CIC34 Report: What to Write, With Examples
The community interest company report is short, public and filed every year with your accounts. Here is what each part of the CIC34 asks for, sample wording for a fictional employability CIC, and how to file it online or on paper.
The CIC34 is the annual community interest company report. Every CIC, active or dormant, files one with its accounts. The simplified version has four parts to fill in: activities and community benefit, stakeholder consultation, directors' remuneration and transfers of assets other than for full consideration, then a director signs it. The fee is £15. You can file it online with your accounts through Companies House's CIC accounts service (not WebFiling), or by post with a cheque. It is due when your accounts are due, usually 9 months after your year end.
What the CIC34 Is and Why the Regulator Cares
On top of the accounts every company files, the directors of a community interest company must prepare an annual CIC report. The legal basis is section 34 of the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, and the required content is set out in Part 7 of the Community Interest Company Regulations 2005. Form CIC34 is the regulator's template for it.
The purpose, in the regulator's own guidance, is to show that the CIC still satisfies the community interest test and that it is engaging properly with its stakeholders. The report is placed on the public register at Companies House and copied to the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies. Regulation is described as light touch: the regulator does not supervise CICs individually, but it considers CIC reports and complaints and can make further enquiries.
So anyone, including funders and commissioners, can download your CIC34, and it is the main document the regulator reads about you. The regulator's guidance asks for the fullest information you can give rather than the bare minimum, while the filing guidance says it need not be especially detailed: pick out the key highlights, and mention funding you received.
Simplified or Detailed Version
The regulator publishes two versions of the CIC34 on GOV.UK, each with a completed example, plus a continuation sheet for when you run out of space. Most CICs use the simplified report. The detailed report is for CICs with more complex finances. It adds:
- A fuller directors' remuneration section, broken into items such as pension contributions and compensation for loss of office.
- A dividends section, for a CIC limited by shares that declared or proposed a dividend for the year (or declared one in any of the four preceding years).
- A section on interest paid at a performance-related rate on a debt or debenture.
A company limited by guarantee with no performance-related loans will almost always use the simplified form.
What to Write, Part by Part
The header asks for the company name exactly as it appears on the accounts, the company number, and the year ending date written in full (for example "31 March 2026") matching the accounts date. The form warns that it will be rejected if this information is wrong.
Part 1: General description of the company's activities and impact
A general account of what the company did in the financial year and how that benefited the community. Good answers name the community you serve (the one in your objects), describe the activities in plain terms, and give a few concrete numbers: people supported, sessions run, outcomes achieved. If you produce a social audit report that covers the same ground, the form lets you write that one is attached instead.
Part 2: Consultation with stakeholders
A stakeholder is anyone affected by the company's activities. The form asks three things: who your stakeholders are, how you consulted them, and what you changed as a result. The third question is the one that gets skipped. If there was genuinely no consultation, the form requires you to state "There has been no stakeholder consultation held".
Part 3: Directors' remuneration
State what the directors received. If the full details are already in your accounts, you can point to where they are instead of repeating them, but you must say where. If nothing was paid, the form requires the words "no remuneration was received by the directors". The regulator's guidance expects director pay to be reasonable and transparent.
Part 4: Transfers of assets other than for full consideration
Any asset you gave away or transferred for less than its market value, either to another asset-locked body (another CIC or a charity, for example) or for the benefit of the community. Include the amount or a fair estimate of its value. Transfers to an asset-locked body are only allowed if that body is named in your articles or the regulator has consented. If there were none, write "no transfer of assets other than for full consideration has been made".
Part 5: Signatory
A director signs and dates the report, with the date in full. The GOV.UK form page notes that the requirement for a live signature was removed in January 2025. The optional contact box helps Companies House reach you about a query, but anything you put there is visible on the public record.
Worked Example: A Fictional Employability CIC
"Ridgeway Routes to Work CIC" is made up for this guide. The figures are invented to show the level of detail, not real results. Write your own report from your own records.
Ridgeway is limited by guarantee and helps unemployed adults in one town into work through coaching and short employer-led courses. It has one grant-funded programme and one paid director, and uses the simplified CIC34.
During the year ended 31 March 2026 the company supported unemployed adults in [town] to move into work, in line with its community objects. We received 214 referrals, of whom 162 started the programme. Participants received one-to-one coaching, CV and interview support, and places on six employer-led short courses (warehousing, care and hospitality). 71 participants started paid work and 38 started accredited training. Where we could confirm it, 49 of those in work were still employed 13 weeks later. The programme was funded by a grant from [funder] and income from employer training fees.
Our stakeholders are participants and their families, referral partners (the local Jobcentre and two housing associations), employers who recruit through the programme, our funder, staff and volunteers. Participants completed a short survey at the start and end of the programme, and we held two feedback sessions with past participants. We met referral partners quarterly and asked employers for feedback after each course. In response, we moved coaching sessions to evenings for participants with caring responsibilities, added a care sector course after employer demand, and shortened the referral form at partners' request.
Details of directors' remuneration are given in note 6 to the accounts. One director received a salary for their role as programme manager. No other director received remuneration.
The company gave 12 refurbished laptops, with an estimated value of £1,800, to participants without access to a computer, to support job searching. This transfer was made for the benefit of the community. No other transfer of assets other than for full consideration has been made.
Every claim in Part 1 is a count you could produce from records, Part 2 says who, how and what changed, and Part 4 catches a small transfer that is easy to forget.
How to File the CIC34: Online or Paper
Online. Companies House runs a service called "File your annual CIC report and accounts", currently marked as a beta. Before you start you need the accounts approved by the directors, a Companies House account, the company number, the company authentication code, and a debit or credit card for the £15 fee. It accepts full accounts, or package accounts saved as an iXBRL-tagged ZIP by suitable third-party software. Not every accounting software provider has a product for CIC accounts. You cannot use the WebFiling service for CIC accounts.
Paper. Print the completed CIC34, attach it to the accounts and post both to Companies House, Crown Way, Cardiff, CF14 3UZ, with a £15 cheque payable to Companies House. Companies House asks for originals, not photocopies, on white A4 paper.
Amended accounts. If you need to amend CIC accounts, file on paper and include a CIC34 with the amended accounts. There is no £15 fee for an amended filing.
From 1 April 2028 all companies must file accounts using commercial software; paper and Companies House's own digital services will no longer be available. If you file CIC accounts on paper today, check your software can produce CIC accounts before then.
Deadlines and late filing. The CIC34 goes with the accounts, so it shares their deadline: 9 months after the end of the financial year for a private company, or 21 months after registration for the first accounts. Companies House warns that the documents must be filed on time or the CIC may face a late filing penalty. For private companies the penalty runs from £150 (up to a month late) to £1,500 (more than six months late), and it doubles if the accounts are late two years running.
Common Mistakes
- Blank sections. Each part has a set nil statement. Leaving a box empty is not the same as saying nothing happened.
- Header details that do not match the accounts. The company name must match the name on the accounts and the year end must be written in full and match the accounts date.
- Activities with no community. A list of services with no mention of who benefited, or activities that drift from the company's objects. Companies House has written about checking that what goes on the register reflects the company's objectives.
- Consultation without outcomes. "We consulted stakeholders regularly" answers none of the three questions. Say who, how, and what changed.
- "See accounts" with no reference. You can point to the accounts for remuneration, but the form says you must say where.
- Forgotten transfers. The regulator says transfers at less than market value should be read widely, and cash is often a CIC's main asset. Donated equipment or grants passed on to another organisation may count. Include a value or a fair estimate.
- Wrong version. A CIC limited by shares that paid a dividend needs the detailed form.
- Wrong filing route. Using WebFiling, sending photocopies, or leaving the CIC34 out of amended accounts.
- Personal data. The report is public. Report numbers and anonymised examples, never names of participants.
Gathering the Evidence Through the Year
The hard part is rarely the writing. It is finding numbers in March for things that happened the previous April. Three habits help:
- Record outcomes when they happen. Each participant should have a dated record of referral, start, the support they received and the outcome, with the evidence (offer letter, enrolment confirmation) attached at the time. Part 1 then becomes a count, not an estimate.
- Log consultation as you go. Keep a simple record of each survey, partner meeting or feedback session: date, who took part, what they said, and what you changed. That is Part 2, written in advance.
- Note transfers and director payments when they are made. A running list for your accountant makes Parts 3 and 4 quick and keeps them consistent with the accounts.
Many CICs already collect most of this for funder reports, often in spreadsheets copied between systems each quarter. If that is where your time goes, we build impact reporting software for CICs: participant pathways from referral to outcome, with evidence attached to each outcome, so the same records produce the funder return and the figures for your CIC34. The Impact Tracker case study shows one built for an employability CIC.
FAQ
What is a CIC 34 report?
The CIC34 is the annual community interest company report that every CIC, active or dormant, files with its accounts. It covers community benefit, stakeholder consultation, directors' pay and transfers of assets for less than full value. It goes on the public register and is copied to the CIC Regulator.
Can I file my CIC34 online?
Yes, with your accounts, through the Companies House service File your annual CIC report and accounts (a beta). You need a Companies House account, the authentication code and a card for the £15 fee. You cannot use WebFiling, and amended CIC accounts must go on paper.
How much does it cost to file a CIC34?
£15, paid with the accounts. Online you pay by debit or credit card; on paper you enclose a cheque payable to Companies House. There is no £15 fee when you file amended accounts with a CIC report.
When is the CIC34 due?
With the annual accounts. For most private companies that is 9 months after the financial year ends, or 21 months after registration for the first accounts. Late accounts can attract a late filing penalty.
Should I use the simplified or the detailed CIC34?
The regulator says most CICs use the simplified version. The detailed version is for CICs with more complex finances, such as a CIC limited by shares that declared or proposed a dividend, or one that paid a performance-related rate of interest on a debt or debenture.
What if nothing happened in one of the sections?
Do not leave it blank. The form gives a set statement for each nil return, for example that there has been no stakeholder consultation held, that no remuneration was received by the directors, or that no transfer of assets other than for full consideration has been made.
Sources
Checked October 2026. Fees, forms and filing routes change, so confirm on GOV.UK before you file.
- Form CIC34: community interest company report (GOV.UK, Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies): simplified and detailed forms, completed examples, update history.
- CIC business activities: forms and step-by-step guidelines (GOV.UK): online and paper filing, £15 fee, amended accounts, late filing.
- File your annual CIC report and accounts (Companies House service).
- Community interest companies guidance (GOV.UK): content of the CIC report and the regulator's expectations.
- Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies: Information Pack (March 2026, PDF).
- Accounts and tax returns for private limited companies (GOV.UK): filing deadlines.
- Late filing penalties (GOV.UK).
- File your company's annual accounts (GOV.UK): software-only filing from 1 April 2028.
- An introduction to community interest companies (Companies House blog, 2023).
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