SECR filing deadlines — when is your report due?

What is the SECR filing deadline?

Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) has no submission process of its own. The disclosure is part of your annual report and accounts, so the SECR filing deadline is simply your accounts deadline at Companies House:

• Private companies and LLPs (limited liability partnerships): 9 months after the financial year-end
• Public companies (quoted companies and unquoted PLCs): 6 months after the financial year-end

The deadline follows your company type, not whether you're quoted — an unlisted PLC still files in 6 months. A private company with a 31 December 2025 financial year-end must file by 30 September 2026. One filing covers both your accounts and the energy and carbon information inside them.

SECR deadline at a glance

The legal basis — Companies Act 2006, section 442

The SECR filing deadline is not set by the energy and carbon reporting regulations themselves. It comes from section 442 of the Companies Act 2006, which fixes the period for filing accounts and reports. Because the SECR disclosure is part of the Directors' Report, it inherits the section 442 deadline exactly — which is why there is no separate SECR return: one filing covers your accounts, your Directors' Report and the energy and carbon report inside it.

How the SECR deadline works against your reporting period

Your SECR reporting period normally mirrors your financial year, so the energy use and carbon emissions you disclose cover the same 12 months as your financial reporting. The reporting year you measure and the filing deadline you hit are two different dates: you gather a full year of energy consumption data, then you have 9 (or 6) months after the period ends to publish it in your annual SECR report. Mapping both dates early stops a strong reporting year being undone by a missed deadline.

For your exact date, use the free SECR deadline calculator.

Worked examples by entity type

Each example uses a 31 December 2025 financial year-end.

• Private limited company: files by 30 September 2026 — 9 months after year-end. The SECR disclosure goes in the same Directors' Report.
• LLP: files by 30 September 2026 — LLPs follow the same 9-month rule as private companies.
• Unquoted public company (PLC): files by 30 June 2026 — 6 months after year-end, even though it is not listed.
• Quoted company: files by 30 June 2026 — 6 months, and it reports global energy use and emissions, not just UK. The requirements are wider, but the deadline is identical.

The pattern holds for any year-end: count forward 9 months (private/LLP) or 6 months (public) to the same calendar date.

Who is required to report under the SECR framework?

SECR applies to large unquoted companies and LLPs, and to quoted companies, that meet the size test. You are in scope if you meet at least two of three thresholds: turnover of £36 million or more, balance sheet total of £18 million or more, or 250 or more employees. These SECR thresholds did not move when the April 2025 Companies Act uplift raised the general "large" company test to £54 million turnover and £27 million balance sheet — so a business now treated as medium-sized for its annual report can still be required to report under the SECR framework. The free SECR eligibility checker confirms whether you are in scope before you worry about the deadline. See also who needs SECR for the full scope test.

There is one notable exemption. A low energy user — an organisation that consumes 40,000 kWh or less of UK energy across the whole reporting year — can state that fact instead of a full disclosure, and is effectively exempt from SECR reporting in full. Outside that low energy carve-out, almost every company and LLP that meets the threshold must report, and the deadline applies the moment you confirm you are in scope.

What you need to disclose in an SECR report

The energy and carbon report inside your Directors' Report has a defined set of reporting requirements. Quoted companies report their global greenhouse gas emissions; large unquoted companies and LLPs report their UK energy use and the associated carbon emissions. Every filer must include:

• Total UK energy use across electricity, gas and transport (in kWh) for the reporting period
• Greenhouse gas emissions in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e), calculated with the current DEFRA/DESNZ 2026 conversion factors
• At least one intensity ratio — an emissions intensity ratio that sets emissions against a business metric such as turnover or floor area
• A narrative on the energy efficiency measures taken in the reporting year, plus prior-year comparatives once you have them
• The methodology used to calculate the figures

Getting the SECR data right matters as much as the date: an SECR report that is on time but materially wrong still fails its reporting requirements. This is where defensible greenhouse gas emissions calculation and a clear energy efficiency narrative earn their place. Strong energy efficiency measures also lower your energy consumption and energy costs year on year — each emission you report is also an emission you can work to cut, and a clearer carbon footprint to manage.

First accounts have a different deadline

A company's first set of accounts is due 21 months after incorporation (private) or 18 months (public), or 3 months after the accounting reference date if that is later. The standard 9-month / 6-month rule applies from the second filing onwards. If your first reporting period is longer or shorter than 12 months, the energy and carbon data you disclose should match that period.

Non-standard financial years and group reporting

If you change your accounting reference date, your filing deadline shifts with it — recalculate from the new financial year-end. Where you shorten a period the deadline can fall the later of the normal date or 3 months from the date the change was notified, so check it carefully rather than assuming.

For a group, a parent prepares a single consolidated SECR disclosure covering qualifying subsidiaries, filed on the group accounts deadline; subsidiaries included in the group report do not file separately. Group structures are the most common reason a SECR report slips, because data has to be pulled from several sets of books before the deadline — and the consolidated parent's deadline does not wait for a slow subsidiary.

The annual June emission factor refresh

The UK Government publishes updated greenhouse gas conversion factors (now from DESNZ, historically DEFRA) once a year, usually in June. Calculate each reporting year's emissions using the factors for that data year. If your financial year-end falls close to the June refresh, confirm which factor set applies before you convert your energy consumption into emissions — using last year's factors on this year's data is a common, avoidable error. The current set is the 2026 release; check the free DEFRA conversion factors tool for the right category.

How far ahead to start preparing your SECR report

The filing date is when the annual report and accounts must be at Companies House — preparation takes longer. You need to collect energy consumption data across electricity, gas and transport, apply the current conversion factors, calculate your greenhouse gas emissions and intensity ratio, and draft the disclosure for the Directors' Report. First-time filers should allow 8–10 weeks; companies with fragmented data across multiple sites should allow longer. Starting early is the single biggest thing that keeps SECR compliance calm rather than a year-end scramble.

Why SECR has a deadline at all

SECR came into force in April 2019, replacing the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme and folding mandatory energy and carbon reporting into existing financial reporting. Because the disclosure rides inside the annual report, the deadline is the accounts deadline — no separate environmental reporting return, just one filing covering both the numbers and the energy efficiency narrative. Official SECR guidance frames the scheme as cutting duplication in carbon reporting while raising awareness of energy costs across UK businesses.

SECR deadline versus ESOS deadline — don't confuse the two

SECR and ESOS are separate schemes with separate clocks. SECR is annual energy and carbon reporting filed inside your annual report and accounts on your Companies House deadline. ESOS (the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme) is a four-yearly mandatory energy audit with its own compliance deadline notified to the Environment Agency — not Companies House. Many large companies are caught by both, so track each deadline separately rather than assume one SECR disclosure covers your wider environmental reporting obligations.

Will the deadline change when UK SRS arrives?

No — SECR continues on the section 442 accounts deadline. The UK Sustainability Reporting Standards were published in final form on 25 February 2026 for voluntary use, and under the FCA's proposals UK-listed companies would report against UK SRS S2 from 1 January 2027. They are a separate framework with their own timeline; your SECR obligation is unchanged. Building a clean SECR data pipeline now — accurate energy consumption data, defensible emissions and a real energy efficiency narrative — makes the eventual UK SRS transition far easier. See the glossary for how these frameworks fit together.

What happens if you miss the SECR deadline

Two separate risks apply. Delaying the accounts to fix SECR triggers Companies House late-filing penalties on the whole accounts filing (private £150–£1,500; public £750–£7,500; doubled if you file late two years running). Separately, leaving the required SECR disclosure out of the Directors' Report is a breach of the Companies Act 2006 — a criminal offence carrying unlimited director fines. The Financial Reporting Council can also require you to restate the energy and carbon information in your next annual report. See SECR penalties for the full picture.

Get your exact SECR filing deadline

Tell a vetted, IEMA-qualified SECR specialist your year-end and company type and they will confirm your exact filing deadline and what is left to do — free and with no obligation. We do not file on your behalf or sell you software; we match you with the right specialist for your reporting requirements. Start with the free SECR deadline calculator, then talk to someone who does this every day.