A senior Midlands accountant has reminded company directors that important changes had been made to the rules for the submission of documents and forms to Companies House.

Horwath Clark Whitehill partner Richard Baker said all directors and business owners needed to be aware of the new rules.

The move to new forms was seen as a precursor to the transition towards online filing.

"They may not be headline grabbing but they will affect the detail in the way companies present their information to Companies House," he said.

"Documents must now be submitted written only in black ink and this includes all text and signatures.

"The company's name and registered number must now be included in the accounts on one of the following: the directors' report, the audit report, the balance sheet or the directors' remuneration report.

"It was previously common practice to include this information on the cover page of the accounts.

"All Companies House forms have been changed.  The new forms must be used for everything now and old ones will be rejected.

"Conversely, forms in respect of events which took place before October 1 2009 should be submitted on the 1985 Act forms, even if they are filed after that date."

Mr Baker said failure to submit a compliant document could result in Companies House submissions being rejected and penalties being charged.

There were other detailed changes to be considered said Mr Baker

A company no longer gets a 14-day extension if its documents are rejected and they must be filed by the original deadline

Directors will be permitted to list a service address with the Registrar of Companies as well as the usual residential address

The residential address will automatically become the service address unless a Confidentiality Order is already in place. There will no longer be a requirement for an audit report to contain the auditor's signature.

Mr Baker added that the burden of keeping abreast of regulatory requirements looked set to continue. This was no headline grabber but of fundamental importance - the odd changes that were made often got missed.