Dormant Companies
What Are Dormant Companies?
If a company has had no accounting transactions of any significance* during its accounting period; it is commonly referred to as dormant. Bearing this in mind, it is worth noting that any sum paid for shares when a company is founded or any minor expenses that it will have for the purpose of keeping the company registered at Companies House; are never considered important accounting transactions.
What does Companies House require from Dormant Companies?
Every company must still submit information to Companies House even if it is dormant.
Dormant Companies still need to provide;
- The company's registered office address
- Names of the company officers
- Names of the shareholders
- Where the registers of members, officers etc. are located
- The Company's Memorandum
- The Company's Articles of Association
- The Company's financial year end ( i.e. the accounting reference date )
- Financial details regarding the Company’s annual accounts.
What differs between Dormant Companies and non trading companies?
A company may be considered as not trading when it is not carrying out any business. However the company could have some accounting transactions going on to its books, and therefore in the legal sense it is not dormant; it should not have any accounting transactions at all with the exception of certain dis-regardable ones.
Who would want Dormant Companies?
There are many reasons why someone would require a Company to be dormant. One reason could be in preparation for a future venture and a consequential need to preserve a specific company name. A company could stay dormant indefinitely; especially if its role is merely to prevent a company name being taken by some other company.
However, maintaining a company on the Companies Register will incur expenses. For example, there is a document managing charge for dealing with the annual return. Even Dormant Companies, must still present several other documents to Companies House; these include yearly balance sheets. The company must determine how to pay these sundry expenses, also who will oversee the company and therefore be responsible for making certain that it fulfills all its legal obligations.
Dormant Companies
Who runs these Dormant Companies?
Managing a company is the responsibility of its officers and these officers are the company directors and company secretary. All companies, even Dormant Companies, must have 
directors. Public companies must have a minimum of one competent company secretary**. Companies must remember that if and when they assign a company secretary they must always tell Companies House. They must also tell Companies House on the termination of any appointment or any other change of detail for that matter.
A final point, as expenses such as wages would have to be recorded in the accounting books, in order to remain dormant; Dormant Companies may never take on paid employees
* This means an accounting transaction that is important enough to be entered into its accounting records
** From 6 April 2008 a private company does not have to have a company secretary unless the company chooses to have one, or its articles of association require it.