How to prepare CIC accounts and a CIC34 report for Companies House
Short version. Companies House does not take a community interest company's accounts directly from filing software. We generate a ZIP with your accounts and CIC34 report, and you submit it to Companies House yourself. With SimpleCompanyTax, you answer the CIC34 questions on the Financial Data step, then download the ZIP from your filing page and submit it through the Companies House CIC accounts service, paying Companies House its separate £15 fee. This guide shows each step with fictional sample entries.
Go to the steps and entry details
On this page
Community interest companiesCT600 to HMRCCIC34 package for you to uploadWhere you see it: Financial Data › CIC34 report for Companies House
CIC filings keep the existing controls below, including the CIC34 report and downloadable Companies House package. The filing setup questions cover other ordinary limited-company routes.
Companies House does not take a community interest company's accounts directly from filing software. We generate a ZIP with your accounts and CIC34 report, and you submit it to Companies House yourself.
- Your CIC files the same CT600 as any other limited company. Being a CIC does not change the Corporation Tax calculation. Do CICs pay Corporation Tax?
- Companies House does not take a CIC's accounts directly from filing software, so the platform never sends them there. It builds the package and you submit it to Companies House. Why we cannot send them
- The package holds your accounts and your CIC34 report in iXBRL format. It is built only when you choose Simplified or Detailed and complete the required answers.
- With None, which is where the card starts, the platform files the CT600 only and builds no package.
- For an accounts period that ends more than 12 months after it starts, HMRC receives two CT600s and you still get one package for the whole accounts period. Long periods
Is this the right guide for you?
Use it if all of these are true
- Your company's Companies House record shows it as a community interest company.
- It is a micro-entity limited by shares or by guarantee that we support. Supported company types
- You want to build the accounts and CIC34 package for Companies House, with the CT600 filed to HMRC now or later.
Do not use it if
- Your company is a registered charity claiming exemption on all its income and gains.Use instead: Charity CT600E filing steps
- You are not sure which CIC34 report your directors will sign.Use instead: Simplified or detailed CIC report
- HMRC already has your first CT600 with the full accounts and you are filing only the second return.Use instead: File only the remaining CT600No package is built on that route, because the accounts went with the first return.
Common mistake: leaving the report on None and expecting a package
The CIC34 report for Companies House card starts on None. That choice is deliberate: it is for a CIC that files its accounts and CIC34 report with Companies House another way. If you leave it there, the platform files your CT600 with HMRC and your filing page has no package to download. To get the ZIP, choose Simplified or Detailed before you review the filing and answer every question marked Required. You can switch back to None at any time before you file, and your other answers are kept.
If your accounts cover more than 12 months
When your accounts period ends more than 12 months after it starts, even by one day, HMRC needs two CT600 returns. The first covers 12 months and the second covers the rest. On Company Profile & Period the dates appear next to Change CT600 split date, and you choose Standard return to file both. Each CT600 goes to HMRC with the full accounts and its own tax computation.
The CIC34 report and the Companies House package are built once, for the whole accounts period, because Companies House receives one set of accounts. You answer the CIC34 questions once. If you choose Enter figures separately, the CIC34 card is on the Shared details tab. Amounts that belong to one date are divided between the two returns on the allocation panels, exactly as for any other company.
More help: How a long period is split · Standard return for both CT600s · GOV.UK: Corporation Tax accounting periods
Worked example
- Company
- Holly Example CIC, a company limited by guarantee
- Accounts period
- 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 (12 months, so one CT600)
- Trading status
- Active. It runs paid digital skills workshops
- CIC34 report
- Simplified. 12 free workshops for local residents. Stakeholders consulted. Directors received £6,000 in total. No asset transfers
- Signing director
- One of the company’s directors, signing on 30 June 2026
- Companies House package
- Published without the profit and loss account
The company and all figures on this page are fictional.
Before you start
- Your accounts figures
- The profit and loss figures and balance sheet for the accounts period, prepared by you or your accountant.
- Your CIC34 answers
- What the company did for the community, and the Yes or No answers for each part. What the CIC34 report contains
- Which report
- Simplified or Detailed is your directors' decision. How to tell
- Company UTR
- Needed when you file to HMRC. Ten digits, on letters from HMRC. Where to find your UTR
- Government Gateway details
- Needed when you file to HMRC, rather than when you generate the package. The user ID and password for your company's HMRC account. Setting up Government Gateway
- Companies House authentication code
- Needed when you upload the package to Companies House, not in our wizard. Where to find it
The company and all figures on this page are fictional.
Step by step
Start a filing for the CIC and check that you have selected the right company name and number. We read its community interest company marker from the Companies House record. There is no extra CIC declaration to complete. If the CIC is not in your account yet, choose Add company, then Registered at Companies House.
Start a new filing
- Dashboard, company card
- Click New filing. If you see Resume filing, click the small arrow beside it and choose Start new filing →
- Confirm the company
- Tick the confirmation box, then click Continue with this company →
Company Profile & Period
- Accounting period
- 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
- Special tax regimes
- NoA CIC is an ordinary company for this question.
- What are you filing?
- HMRC CT600This example files the CT600 now and builds the ZIP. Choose Companies House to generate only the package, as explained below.
- Filing purpose
- Standard return
- Change CT600 split date
- Only for a period over 12 months. Leave as shownOpen it only if HMRC’s first return ends on a different date.
- Trading status
- ActiveThe form starts on Dormant, so make sure you change it. Leave it on Dormant only for a CIC with no income or activity in the period.
- How do you want to enter your figures?
- Enter my figures onceOnly shown for a period over 12 months or separate Corporation Tax dates.
- What the company does
- TradingChoose the option that describes your CIC.
Click Next →.
Financial Data
Enter your prepared figures as for any company, then complete the CIC34 card, which sits after the tax sections and before the balance sheet.
- Previous year
- Last year’s figures, from your previous accountsRequired before you continue. Figures from Companies House fill in where available. Check them, and enter 0 where a line had no amount.
- Profit & loss
- Your profit and loss figures for the accounts period
- Tax adjustments
- Any adjustments that apply to you
- CIC34 report for Companies House
- Open the card
- Which CIC34 report are you filing through us?
- SimplifiedThe choice is yours. Simplified or detailed
- Part 1: activities and community benefit
- What the company did and how the community benefited, in your own words
- Part 2: were stakeholders consulted?
- YesAn optional box for the details appears.
- Part 3: did the directors receive remuneration?
- YesAn optional box takes the total in whole pounds, here 6000.
- Part 4: were any assets transferred for less than full value?
- No
- Signing director
- Choose the director from the list, or enter the name
- Date signed
- 30 June 2026
- Balance sheet
- Your balance sheet at the end of the accounts period
- Average number of employees
- Your average number, or 0
The card's status reads Complete when every required answer is in. Click Next →, then Review filing on the summary that follows.
More help: The CIC34 questions in detail
Review & file
The Corporation tax due card shows the tax for your figures. The Your Companies House package card asks what the accounts inside your ZIP show.
- Profit and loss account on the public record
- Do not publish the profit and loss accountOr Publish the full accounts, including the profit and loss account. HMRC always receives the full accounts.
- Optional
- Click Preview your documents (free), or Preview documents before submitting if you already subscribe, to read the CIC34 report as a PDF
- Subscribe
- Click Unlock Filing and complete payment
- Continue
- Click Continue to submission
More help: What company accounts are public
Filing credentials
The window shows your package choice again.
- Corporation Tax UTR
- Your 10-digit UTR
- Gateway User ID
- Your Government Gateway user ID
- Gateway Password
- Your Government Gateway password
- Select the director submitting this return
- The director’s name
- Accounts approval date
- The date the directors approved the accountsWhat to enter
- Declaration
- Tick it
Click Submit to HMRC.
More help: If HMRC rejects your sign-in details
After you submit
The filing page shows the HMRC result under Gateway submissions, with Accepted once HMRC confirms it. HMRC usually replies within a few minutes, but it can take longer. Above the HMRC summary, the Your Companies House package card has a Download the package (ZIP) button.
Download the ZIP, then upload it to Companies House yourself, as described below.
More help: Filing statuses explained · Upload to Companies House
Where the CIC34 card appears on Financial Data
Complete your prepared figures on Financial Data. For a trading CIC, scroll past Profit & loss, Tax adjustments and Director’s loans and section 455 tax. Open CIC34 report for Companies House, before Balance sheet. A dormant CIC also sees the CIC34 card, without the trading sections.
For an HMRC filing, the card shows Optional while None is selected. With Companies House only chosen, it shows Required until you elect a report. Choose Simplified or Detailed to prepare the report and package. Read which CIC34 report to choose for the conditions and official guidance. The status becomes Needs attention while required answers are missing and Complete when they are filled in.
The CIC34 questions in detail
- Which CIC34 report are you filing through us? None, Simplified or Detailed. None is selected to start with: leave it there if you file the accounts and CIC34 with Companies House another way, and the platform sends the CT600 to HMRC when you select Submit. Choose Simplified or Detailed and the questions below appear. See simplified or detailed CIC report. You can go back to None at any time before you file. Your other answers are kept.
- Part 1: activities and community benefit. Required. Describe in your own words what the company did in the year and how the community benefited.
- Part 2: were stakeholders consulted? Yes or No. Required. If Yes, an optional box takes who the stakeholders are, how you consulted them and what happened as a result.
- Part 3: did the directors receive remuneration? Yes or No. Required. If Yes, an optional box takes the total in whole pounds.
- Part 4: were any assets transferred for less than full value? Yes or No. Required. If Yes, an optional box takes the details.
- Part 5: were dividends declared or proposed for this financial year? Yes or No, required for the Detailed report. A dividend declared only in an earlier year is answered No here.
- Part 6: was interest paid at a performance-related rate? Yes or No, required for the Detailed report. Its details box stays available whichever answer you choose. Describe a debt or debenture on which that rate was payable, including when nothing was paid.
- Signing director and Date signed. Required. Choose the director from the company's officers at Companies House, or enter the name by hand. Each answer still missing is marked “Required” in red once you start the card.
You can change any answer before you file. Four detail boxes belong to a Yes answer: the consultation details, the directors' remuneration total, the asset transfer details and the dividend details. If you change that Yes to No, the box disappears and whatever you had typed in it is left out of the report. Change it back to Yes and the text you entered is there again. The Part 6 box is the exception: it stays on the detailed report whatever the interest answer, and what you type there is always included.
Review your documents and publication choice
On the Review & file page, check your filing details and documents. For a CIC, you can generate the Companies House package first or file to HMRC as well. You upload the Companies House package yourself. Directors must approve the accounts before they are filed with Companies House. You can read the CIC34 report as a PDF in the preview documents.
Once the CIC34 answers are complete, the review page shows the Your Companies House package card with the question Profit and loss account on the public record and two options: Do not publish the profit and loss account, which is the default, and Publish the full accounts, including the profit and loss account. Your choice decides which accounts go into the ZIP. HMRC always receives the full accounts. The submission window repeats the choice you made. If you continue to file from a preview, the preview's choice is kept: to change it, return to review and generate a new preview. If you chose to publish and that option is no longer available when you come to file, the filing page says so and offers “Return to review”: generate a new preview with an available choice. A dormant company has no profit and loss account, so the card does not appear.
Need the ZIP before you can file with HMRC?
You can generate the final accounts and CIC34 package without a UTR or Government Gateway details. The existing subscription is required for the final package.
Company Profile & Period
- Filing targets
- Choose Companies House, shown for a CIC as Accounts and CIC34 report ZIP.
Financial Data
- Which CIC34 report are you filing through us?
- Choose Simplified or Detailed and complete the required answers.
Review & file
Review the figures and preview documents. Select Continue to Generate Package. In the window, leave HMRC unticked and enter the director who approved the accounts and the approval date. These start empty. There is no CT600 declaration for package generation.
Select Generate Companies House CIC Package. Nothing is sent to either authority.
After you submit
Your filing page says Your Companies House package is ready. Download the ZIP and follow the submit steps below.
If your CT600 is still due, you can file it with HMRC only from the same filing. Your saved figures and allocations are reused.
Accounts longer than 12 months still produce one ZIP for the whole period. Complete the existing allocation controls for amounts that belong to a particular return. If you file the CT600 from the same filing, it produces both CT600s with the same full accounts and combined tax charge. A one-day accounts engagement, a remaining CT600 without accounts and amendments do not offer package-only generation. If the CT period differs from the accounts period, the package route requires separate accounts and CT600 figures. A short second CT600 within a long accounts period still uses the full-period package. Amended CIC accounts must go to Companies House on paper.
Download your Companies House package
After generating the final package, open the filing page and find Your Companies House package above the HMRC summary. The card lists the submit steps and has an Open Companies House button beside the download. Select Download the package (ZIP). Save the file as it is. Do not unzip or rename it. Its filename is CIC- followed by your company number and .zip. It contains your accounts and CIC34 report in iXBRL format. A preview lets you review documents, but does not provide the final package download.
Submit your CIC accounts and report to Companies House
- Select Generate Companies House CIC Package. Your filing page then shows Your Companies House package.
- Download the ZIP. Save it as it is. Do not unzip or rename it. Its name is CIC- followed by your company number.
- Open the Companies House CIC accounts service and sign in, or create a Companies House account.
- Enter your company number and authentication code.
- Choose package accounts, upload the ZIP and submit it.
- Pay the £15 Companies House fee by debit or credit card and keep the confirmation.
Keep the confirmation Companies House sends you. We do not send the ZIP to Companies House or see its outcome. Check the Companies House confirmation email. Package ready does not mean Companies House has accepted it.
If you do not see the section
Check the company selected for this filing. The CIC34 card is only for companies whose Companies House record carries the community interest marker. It is also absent when you are filing only the remaining CT600 without accounts, because there are no accounts to package. See filing only the second CT600. If you can see the card but no questions, change None to Simplified or Detailed.
Sample outcome
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Open the guide that matches your organisation or task.
Looking for a different field or step? See all filing wizard guides →
Official sources
The package layout and the mandatory items come from the Companies House Technical Interface Specification for Accounts (version 6.0, Appendices A and B), the fee and the steps from the Companies House CIC accounts service, and the report content from the form CIC34 publication. See also community interest companies: the CT600, the CIC34 report and Companies House.
- Companies House: CIC accounts service
- GOV.UK: Form CIC34, community interest company report
- GOV.UK: Community interest companies guidance
- HMRC Company Taxation Manual CTM40145: community interest companies
- GOV.UK: Corporation Tax accounting periods
Whether this route matches your filings is for you to decide, yourself or with your accountant.
Example companies and figures are fictional. Field names match the filing wizard as of 17 October 2026.