How to reach companies before their filing deadlines
Every UK company has two dates it cannot dodge: annual accounts and the confirmation statement. Tell a Leadistry agent to look for accounts due or a confirmation statement due, and it finds companies whose date falls inside the next 90 days, weeks before the penalty letters start. That makes filing deadlines the most predictable outreach trigger on the public record.
The recipe, step by step
- 1
Pick the deadline reasons
Tell the assistant to look for accounts due, a confirmation statement due, or both. A company counts as due when its date falls inside the next 90 days. Close enough that the deadline feels real. Far enough that the company can still switch adviser before it bites. For companies that have already missed the date, add accounts overdue or confirmation statement overdue.
- 2
Narrow by kind of business and area
Tell the assistant the sectors you serve best, and it matches them to 5-digit SIC codes. For example, 43220 for plumbing firms or 47910 for online retailers. Give it one area if your practice is local: a town, a city or a region. Before the agent is set up, the assistant shows what it will look for and says whether plenty or few companies match there, before you spend a lead.
- 3
Let the agent keep watch
Set up the agent and it keeps looking on its own, all day. It puts each new company that matches on your Feed as soon as it is found and checked, for as long as you have leads left. Two agents never cover the same companies, so an accounts agent and a confirmation statement agent can run side by side. Each company delivered is 1 lead from your plan.
- 4
Check what each lead includes
Every lead comes with a website we opened and checked is theirs, and an email the company publishes on a domain we checked accepts mail, never guessed. The director's name comes too when it is on the public record, and the director is exactly who feels the deadline. A company we cannot finish is never delivered and never costs a lead.
- 5
Time the outreach to the deadline
Lead with the date. The first line of each email is written from the company's own due date, so a company whose accounts are due in five weeks hears it from you. Late filing costs £150 rising to £1,500 for private companies. Emails go from your own mailbox with two follow-ups, and your first 25 emails are free on the trial. Nothing sends until you approve it, or until you switch on Autopilot.
Frequently asked questions
How far ahead of a deadline should I get in touch?
Four to eight weeks is the sweet spot. Earlier, and the deadline is not on the director's mind yet. Later, and the incumbent has usually started the work. An agent looking for accounts due picks up a company once its date is inside the next 90 days, and each first line names the exact date, which keeps a steady stream of companies entering that zone. You are only ever sent each company once.
What are the penalties for late filing?
For private companies, late accounts trigger an automatic penalty. It starts at £150 and rises to £1,500 once accounts are more than six months overdue. Penalties double for a second late year in a row. A late confirmation statement is a criminal offence and can get the company struck off. That real cost is what makes deadline outreach land.
Does this only work for accountants?
No. Bookkeepers, company secretarial providers, payroll bureaus and legal advisers all sell services a deadline makes urgent. Lenders and insurers use the same window as a prompt for annual reviews. Any service a company revisits at year end can time outreach to the accounts date.
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