UK accountants now need to track deadlines across Companies House, HMRC, payroll, and a range of compliance obligations — not just annual accounts and confirmation statements. Several tools address this, ranging from the free Companies House reminder service to full practice management suites. Here is an honest comparison of what each covers and which fits a small to mid-sized UK practice.
Option 1: The free Companies House email reminder service
Companies House offers a free email reminder service for accounts and confirmation statement due dates. Every company on the register can be enrolled separately by its director or agent. (For the consequences of missing a deadline, see how Companies House late filing penalties work.)
Source note: Companies House describes the service as telling you when accounts and confirmation statements are due, and the eReminder terms specify an accounts reminder at least one month before the filing deadline. This comparison does not reproduce Companies House reminder emails; it compares the public service boundary with portfolio-level monitoring.
What it does well:
- Free, official, and maintained by Companies House
- Covers both annual accounts and confirmation statements
- No signup or software required beyond enrolling each company
Limitations for accountants managing multiple clients:
- Each company must be enrolled separately — 50 clients means 50 individual enrolments
- Reminder timing and setup are controlled by the Companies House service, not by your practice's portfolio workflow
- No central dashboard — reminders arrive in a single inbox mixed with other email
- No way to see which clients have upcoming deadlines at a glance
Option 2: Practice management software (TaxCalc, IRIS, Karbon)
Full practice management platforms include Companies House integration as part of broader client and workflow management. IRIS, TaxCalc, and Karbon all surface filing deadlines within their systems.
What it does well:
- Integrated with client records, documents, and billing
- Centralised view across all clients
- Strong support networks and established vendors
Limitations:
- Significant cost — typically £500–£2,000+/year depending on tier
- Heavy onboarding — migrating client data takes weeks
- Overkill for sole traders and small practices who only need the deadline alerts
Option 3: Dedicated deadline monitoring tools
Lighter-weight tools focused specifically on deadline monitoring offer a middle ground: more capability than the free CH reminder service, without the weight and cost of full practice management software. The better ones now cover HMRC and compliance obligations alongside Companies House.
PenaltyProof is one such tool. It reads the public Companies House API for annual accounts and confirmation statement deadlines, and lets you configure HMRC and compliance obligations per client — VAT, Corporation Tax, Self Assessment, payroll (RTI/P11D/CIS), pension auto-enrolment, MTD ITSA, ICO renewals, MLR reviews, HMRC agent authorisations, and Charity Commission annual returns. On paid plans, alerts are sent at 30 days, 14 days, and 7 days before each deadline, on the day it's due, and again if it slips overdue. No accounting software integration or client financial data is required. For more on this approach see how to track filing deadlines in bulk.
Obligation coverage comparison
| Obligation | CH reminder service | Practice management (IRIS, TaxCalc) | PenaltyProof |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual accounts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Confirmation statement | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| VAT returns | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Corporation Tax | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Self Assessment | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Payroll / RTI / P11D | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| CIS returns | — | Varies | ✓ |
| MTD ITSA | — | Varies | ✓ |
| Pension auto-enrolment | — | Varies | ✓ |
| ICO / MLR / HMRC auth | — | — | ✓ |
| Charity Commission | — | — | ✓ |
Which is right for your practice?
| Practice size | Recommended approach |
|---|---|
| 1–10 LTD clients, CH only | The Companies House reminder service works if you're happy enrolling each company manually; PenaltyProof free gives you a single dashboard and monthly digest |
| 10–80 clients, mixed obligations | Dedicated monitoring tool — lower cost than practice management, covers CH and HMRC deadlines in one place |
| 80+ clients | Practice management software if you need workflow, billing, and deadline integration; dedicated monitoring tool if you only need deadline alerts across CH and HMRC |
PenaltyProof tracks Companies House, HMRC, and compliance deadlines across your client list — Pro (£39/month) is unlimited if you're past 50 clients. Try Starter (£29/month, up to 50 companies) free for 30 days with advance alerts 30 days, 14 days, and 7 days before each deadline, plus due-date and overdue alerts. Cancel any time during the trial.
Start 30-day free trial →or monitor free for up to 5 companies with Companies House monitoring (no card).
Related guides
Charity Commission Annual Return Deadlines Explained
How Charity Commission annual return deadlines work, why they differ from Companies House, and what UK accountants must file for charitable companies.
From Spreadsheets to a Monitoring Tool: 200 Clients
How to migrate a 200-client accounting book from a deadlines spreadsheet to a monitoring tool without losing dates, context or client trust.
UK Accountant's 2026 Deadline Calendar
Every key 2026 deadline for UK accountants in one calendar: Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE, P11D, Self-Assessment and Companies House filings.
PenaltyProof and GDPR: Data Handling for CH, HMRC, and Compliance Alerts
Exactly what data PenaltyProof reads and stores — CH API, HMRC obligation dates, and client contact emails — and the UK GDPR legal basis for each.