Company books/ Company registers/ Statutory books (they’re all the same thing!)
First thing – company books, company registers and statutory books are all different words for the same thing. To keep things simple, we refer to them as registers.
What are company registers? The official internal records that a company must maintain under the UK Companies Act 2006. They are the prima facie evidence of who’s who in the company, who owns what shares and who has what rights. For example, if someone comes out of the blue claiming to be a current shareholder, your main line of ‘defence’ would be that they are not listed in your company registers.
Similar requirements apply to LLPs – up until 18 November, they are also required to keep registers of their members (including who has ‘designated member’ status) and PSC registers.
Some registers are ‘non-statutory’ – in other words, they are not required by current law but many companies still maintain them. This is either because they used to be legal requirements (and older companies may still have historic requirements to keep them) or because they are considered ‘best practice’ to keep.
Why do I need to have company registers? All UK companies are legally required to maintain accurate and up to date registers. If the company does not, its directors might be fined.
Some more practical reasons are:
(i) good governance – you want a single ‘source of truth’ to know what is going on with your company;
(ii) current/future investors and banks expect it for due diligence or KYC checks, including cross-checking historic membership changes (for example, as part of an M&A transaction);
(iii) if you ever make any significant changes – such as adding a new director, updating your articles or taking on new investors – you need to know the current situation to work out whose approval is needed to make the change, and how to get it. For example, if a certain % of shareholder votes are needed to approve a change, you must know who your shareholders are and how many voting shares they have. If you don’t, then any approval you do get might not be valid – because you haven’t asked the right people!
Will ECCTA change any requirements to keep registers? Yes. From 18 November, UK companies will no longer be required to keep internal registers of secretaries, directors, or the directors’ home addresses. They will also no longer have to keep an internal PSC register. This is in line with the introduction of ID verification (IDV) on directors and PSCs. The Companies House public register will become the sole ‘source of truth’ for director, secretary and PSC information.
UK companies will still be legally obliged to keep an internal register of members i.e. shareholders for limited by shares companies, or guarantors for limited by guarantee companies. Kudocs will help maintain this for you or your clients.
Companies can opt to continue keeping their own register of directors etc. as non-statutory registers – just as many companies keep internal registers of allotments or transfers despite these not being legal requirements!
In practice, you must still provide Kudocs with full details of your directors, secretaries and PSCs for Companies House filings. These details will be saved to Kudocs in register format.
Is a cap table a company register – what’s the difference? Company registers can cover a wide range of information about the company – not just shareholders (or members), but directors, secretaries, PSC/ RLEs, share issues, conflicts etc.
A cap table is not an official statutory register (i.e. required by law). Instead, it is a useful way of viewing current shareholder information. It is usually cleaned out of all the formal information required by UK law and instead focusses on shareholders and numbers – giving a detailed picture of the company’s equity broken down by shareholder. Cap tables are also used to model ‘what might happen if?’. For example – the company reaches a certain value, takes on new investment, shareholdings change etc.
The Kudocs cap table tool allows you to quickly build a cap table, view it on screen and then export to Excel for further tinkering. Creating your own cap table from scratch (assuming you know the layout you want) can take hours. Instead, Kudocs will generate one for you at the click of a button based on current data.
Where do I find the company registers in Kudocs? Kudocs is – at its most basic – a set of electronic company books. So the short answer is that the data held in Kudocs forms your company registers. As a system, Kudocs is a complete set of electronic registers with all the information required by law – and more – making it easier to view and use this information.
If you ever need to generate a printable copy of your registers, see below!
How do I generate the company registers using Kudocs? Your registers are constantly maintained electronically in Kudocs. This includes synchronising data with Companies House to ensure that Companies House is kept updated. Conversely, Kudocs can be updated with any changes at Companies House which have been made outside Kudocs.
If for some reason you need to print out or share a set of registers, you can download a .pdf file or .csv spreadsheet using the {Export registers} button. This is available on many pages in the system. For more information, see here.
Alternatively, if someone wants to view your registers, you can grant them ‘Read Only’ access as a user. This will allow them into your Kudocs account, at no cost to you or them, to view your company information. Different levels of access are available depending on what you would like them to see. You can remove access at any time (Settings > Users). For more information, see here.
Do I need physical (or hard copy) company registers? No. Electronic registers have been permitted in the UK since October 2009 (when the Companies Act 2006 came into force), provided that the registers can be generated in hard copy if required. Kudocs allows you to do this – for more information, see here.
Where do I need to ‘keep’ my company registers? Before electronic registers were allowed (pre-2009), companies were required to have physical registers ‘available for inspection’. This was normally at the company’s registered office, but could be elsewhere (see below about SAIL addresses).
Companies are still required by law to make their registers ‘available for inspection’, but this does not mean having a set of physical registers if these are normally kept electronically. Using Kudocs, your registers can be available anywhere, at anytime, by anyone (with your permission). All you need is a computer and access to the internet.
What is a SAIL address? A Single Alternative Inspection Location is a location where a company can keep its company registers available for public inspection – as an alternative to the company’s registered office. There is no legal requirement to have a SAIL address – it is optional for your convenience. In practice, if your Kudocs registers can be accessed online from the registered office, a SAIL address is irrelevant.
I’ve heard about the Companies House ‘central register’ – what is this?
From 2016, companies could opt into keeping their statutory registers on a Companies House ‘central register’ instead of in their own internal records. The ‘central register’ was different from the usual public register – updating it required specific forms to be filed, and the level of information shown to the public was greater than normal – for example, directors’ full dates of birth!
ECCTA removes the ‘central register’ option entirely, including for the register of members.
We understand that this removal will be in force from 18 November 2025, although there is some uncertainty over the register of members. However, what we do know is that companies who had opted into using the ‘central register’ for their register of members will soon have to start keeping this internally instead. If you are in this situation, please contact Kudocs to see how we can help you (including bringing your register into Kudocs!).
Last updated: 14/11/2025 by Kudocs Admin