SECR Reporting Deadlines: Your 2026 Compliance Calendar

Missing your SECR reporting deadline can result in penalties ranging from £150 to £7,500, director liability issues, and potential prosecution. For finance directors and company secretaries responsible for Companies House filings, understanding exactly when your SECR disclosure is due is critical.

This comprehensive guide explains SECR reporting deadlines for 2026, how to calculate your specific deadline, what happens if you miss it, and how to plan your compliance timeline to avoid last-minute stress.

Understanding SECR Filing Deadlines

SECR (Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting) disclosures must be included in your Directors' Report as part of your annual accounts filed with Companies House. The deadline depends on two factors:

1. Your company structure (private vs. public)
2. Your financial year-end date

SECR doesn't have a separate filing deadline. Instead, it piggybacks on your existing annual accounts filing obligations.

Private Companies: 9-Month Deadline

Private limited companies must file their annual accounts (including SECR disclosure) within 9 months of their financial year-end.

Example:

• Financial year ends: 31 December 2025
• Filing deadline: 30 September 2026

Public Companies: 6-Month Deadline

Public limited companies (PLCs) must file their annual accounts (including SECR disclosure) within 6 months of their financial year-end.

Example:

• Financial year ends: 31 December 2025
• Filing deadline: 30 June 2026

Why the Difference?

Public companies face stricter deadlines due to:

• Greater public interest and shareholder accountability
• Typically more sophisticated financial reporting infrastructure
• Higher compliance expectations for publicly traded entities

Calculating Your SECR Deadline

Follow this simple process to determine your exact SECR filing deadline.

Step 1: Identify Your Financial Year-End

Check your company's financial year-end date. Common year-ends include:

• 31 December (calendar year)
• 31 March (UK tax year alignment)
• 30 April
• Other dates depending on your company's Articles of Association

Your financial year-end is stated in your previous Companies House filings and your company's constitutional documents.

Step 2: Identify Your Company Type

Determine whether you're a:

• Private limited company (Ltd) → 9-month deadline
• Public limited company (PLC) → 6-month deadline

This is indicated by your company name suffix and Companies House records.

Step 3: Calculate Your Deadline

For Private Companies: Add 9 months to your financial year-end date.

For Public Companies: Add 6 months to your financial year-end date.

Example Deadlines for 2026

Here's a quick reference table for common financial year-ends:

Use our SECR compliance checker to determine your specific obligations and deadlines based on your company information.

The SECR Compliance Timeline

Simply knowing your filing deadline isn't enough. You need to plan backward to ensure you have sufficient time to collect data, perform calculations, draft your disclosure, and obtain board approval.

Here's a realistic timeline for SECR compliance:

Recommended Planning Timeline

Working backward from your filing deadline:

6-9 Months Before Deadline: Initial Planning

Actions:

• Confirm SECR applies to your company
• Identify data sources (energy bills, fuel receipts)
• Assign responsibility for SECR compliance
• Decide on compliance approach (consultant, in-house, or automation)

Deliverable: SECR compliance plan and resource allocation

4-6 Months Before Deadline: Data Collection

Actions:

• Collect 12 months of energy bills (electricity, gas)
• Gather transport fuel data (mileage logs, fuel card statements)
• Request any missing invoices from suppliers
• Compile refrigerant top-up records (if applicable)

Deliverable: Complete dataset of energy consumption for reporting period

3-4 Months Before Deadline: Calculations and Analysis

Actions:

• Calculate total energy consumption (kWh)
• Apply UK Government conversion factors to calculate emissions (tCO2e)
• Calculate intensity ratios (tCO2e per £M turnover, per employee, etc.)
• Document efficiency actions taken during the year

Deliverable: Complete emissions calculations and intensity metrics

2-3 Months Before Deadline: Drafting SECR Disclosure

Actions:

• Draft SECR statement for Directors' Report
• Include all mandatory elements (energy, emissions, intensity ratio, efficiency actions, methodology)
• Review against SECR requirements and best practice examples
• Ensure alignment with financial accounts

Deliverable: Draft SECR disclosure statement

1-2 Months Before Deadline: Review and Approval

Actions:

• Internal review by finance team
• Review by legal/compliance teams (if applicable)
• Board review and approval
• Director sign-off on Directors' Report
• Integration into annual accounts

Deliverable: Approved SECR disclosure in final Directors' Report

Deadline Day: Filing with Companies House

Actions:

• Final checks of accounts including SECR disclosure
• File annual accounts (including Directors' Report with SECR) with Companies House
• File via Companies House WebFiling or software filing service

Deliverable: Confirmation of successful Companies House filing

Expedited Timeline (Not Recommended)

If you're behind schedule, the minimum viable timeline is:

• 4-6 weeks: Data collection
• 2-3 weeks: Calculations
• 1-2 weeks: Drafting and review
• 1 week: Board approval and filing

Risk: This compressed timeline leaves no buffer for:

• Missing data or invoices
• Calculation errors requiring revision
• Board scheduling challenges
• Technical filing issues

We strongly recommend following the full 6-9 month timeline for first-time compliance.

What Happens If You Miss Your SECR Deadline?

Missing your SECR deadline means missing your Companies House accounts filing deadline, which triggers automatic penalties.

Companies House Late Filing Penalties

Companies House imposes automatic penalties based on how late you file:

Private Companies

Public Companies

Important: These penalties apply even if you've prepared your accounts but simply haven't filed them yet. Companies House doesn't accept excuses like "we were waiting for SECR data."

Additional Consequences

Beyond financial penalties:

Prosecution Risk

Persistent non-filing can result in:

• Criminal prosecution of directors
• Unlimited fines upon conviction
• Director disqualification in extreme cases

Company Strike-Off

Continued failure to file accounts can lead to:

• Companies House striking your company off the register
• Loss of limited liability protection
• Personal liability for company debts

Reputational Damage

Late filing is publicly visible:

• Appears on Companies House public record
• May concern investors, lenders, and customers
• Impacts credit ratings and financing options
• Questions raised about corporate governance

Director Liability

Directors are personally responsible for ensuring accounts are filed on time. Individual directors can be prosecuted and held personally liable for late filing penalties.

Special Cases and Extensions

Can You Get an Extension?

Short Answer: No. Companies House does not grant extensions for account filing deadlines.

Exception: In exceptional circumstances (such as company administration), specific rules may apply. Consult an insolvency practitioner or legal advisor.

What If Data Is Missing?

If you can't obtain complete energy data by your deadline, you have two options:

Option 1: Estimate Missing Data

• Use best-practice estimation methodologies
• Document your estimation approach in your SECR disclosure
• Clearly state which data points are estimated
• Explain why data wasn't available

Example: "November 2025 electricity data was unavailable. We estimated consumption at 8,500 kWh based on the average of October 2025 and December 2025 actual consumption."

Option 2: Claim Low Energy Use Exemption (If Applicable)

If total UK energy use is ≤40,000 kWh, you can claim a low energy use exemption:

• Include statement in Directors' Report confirming exemption
• Don't need detailed calculations
• Still must file accounts on time

Never delay filing because you're waiting for perfect data. Estimation is acceptable; late filing is not.

First-Year SECR Reporting

If this is your first year of SECR reporting, you:

• Must still meet the normal filing deadline
• Don't need to provide comparative prior-year figures
• Establish baseline for future year-on-year comparisons

This is your baseline year, making it crucial to get right for future reporting.

SECR Deadline Reminders and Systems

Set Up Automated Reminders

To avoid missing deadlines:

6 months before deadline: Begin SECR data collection

3 months before deadline: Start calculations and drafting

1 month before deadline: Board approval and final review

1 week before deadline: Final checks and filing preparation

Deadline day: File with Companies House

Companies House Reminder Service

Companies House offers free email reminders:

• Sign up via your Companies House account
• Receive reminders before filing deadlines
• Helpful but not a substitute for proactive planning

Professional Deadline Tracking

Consider professional systems:

• Calendar management software with recurring reminders
• Company secretarial software that tracks all filing obligations
• Automated SECR platforms that manage compliance timelines

Planning Your 2026 SECR Compliance

If you need to comply with SECR in 2026, use this planning checklist:

Q1 2026 (January-March)

For financial years ending December 2025:

• Collect energy bills for January-December 2025
• Begin SECR calculations
• Draft SECR disclosure

For financial years ending March 2026:

• Complete energy data collection through March
• Begin SECR calculations

For all deadlines in 2026:

• Confirm your SECR compliance obligations
• Identify responsible person/team
• Select compliance approach

Q2 2026 (April-June)

For December 2025 year-ends (Public PLCs - deadline June 2026):

• Complete SECR disclosure
• Board approval
• File accounts by 30 June 2026

For March 2026 year-ends:

• Complete SECR calculations
• Draft SECR disclosure

For June 2026 year-ends:

• Collect energy bills through June
• Begin SECR calculations

Q3 2026 (July-September)

For December 2025 year-ends (Private companies - deadline September 2026):

• Final checks
• File accounts by 30 September 2026

For March 2026 year-ends (Private companies - deadline December 2026):

• Board approval of SECR disclosure
• Prepare for year-end filing

For June 2026 year-ends (Public PLCs - deadline December 2026):

• Complete SECR calculations
• Draft and review SECR disclosure

For September 2026 year-ends:

• Collect energy bills through September
• Begin SECR planning

Q4 2026 (October-December)

For March 2026 year-ends (Private companies - deadline December 2026):

• File accounts by 31 December 2026

For June 2026 year-ends (Public PLCs - deadline December 2026):

• Board approval
• File accounts by 31 December 2026

For September 2026 year-ends (Public PLCs - deadline March 2027):

• Complete SECR calculations and drafting

For December 2026 year-ends:

• Collect energy bills through December
• Begin SECR planning for 2027 filing

How to Accelerate SECR Compliance

If you're facing a tight deadline, here's how to accelerate compliance without cutting corners:

1. Use Automated SECR Platforms

Modern platforms like Comply Carbon dramatically reduce compliance time:

• Upload energy bills (PDF or scanned)
• AI extracts data automatically
• Calculations performed using current conversion factors
• SECR-compliant report generated in minutes
• Reduces 6-week process to 10 minutes

2. Parallel Processing

Rather than sequential tasks, work in parallel:

• Data collection team gathers bills
• Finance team prepares intensity ratio data (turnover, employees)
• Sustainability team documents efficiency actions
• All streams converge for final drafting

3. Use Templates

Don't start from scratch:

• View our sample SECR report for formatting guidance
• Use standard wording for methodology sections
• Adapt previous years' reports (if available)

4. Prioritize Board Scheduling

Book board approval meeting early:

• Don't wait until disclosure is perfect
• Present draft for feedback
• Iterate based on board input
• Formal approval at second meeting if needed

Conclusion

SECR reporting deadlines are not negotiable. They're tied to your Companies House accounts filing obligations, with automatic penalties for late filing ranging from £150 to £7,500 depending on your company type and how late you are.

The key to successful SECR compliance is planning ahead:

• Know your deadline: Calculate based on your year-end and company type
• Start early: Begin data collection 6-9 months before filing
• Set reminders: Use automated systems to track your timeline
• Don't wait for perfect data: Estimation is acceptable; late filing is not

For private companies, you have 9 months after year-end. For public companies, you have 6 months. That may sound like plenty of time, but SECR compliance requires data collection, calculations, drafting, review, and board approval - all of which take time.

Ready to simplify your SECR compliance and never worry about deadlines again? Get started with Comply Carbon to generate your Companies House-ready SECR report in 10 minutes, with automated deadline tracking and reminders included.

Additional Resources:

• Companies House Filing Deadlines
• Companies House Late Filing Penalties
• UK Government SECR Guidance
• What is SECR Reporting? Complete Guide
• SECR Compliance Requirements