Called up share capital not paid: shares issued but never paid for

Short version. If your company issued shares that nobody has paid for yet, you enter two figures, not one. Put the nominal value of the shares in Share capital, and put the unpaid amount in Called up share capital not paid. For the very common case of one £1 subscriber share that was never paid for, that is Share capital £1 and Called up share capital not paid £1. Do not enter £0 for share capital, and do not put the £1 in Debtors. The balance sheet still balances, because the unpaid amount counts as an asset of the company.

What to enter

• Share capital: the nominal value of the shares that have been issued, whether or not anyone has paid for them. One ordinary share of £1 is £1. One hundred shares of £1 each is £100. This is the figure on your incorporation documents and your confirmation statement.
• Called up share capital not paid: the part of that nominal value the shareholders had not actually handed over by the balance sheet date. If the share was never paid for, this equals your share capital. If a £100 issue was half paid, it is £50.

Worked example, and it is the one most first-year companies need. You incorporated with a single ordinary share of £1, you never transferred the £1 to the company, and nothing else happened. Enter Share capital £1 and Called up share capital not paid £1. Leave everything else at £0. Net assets come out at £1, shareholders’ funds come out at £1, and the balance check passes.

This matches how Companies House describes the line in its micro-entity accounts guidance: amounts due on shares that have been allotted but had not been received by the balance sheet date. See the Companies House micro-entity accounts help.

Where the field is

Called up share capital not paid is hidden by default, because most micro-entities never need it. In the Balance sheet section of the financial data step, look for the link that reads + Add intangible assets / investments / called-up share capital not paid / provisions for liabilities. Click it and the field appears, just above Total assets less current liabilities. If you already have a figure in it from a previous year, we open that group for you automatically.

The tooltip next to the field repeats the rule, and the same guidance appears next to Share capital, so you can check yourself as you type.

Why share capital is not £0

It can feel odd to record share capital the company has not received, so it is worth being precise about what the number means. Share capital is the nominal value of shares the company has issued. Issuing a share is a legal act that happened at incorporation. The share exists, it carries votes and rights, and it is on the public register whether or not the money moved. Payment is a separate question.

So entering £0 would be wrong in a way that matters. It would contradict what Companies House already holds for your company, and it would understate your shareholders’ funds. The £1 also remains genuinely owed. The company can call it in at any time, and if the company is ever wound up the shareholder has to pay it. Recording it is the accurate picture, not a formality.

Why it does not go in Debtors

Putting the £1 in Debtors is a tempting shortcut, because the unpaid amount really is money owed to the company, and the balance sheet would still add up. It is the wrong field all the same.

The filed accounts are tagged, not just printed. Debtors is filed as trade debtors and other receivables, so a £1 sitting there tells Companies House and HMRC that a customer owes your company £1 for goods or services. Called up share capital not paid is its own statutory line with its own tag, and company law puts it at the very top of the balance sheet, above fixed assets, precisely because it is a different kind of claim. Using the right field describes the company correctly. Using Debtors describes a trade that never happened.

One reassurance. The line is only printed in your filed accounts when there is something in it, so companies that leave it at £0 disclose nothing extra.

Shareholders’ funds is calculated for you

You never type a shareholders’ funds figure. It is a computed row, and it is simply your share capital plus retained earnings. The row above it, net assets, adds up everything the company owns and takes off what it owes, and called up share capital not paid is included there as an asset. The two rows have to agree before you can submit, and in the £1 example they both come to £1.

This is also why the two entries go together. Entering the unpaid £1 without the matching £1 of share capital, or the other way round, will break the balance check and we will tell you the difference.

A note on the filed document itself. Micro-entity accounts show a single combined Capital and reserves total rather than a shareholders’ funds line, so the wizard label is ours, for clarity while you work. For how the two equity fields feed that one total, and where share premium belongs, see share premium and other reserves.

What changes when the share is paid

When the shareholder finally pays, nothing about share capital changes. The £1 moves out of Called up share capital not paid and into Cash at bank, and the not-paid field goes back to £0 for that year end. Share capital stays at £1 throughout, because the share was always issued.

One thing to expect next year. Once you have reported a figure here, your following filing needs the prior-year comparative for it as well, so the two columns of the balance sheet both add up correctly. We ask you for it rather than assuming it.

When you need an accountant

The straightforward case, shares issued at nominal value and not yet paid, is fully supported and needs nothing special from you beyond the two figures above. Some situations are not, and are worth advice: shares issued above nominal value where part of the premium is also unpaid, shares issued for something other than cash, forfeited or surrendered shares, and calls the company has made and does not expect to recover. If the amount is not going to be paid at all, that is a write-off decision rather than a data-entry one. See which company types we support.

This article is general guidance, not tax or legal advice. If you are unsure what your company actually issued, check your incorporation documents and your latest confirmation statement at Companies House before you file, and speak to an accountant if the position is not clear.