| User Roles |  Admin |  Staff contributor | ✗External contributor | ✗Pulse user |
When a client file is set up to file with Companies House or HMRC, Silverfin shows a small submission status label on the relevant workflow. It tells you at a glance whether a filing is still to be made, when it is due, and, once you have filed, whether it was accepted. This article explains what each label means, where the dates come from, and what to check when a label is missing or looks wrong.
Table of contents
- Is a submission status label the same as a workflow status?
- What does each submission status label mean?
- Which workflows and periods show a label?
- Where do the dates on the labels come from?
- Why is no label showing?
- Why does the date look wrong?
- Can I change or override a label?
- What else should I be aware of?
- Frequently asked questions
Is a submission status label the same as a workflow status?
No. It is easy to confuse the two, because both appear on a workflow.
- A workflow status is one your firm sets up and your team applies by hand, for example Ready for first review or Finalised. See What is a workflow status and how do you manage it at the firm level?
- A submission status label is set automatically from your filing deadlines and from the responses Companies House and HMRC send back. It cannot be edited.
Everything below is about the second kind.
What does each submission status label mean?
| Label | Shows a date | What it means |
| DUE | Yes | A filing is expected for this period and the deadline has not yet passed. The date shown is the filing deadline. |
| OVERDUE | Yes | The filing deadline has been reached or passed and Silverfin has not received a successful submission. |
| PENDING | No | A submission has been sent and Silverfin is waiting for a result. Companies House and HMRC both process filings in a queue, so this can last from a few minutes to considerably longer at busy times. |
| ACCEPTED | No | The filing was accepted. For Companies House this means the accounts have gone onto the register. For Corporation Tax it means HMRC accepted the return. |
| REJECTED | No | The filing reached Companies House or HMRC and was refused. The reason is recorded as a communication on the client file, so correct the issue and submit again. |
| FAILED | No | The submission did not complete, so it never got as far as being accepted or refused. This usually points to a problem with the submission itself rather than with the accounts or the return. Try again, and contact Support if it happens repeatedly. |
You may also see a DUE or OVERDUE label shown with a line through it, alongside a Sync not installed message. That is Silverfin telling you the date is no longer reliable. See Why does the date look wrong? below.
Which workflows and periods show a label?
The label appears on the workflow that contains the relevant filing:
- Companies House labels appear on the Annual Accounts workflow used to generate the iXBRL accounts.
- Corporation Tax labels appear on the Corporation Tax workflow.
Only one period in the file carries a label: the final period of the most recently closed financial year. Earlier periods, and the period you are currently working in before its year end has passed, will not show one.
Where do the dates on the labels come from?
The two deadlines are worked out in completely different ways, which matters when a date looks wrong.
Companies House
Silverfin does not calculate this date. It is taken directly from the company's record at Companies House through the Companies House sync on the client file. If Companies House shows a different date to Silverfin, the sync is the place to look. See What information do we sync from Companies House?
Corporation Tax
Silverfin calculates this from the period dates on the file:
- For a period of account of less than 18 months, the deadline is 12 months after the period end date.
- For a period of account of 18 months or more, the deadline is 30 months from the period start date, less one day.
That mirrors the normal statutory position. HMRC's filing date can in some circumstances fall later, for example where a notice to deliver a return is issued late, so treat the label as a working deadline rather than a substitute for checking HMRC's own record.
Why is no label showing?
If a workflow you would expect to carry a label does not have one, work through these in order.
- Is the filing integration set up for your firm? Labels only appear where the Companies House integration and, for tax, the UK Corporation Tax integration have been enabled. If neither is set up, no client file in the firm will show a label. See How do I post in Companies House? (UK market)
- Is the company registration number recorded on the client file, in the standard eight-character format? This is the single most common cause. Silverfin only creates a submission record for a company whose registration number is present and is eight characters long. A blank number, or one entered with spaces, punctuation or in a non-standard format, means no label appears at all on that file.
- For Companies House labels, is the Companies House sync connected on this client file? Because the deadline comes from Companies House, no sync means no date, and therefore no label.
- Are you looking at the right period? Only the final period of the most recently closed financial year carries a label.
- Does the workflow actually contain the filing? A workflow with no Companies House or Corporation Tax iXBRL export in it will not show a submission label.
Why does the date look wrong?
The Companies House sync has been removed or disconnected on this client file, so the deadline is frozen at whatever it was when the sync last ran, and it will drift out of date. Reconnect the sync and the correct date returns. Until then, treat the date as unreliable, which is exactly what the strike-through is telling you.
The Corporation Tax date does not match the period
The deadline is worked out when the filing is first identified. If the period start or end date on the file has been changed since then, the label keeps the deadline calculated from the old dates. Contact Support and ask for the submission record to be regenerated from the corrected period.
The Companies House date does not match the register
Check the Companies House sync on the client file first, and refresh it. Silverfin is showing a copy of what Companies House holds, so a mismatch is nearly always a sync that has not run recently.
Can I change or override a label?
No. Submission labels are calculated and cannot be edited, cleared or set by hand. In particular, there is currently no way to:
- mark a filing as not applicable, for example on prior-year data brought in during a migration, which will show as outstanding;
- record that a return or set of accounts was filed on paper or outside Silverfin;
- enter an extended or amended deadline agreed with Companies House or HMRC.
If any of these matter to how your firm reports on outstanding filings, please raise it with your Customer Success contact so it can be logged as a feature request.
What else should I be aware of?
On the deadline day itself, the label reads OVERDUE.
The label flips as soon as the deadline is reached, not after it has passed. A return filed on the due date will show OVERDUE until Companies House or HMRC confirms the result, at which point the label changes to PENDING and then to ACCEPTED.
An amended return does not change an ACCEPTED label.
Once a filing has been accepted, the label stays as ACCEPTED. If you subsequently submit an amended return and it is rejected, the label will not change to reflect that. Check the communications on the client file for the outcome of any submission after the first accepted one.
A long period of account with two Corporation Tax returns shows one label.
Where a period of account longer than 12 months means two returns are required, both are covered by a single label, which reflects the first result received. Check the communications on the file for the outcome of each return.
Test submissions are ignored.
A test Corporation Tax submission will not change the label on the workflow.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly does the label update after I submit?
The label changes to PENDING as soon as the submission leaves Silverfin, then updates on its own once Companies House or HMRC responds. There is nothing to refresh manually.
Where do I find out why a submission was rejected?
The detail is recorded as a communication on the client file, in the same place you receive confirmation of a successful filing.
We file some clients outside Silverfin. Will they always show as outstanding?
Yes. Silverfin can only reflect submissions made through it, and there is no way to mark a filing as done elsewhere.
The whole firm has no labels at all. What should we check?
That the Companies House and Corporation Tax integrations have been enabled for the firm. Until they are, no labels appear anywhere.
Do these labels drive anything else in Silverfin?
Yes. The same submission status and due date are available as filters in Insights, so you can report across your portfolio on what is due, overdue or already accepted.
This article relates to the submission status labels shown on workflows in the UK market. It is provided as guidance and does not constitute accounting or tax advice; always confirm filing deadlines against Companies House and HMRC records.