Companies Act 1976

2 Accounting reference period of a company

(1) Any company may give notice in the prescribed form to the registrar of companies specifying a date in the calendar year as being the date on which in each successive calendar year an accounting reference period of the company is to be treated as coming to an end; but no such notice shall have effect unless it is given before the date on which section 1 above comes into operation or before the end of the period of six months beginning with the date of the incorporation of the company, whichever last occurs.

(2) Subject to section 3 and subsection (3) below—

(a) in the case of a company which has given notice in accordance with subsection (1) above, the date specified in that notice ; and

(b) in any other case, 31st March;

shall be the company's accounting reference date.

(3) In the case of a company which has not given notice in accordance with subsection (1) above, the registrar of companies may during the period of two years beginning with the date on which section 1 above comes into operation determine, with the consent of the company, that some date other than 31st March shall be the date on which in each successive calendar year an accounting reference period of the company is to be treated as coming to an end; and, subject to section 3 below, the date so determined shall be and, in relation to any occurrence of that date before it was so determined, shall be treated as having been the company's accounting reference date instead of 31st March.

(4) Subject to section 3 below, the first accounting reference period of a company shall be such period ending with the company's accounting reference date as—

(a) begins or began on the day after the date to which the profit and loss account of the company last laid before the company in general meeting before the coming into operation of section 1 above (whether laid in the year immediately before the coming into operation of that section or earlier) is or was made up; or

(b) if no profit and loss account of the company is or was so laid before the coming into operation of that section, begins or began on the date of the incorporation of the company, whether that date is or was a date after or a date before the coming into operation of that section;

and (in either case) is or was a period exceeding six months and not exceeding eighteen months.

(5) Subject to section 3 below, in the case of any company each successive period of twelve months beginning after the end of the company's first accounting reference period and ending with the company's accounting reference date shall also be an accounting reference period of the company.

(6) The requirements of section 1 above apply in relation to every period which is or was an accounting reference period of a company by virtue of this section or section 3 below, whether or not that period falls wholly or partly after the date on which section 1 above comes into operation.