How to fill in a CIC34 report, with example answers

In short: The CIC34 is the community interest company report every CIC sends Companies House with its accounts each year. Most CICs use the simplified form, which has five parts: what the company did and how the community benefited, how it consulted its stakeholders, what its directors were paid, any assets transferred for less than full value, and a director's signature and date (GOV.UK: form CIC34). Where nothing happened, write the form's "none" statement instead of leaving the part blank, and make the company name and year-end date match the accounts exactly.

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Key facts (checked on 13 October 2026)

What is a CIC34 report, and who has to fill one in?

The CIC34 is the community interest company report: a short public statement showing the company still meets the community interest test. Every CIC files one for every financial year, whatever its size and even when dormant, made up to the same date as its accounts and delivered with them (CIC Regulations 2005, Part 7).

It goes on the public register next to the accounts, where customers, funders and anyone else can read it (GOV.UK: form CIC34). It doesn't need to be long, but the Regulator asks for more than the bare minimum: the year's main achievements, the benefit to the community and any funding the CIC received (CIC Regulator: step-by-step guidelines). Our guide to how to file CIC accounts and a CIC34 covers deadlines, fees and the filing routes. This guide is about the answers themselves.

Should you use the simplified or the detailed CIC34?

Use the simplified CIC34 unless your CIC has more complex finances. The CIC Regulator says most CICs use the simplified report. It keeps the detailed one for CICs with dividends or performance-related interest to report (GOV.UK: form CIC34).

The dividend test looks back. The Regulator's detailed form asks a CIC limited by shares for dividend details if it declared or proposed a dividend for the year, or declared a dividend for any of the 4 years before it (GOV.UK: form CIC34). So a share CIC that declared a dividend 3 years ago still reports dividend details this year, and the detailed form is the one built for them. The interest test covers the whole year: it applies if the company had a debt or debenture at any time in the year with a performance-related rate, one that moves with its profits, turnover or balance sheet.

How do you fill in the simplified CIC34, step by step?

Work through the form from the top, one part at a time, with the approved accounts beside you. The simplified CIC34 has a header and five parts, and every part needs either an answer or the form's own "none" statement. Eight steps cover it, and the last one checks the report against the accounts (GOV.UK: form CIC34).

Step 1: Get the simplified form and the approved accounts

Download the simplified CIC34 from the CIC Regulator's form page on GOV.UK, or use software or Companies House's online CIC service, which ask the same questions. Keep the accounts the directors approved in front of you, because the report covers the same financial year and its details must match them. Before you start, rule out the detailed form: a share CIC's dividend declared or proposed for this year, or declared for any of the 4 years before, or performance-related interest on a debt or debenture during the year, means using the Regulator's detailed CIC34 instead.

Step 2: Fill in the company details at the top

Enter the company name in full, exactly as it appears on the accounts, and the company number. Write the year-end date in full with the month as a word, for example 31 March 2026, and make it the same date as the accounts. The form warns that reports with the date in the wrong format will be rejected. Contact details are optional, and anything you add there becomes public.

Step 3: Describe the year's activities and community benefit

In Part 1, say what the company did during the financial year and how that benefited the community. Name the community you serve, the main activities and results you can count, such as people helped, sessions run or volunteers involved. Mention any grants or other funding, which the Regulator says it wants to hear about. If a social audit report covers these points, you can attach it and say so instead.

Step 4: Explain how you consulted stakeholders

Part 2 asks who your stakeholders are, how you consulted them and what you did in response. The form treats anyone affected by the company's activities as a stakeholder. The Regulator's examples of consultation include newsletters, stakeholder meetings, a website that invites comments, and formal consultation before big decisions. If no consultation took place, the form requires a plain statement that none was held; don't leave the part empty.

Step 5: State what the directors were paid

Part 3 asks for any remuneration the directors received in the year. Give the amount, or say exactly where full details appear in the accounts. If the directors were paid nothing, the form requires a statement that no remuneration was received by the directors. Answer this part even when your accounts leave directors' pay out, as micro-entity accounts usually do.

Step 6: Report any assets transferred for less than full value

Part 4 covers any asset the company transferred for less than its full value, either to another asset-locked body or for the benefit of the community, such as equipment given away or money granted to another organisation. Give full details and the amount, or a fair estimate of the value. If there were none, the form requires a statement that no such transfer was made.

Step 7: Have a director sign and date the report

A director of the company signs and dates the report in Part 5. The Regulator removed the requirement for a handwritten signature on 29 January 2025. In the iXBRL version used for online filing, the report carries the signing director's name and the signing date (Companies House technical specification). Write the date in full, because the form asks for full dates throughout.

Step 8: Check the report against the accounts

Before you file, compare the CIC34 with the accounts: the same company name, company number and year-end date, every part answered or given its "none" statement, and a director's name and date in Part 5. In an online package, Companies House checks that the company number and period end match across both files, so a few minutes here can save a rejected filing.

What do good CIC34 answers look like?

Good answers are specific, short and checkable: what you did, for whom, how many, and what changed. The examples below are for a fictional company, Larkfield Repair Café CIC, and only show the kind of detail that helps. Write your own answers from your company's real year, and don't copy these.

Example only, for a fictional CIC. Part 1, activities and impact:

Larkfield Repair Café CIC runs a monthly repair café in Larkfield village hall, where volunteers fix household items free of charge. In the year to 31 March 2026 we held 12 sessions, repaired 410 items and kept an estimated 1.2 tonnes of goods out of landfill. We also ran 4 free repair workshops for 38 local residents. A £2,500 grant from a local community fund paid for tools and hall hire.

Part 2, consultation with stakeholders:

Our stakeholders are the people who use the repair café, our volunteers, the village hall committee and other local residents. We asked visitors to fill in a short feedback card at each session and held an open volunteers' meeting in October 2025. In response, we added a Saturday session and a bicycle repair table, the two changes most people asked for.

Part 3, directors' remuneration, for a CIC whose directors were paid nothing:

No remuneration was received by the directors.

Or, where a director was paid:

One director received £6,000 for running the workshop programme, under a written agreement approved by the board. No other director received any remuneration.

Part 4, transfers of assets other than for full consideration:

In February 2026 the company gave 6 refurbished laptops, with an estimated value of £900, to Larkfield Youth Club CIC, an asset-locked body, for use by local young people.

Weak answers tend to be one-liners such as "community projects" or "spoke to members", which give the Regulator nothing to check. The Regulator says it wants the fullest possible information, not just the minimum (CIC Regulator: annual CIC report and accounts). Whether a transfer like the one in Part 4 needed the Regulator's consent depends on the asset lock and the company's articles, so read the Regulator's guidance before you report one.

Why does the CIC34 ask for directors' pay when the accounts leave it out?

Because the CIC Regulations make directors' pay part of the CIC report itself (CIC Regulations 2005, Part 7). The form lets the report point to where the accounts show it, but micro-entity accounts usually don't show it, so the CIC34 then has to give the amount or state that no remuneration was received.

The form says the same: give the remuneration in the report, or explain exactly where full details sit in the accounts (GOV.UK: form CIC34). If you point to the accounts, check that the copy delivered to Companies House contains those details, not just the full accounts the members receive. The Regulator also expects directors' pay to be reasonable and transparent, and its guidance on the annual CIC report explains what it looks at.

When do you need the detailed CIC34 instead?

Use the detailed CIC34 when its questions apply: your CIC had a debt or debenture with a performance-related interest rate at any time in the year, or when it is limited by shares and declared or proposed a dividend for the year, or declared one for any of the 4 years before. It repeats the simplified parts and adds sections on dividends and that interest (GOV.UK: form CIC34).

The detailed form also asks for more. Its directors' pay part covers total pay, long-term incentive schemes, pension contributions, compensation for loss of office and sums paid to third parties for directors' services. For each asset transfer, it asks who received the asset and whether the recipient is an asset-locked body. The dividend part asks for the share class, number and paid-up value, the dividend per share and whether each dividend is exempt. The performance-related interest part asks for the rate over a 12-month period and how it was worked out. The Regulator says the financial parts may need professional advice (GOV.UK: form CIC34).

What gets a CIC34 rejected?

The form and Companies House's checks point to mismatches and gaps: a company name, number or year-end date that differs from the accounts, a date not written in full, a blank part with no "none" statement, or no director's name or signing date. The form warns that reports with a wrongly written date will be rejected (GOV.UK: form CIC34).

• A name that doesn't match. The form asks for the company name to match the name on the accounts.
• A date in the wrong form. The year end must match the accounts and be written in full, not as 31/03/2026.
• A blank part. Each part needs an answer or its "none" statement.
• No signatory. Part 5 needs a director's name and the signing date.
• Mismatched package files. Online, Companies House checks the company number and period end across the accounts, the CIC34 and the folder name (Companies House technical specification).
• The CIC34 on its own. Companies House needs the report and the accounts delivered together (Companies House guidance).
• A photocopy on paper. The Regulator asks for originals printed on white A4 paper (CIC Regulator: step-by-step guidelines).

How is the CIC34 delivered with the accounts?

Always together with the accounts, made up to the same date, for one £15 Companies House fee. Online, you either upload one ZIP package holding both as iXBRL files, or type the CIC34 answers into Companies House's own form with small full accounts. Paper, with a cheque, remains possible for filings made before 1 April 2028 (Companies House guidance).

In the package, a folder named CIC- plus the company number holds an accounts folder and a cic34 folder, each with one iXBRL file; use that exact layout (Companies House technical specification). A person signs in to File your annual CIC report and accounts with the company's authentication code, uploads the ZIP and pays by card. On paper, attach the CIC34 to the accounts and post both with the cheque to Companies House, Crown Way, Cardiff CF14 3UZ. From 1 April 2028, CICs will use the online package service only.

Can Taxley fill in the CIC34 for you?

Yes. Taxley's CIC pack prepares a simplified CIC34 from your answers, prefilled with what your return already holds, such as the company's principal activity and the director who approved the accounts. It also builds the ZIP package around the Companies House copy of your accounts. You upload the package on Companies House's CIC service and pay Companies House's fee yourself.

Taxley (taxley.co.uk) is UK online software that prepares the Company Tax Return (CT600) and the company's accounts. The CIC pack is an add-on for £49, bought once your return is paid and its accounts are final; you can answer the questions and preview the CIC34 before then. It works with micro-entity (FRS 105) and small (FRS 102 Section 1A) accounts, dormant ones included. If your CIC needs the detailed CIC34, the pack tells you before you pay, and you aren't charged. Your answers are your own statement as a director, and Taxley is software, not legal or tax advice. Take the 30-second check to see whether Taxley fits your company, or see the prices.

Frequently asked questions

Can I leave a part of the CIC34 blank if nothing happened?

No. Each part needs an answer or the form's own "none" statement: that no stakeholder consultation was held, that no remuneration was received by the directors, or that no transfer of assets other than for full consideration was made. A blank part leaves the report incomplete.

Can a social audit report replace the written answers?

Partly. The simplified form lets you state that an attached social audit report covers the activities and the stakeholder consultation, instead of writing those answers out. The directors' pay, asset transfer and signature parts still need completing on the form itself.

Is the CIC34 published?

Yes. Companies House puts the CIC report on the public register with the accounts, and anyone can read it. Any contact details you add to the form become public too, so write only what you are happy for customers, funders and the public to see.

Who can sign the CIC34?

A director of the company. The form, Companies House's iXBRL specification and the Regulator all ask for a director's name and the signing date. Since 29 January 2025 the Regulator no longer requires a handwritten signature on the report.

How much does Taxley's CIC pack cost?

£49, bought once your Company Tax Return with Taxley is paid. It prepares the simplified CIC34 and the ZIP package, and you upload the package and pay Companies House's fee there. If your company needs the detailed CIC34, the pack says so before you pay.

General information, not personalised legal, tax or accounting advice.

Sources (checked on 13 October 2026):

• CIC Regulator: Form CIC34, community interest company report, with completed examples
• CIC Regulator: CIC business activities, forms and step-by-step guidelines
• CIC Regulator: Community interest companies guidance, annual CIC report and accounts
• Companies House: Preparing and filing Companies House accounts, section 18 (CICs)
• Companies House: File your annual CIC report and accounts
• Companies House: technical interface specifications for software (v6.0, September 2026)
• The Community Interest Company Regulations 2005, Part 7