[F1225 Alteration of accounting reference date.E+W+S
(1)A company may by notice in the prescribed form given to the registrar specify a new accounting reference date having effect in relation to the company’s current accounting reference period and subsequent periods.
(2)A company may by notice in the prescribed form given to the registrar specify a new accounting reference date having effect in relation to the company’s previous accounting reference period and subsequent periods if—
(a)the company is a subsidiary undertaking or parent undertaking of another company and the new accounting reference date coincides with the accounting reference date of that other company, or
(b)an administration order under Part II of the Insolvency Act 1986 is in force.
A company’s “previous accounting reference period” means that immediately preceding its current accounting reference period.
(3)The notice shall state whether the current or previous accounting reference period—
(a)is to be shortened, so as to come to an end on the first occasion on which the new accounting reference date falls or fell after the beginning of the period, or
(b)is to be extended, so as to come to an end on the second occasion on which that date falls or fell after the beginning of the period.
(4)A notice under subsection (1) stating that the current accounting reference period is to be extended is ineffective, except as mentioned below, if given less than five years after the end of an earlier accounting reference period of the company which was extended by virtue of this section.
This subsection does not apply—
to a notice given by a company which is a subsidiary undertaking or a parent undertaking of another company and the new accounting reference date coincides with that of the other company, or
where an administration order is in force under Part II of the Insolvency Act 1986,
or where the Secretary of State directs that it should not apply, which he may do with respect to a notice which has been given or which may be given.
(5)A notice under subsection (2)(a) may not be given if the period allowed for laying and delivering accounts and reports in relation to the previous accounting reference period has already expired.
(6)An accounting reference period may not in any case, unless an administration order is in force under Part II of the Insolvency Act 1986, be extended so as to exceed 18 months and a notice under this section is ineffective if the current or previous accounting reference period as extended in accordance with the notice would exceed that limit.]
Textual Amendments
F1New ss. 223–225 inserted (subject to the saving and transitional provisions in S.I. 1990/355, arts. 6–9, Sch. 2, by Companies Act 1989 (c. 40, SIF 27), ss. 1, 3, 213(2) as part of the text inserted in place of ss. 221–262 (as mentioned in s. 1(a) of the 1989 Act)