Once the client exists and your firm’s credentials are in place, every accounting period follows the same three stages before either filing wizard will let you send: get the numbers in, build and review the accounts, and build the Corporation Tax computation. None of this is firm-specific — it’s the same work whoever does it — so this article is the map through the three stages, with a link to the full how-to for each. The period’s Setup Process Checklist tracks your progress along the way.
1. Get the numbers in: the trial balance
The trial balance is the foundation for both the accounts and the computation. There are four ways to populate it:
- Sync from Xero or QuickBooks — if the client’s organisation is connected to their accounting platform, pull the trial balance straight from it.
- Import from a spreadsheet — upload an Excel or CSV export from any other bookkeeping system, with templates for Xero, Sage 50 and others and AI-assisted account mapping.
- Enter it manually — key the figures in directly, account by account.
However the figures arrive, the trial balance must balance — total debits equal total credits — and you can post journals to adjust or reclassify before moving on. The full walkthrough is in Getting your numbers in: the trial balance, and the spreadsheet route has its own detailed guide: Import a trial balance from a spreadsheet.
2. Build and review the statutory accounts
Open View Accounts from the period menu to assemble the statutory accounts. The screen is driven by a sidebar — General, Directors, Dates, Addresses, Notes and Policies — with a live preview of the finished document beside it and an Errors/Warnings panel that links straight to whatever needs fixing.
This is where you choose full or filleted accounts (filleted being the abridged version filed at Companies House), complete the notes, and finally sign the accounts — which sets the director signage date and takes them out of draft. Both filing wizards check for exactly that, so signing here is what unlocks them. The complete tour is in Touring the View Accounts screen, and the signing detail is in Validation and signing.
3. Build the Corporation Tax computation
With the trial balance in, open the computation to turn the accounts profit into the tax figure. You work through the disallowable expenses (entertaining, depreciation and the like), other adjustments and donations, capital allowances (the Annual Investment Allowance and the pools), and any losses to carry forward, carry back or set against other profits — Tax Optimiser calculates the liability as you go. The step-by-step is in Building the Corporation Tax computation.
When the computation is done, the review step shows the computation, the accounts and the CT600 together, so you can check the whole return — and validate it against HMRC’s rules — before filing.
Then you’re ready to file
With the trial balance balanced, the accounts signed and the computation reviewed, the period’s Setup Process Checklist clears and both submission wizards unlock. From here it’s the firm-specific filing flow.