is flagged as non-compliant. This shows up in searches, which is noticed by banks,
    tenderers and prospective clients.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Strike-off notice">
    PACRA issues formal notice of intention to strike the company off the register. This is your
    last practical warning.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Struck off">
    The company ceases to exist as a legal entity. It cannot trade, hold contracts, or operate its
    bank accounts.
  </Step>

  <Step title="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.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Catching up on missed years

If you have several years outstanding, do not simply start filing the current one.

<Steps>
  <Step title="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](/start/compliance-health-check).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Accept the backfill recommendation">
    Bumara creates filings for each missed year so you can work through them in order.
  </Step>

  <Step title="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.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Settle the penalties">
    Outstanding penalties must be paid for the company to return to good standing.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## 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

<Note>
  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.
</Note>