How to read a Companies House filing to assess a sales prospect

By Anna Fontanes | March 2026 | 8 min read

Most sellers have never looked at a Companies House filing. They know it exists. They might assume it contains "accounting stuff" that doesn't matter to them. They move on.

That's a missed opportunity. A Companies House filing tells you everything you need to know about a company's trajectory, financial health, and likelihood of being in buying mode.

You just need to know what to look for.

What's actually in a Companies House filing

A UK company (other than certain exemptions) files accounts once a year with Companies House. These accounts are public record. Anyone can download them.

The filing includes:

Most of this is formatted in tables, which makes it scannable rather than requiring you to read financial statements like a chartered accountant would.

What each metric means for sales purposes

Revenue (turnover): This is straightforward. It tells you how big the company is. It's the most reliable measure of company size because it's filed with Companies House - it's official.

Growth rate: Look at revenue from this year vs. last year. If they grew 40% year-over-year, that's a company in expansion mode. If they're flat or declining, they're either mature and stable or struggling. Growth signals buying intent.

Gross profit vs. net profit: If a company's revenue is £10M but net profit is £200K (2%), they're either in early growth or managing thin margins. If net profit is £3M (30%), they're in healthier territory. This matters because healthier profit equals more budget available for tools.

Cash position: Look at "cash and cash equivalents" in the balance sheet. A company with growing revenue but declining cash reserves is burning money - they're spending more than they're earning. That can signal growth investment (good sign) or operational issues (bad sign). The context of revenue growth helps clarify which.

Debt levels: Look at "borrowings" and "creditors." If a company is growing fast but taking on debt to finance that growth, they probably have capital available and are in expansion mode. If they're growing slowly and debt is increasing, that's a concern.

Creditor balances: If a company has £2M in creditors and £1M in revenue, they're probably growing faster than they're financing - they're using supplier credit to fund growth. That's a positive signal when combined with revenue growth.

Director appointments: This is pure signal. Companies House filings include director resignation and appointment dates. A company that appointed a new Finance Director three months ago is signalling financial formalisation. A company that appointed a new commercial director is signalling revenue focus.

How to read a filing without an accounting background

You don't need to understand accounting to get value from a Companies House filing. You're looking for three things:

1. Is the company growing?

Compare revenue year-over-year. Faster than 20% growth equals high growth. 5 - 20% equals steady growth. Under 5% or declining equals mature or struggling.

2. Is the company financially healthy?

Look at the net profit margin (net profit / revenue). Above 10% equals healthy. 5 - 10% equals okay. Below 5% equals tight margins or heavy growth investment.

3. Has there been a recent change in leadership?

Look at the director appointments section. Recent appointments (in the last 12 months) suggest the company is bringing in new expertise for a reason.

That's it. You don't need to understand accounting. You need to know three things, and those three things tell you everything.

Practical example: reading a filing

Let's say you're looking at Example Ltd. Their filing shows:

This reads as: "High-growth company in good financial health, bringing in financial expertise." That's a company that's probably scaling, raising capital, or preparing for acquisition. They have budget. They're evaluating tools.

Compare that to Struggling Ltd:

This reads as: "Struggling company, burning cash, brought in new CEO to turn things around." They're not in buying mode. They're in survival mode. Low priority.

The financial trajectory pattern

The most powerful filing-based insight comes from looking at trends, not snapshots.

A company that's grown revenue 30%, 40%, 35% over three years is accelerating. A company that's grown 50%, 40%, 15% over three years is decelerating. A company that's gone from -£500K loss to breakeven to £1M profit is getting healthier.

Trends tell you more than individual year numbers.

Why Companies House data is better than database data

List-building databases (ZoomInfo, Apollo, etc.) estimate company size based on:

Companies House data is filed by the company itself and is legally binding. It's accurate because it has to be.

That's why Companies House is the most reliable data source for UK prospecting. You're not estimating. You're reading official filings.

Building this into your process

If you're researching accounts for outreach, pull the Companies House filing and spend five minutes scanning it. Ask three questions:

That five-minute investment turns guesswork into informed targeting.

If you're doing this at scale (50 accounts), that's 4+ hours of research. That's where automation helps - you can pull and scan filings at scale and flag accounts that show the right signals.

Firmbase automatically pulls and analyses Companies House filings for your entire target universe

Instead of manually reading files for every account, the system pulls filing data, identifies growth signals, and surfaces accounts showing financial trajectory changes.

Start your free trial and stop guessing about company size and health.

FAQ

Q: Are Companies House filings always accurate and current?

A: Filing deadlines vary, but most companies file within 9 months of their financial year-end. The data is accurate (it's legally binding), but it can be 6 - 9 months old by the time you read it. That's why you combine filing data with other signals (job postings, recent director appointments).

Q: What if a company hasn't filed its accounts yet?

A: If they're overdue, that's a signal itself - they might be in trouble or disorganised. If they're on deadline, they will file. You can check the filing deadline on the Companies House website.

Q: What if a private company doesn't file accounts?

A: UK private companies with turnover under £6.5M can file abbreviated accounts. Micro-companies (under £316K turnover) can file even less detail. So you might not get full financials. But you'll still get revenue and director information.

Q: Can I see future projections or budgets in a filing?

A: No. Filings are historical. They tell you what happened, not what the company plans to do. That's why you combine filing data with forward-looking signals like job postings and funding announcements.

Q: How far back should I look in filings?

A: At least two years, ideally three. You want to see trends, not snapshots. Three years of data is enough to understand whether a company is accelerating, decelerating, or flat.

Q: What if the profit numbers don't match what I see on their website?

A: Companies House filings are legally binding and audited (for some companies). The Companies House version is the true version. If they claim something different on their website, the filing is more accurate.

Author Bio

Anna Fontanes is a revenue operations consultant who has built account scoring and ICP frameworks for UK B2B sales teams across SaaS and professional services. She specialises in making structured prospecting work for teams without dedicated ops resource.