Year End Accounts (YEA) in BrightTax are used to prepare statutory accounts for companies, LLPs, partnerships, and sole traders. The accounts are produced in iXBRL format and can be submitted to Companies House or linked directly to a Corporation Tax return. This article covers how to create and set up a Year End Accounts task.

• The client must exist in BrightTax as an Organisation (for companies and LLPs) or Individual (for sole traders and partnerships).
• Your Companies House presenter details must be configured in System Settings before filing with Companies House.
• Choose the correct Accounts Production template before opening the task — see Accounts Production Templates for the full list.

1. From the Dashboard, click Create Task.
2. Select Year End Accounts from the task type list.
3. Select the accounting period.
4. Search for and select the client.
5. Click Create Task to confirm.
6. Click Open Year End Accounts — the task opens in read-only mode.
7. Switch to Edit mode using the bottom-left toggle.

Before you can enter any data in the Year End Accounts, you must assign an Accounts Production template. This is a required step.

1. From the YEA task Summary tab, click Template Details in the left-hand menu.
2. Select the appropriate template from the dropdown — see the template reference table below.
3. Click Save.
4. Click Open Year End Accounts to begin.

From the Summary tab, click Address Detail in the left-hand menu to assign the registered office address. This address will appear on the accounts and must match the address held at Companies House.

The Associated Clients tab on the YEA task allows you to link directors and other associated individuals to the accounts. This is required for linking directors to signing information and loans to directors entries. See Linking Directors to Year End Accounts and Report Signing for full guidance.

The Open Year End Accounts button is not active

• You must assign an Accounts Production template before the Open button becomes active. Go to Template Details in the Summary tab and select a template.

The prior period column is showing as Not Defined

• This occurs when BrightTax for a client for the first time and no prior year accounts exist in the system. You need to create a prior year YEA task and mark it as complete to define the prior period. See the related troubleshooting article for step-by-step instructions.

Q: Can I add custom lines to the trial balance?

A: Not within BrightTax Accounts Production. The trial balance templates are fixed and cannot have additional lines or ledger accounts added. If you need this capability, BrightAP supports customisable trial balances.

Q: Can I file accounts directly to Companies House from BrightTax?

A: Yes. Once accounts are completed and checked, use the Submit to Companies House option from the bottom toolbar on the YEA summary page.