I am a bookkeeper for a client who was trading as a limited company and recently made a decision to revert to being a sole trader and sent the relevant forms off to Companies House. His last year end was 31st March 2012 . I spoke to his accountant the other day as I assumed that my client would have to do accounts up to the point of cessation as a limited company and then commence as a sole trader. However, the accountant is telling me that the company is no longer in existence and therefore there are no accounts to prepare. I am confused by this - how is he to report any profits made from 1st April 2012 to the date of cessation of his company? Any advice or clarification would be much appreciated.
If the ltd co has made taxable profits from its last submitted accounts then it will need to prepare accounts to cessation and pay over any tax due.
What about the assets and liabilities that were in the company at cessation? I expect the assets would have been transferred to the sole trader business and the liabilities of course would need to be settled if the company was solvent at cessation.
If the forms submitted to Companies House are for the winding up of the company if this has happened before the assets were transferred then they really are the property of the Crown.
Without more information from the client and accountant as to the sequence of events and what if anything has been transferred from the ltd co to the sole trader business it is difficult to say.
