What does creditors due within one year mean?
What is in this one line?
It is the total of the company's liabilities that are due for payment within 12 months of the balance sheet date, also called current liabilities. This page covers that single balance sheet line. For how it relates to long-term creditors and the full liabilities side, see what creditors are on a balance sheet.
The statutory formats list the items that can make up the line. In small company accounts the notes usually break it down like this:
| Item in the notes | What it usually is |
|---|---|
| Bank loans and overdrafts | Overdraft balance and loan instalments due in the next 12 months |
| Trade creditors | Unpaid supplier invoices |
| Amounts owed to group undertakings | Balances with a parent or sister company |
| Taxation and social security | Corporation tax, VAT, PAYE and National Insurance owed |
| Other creditors | Often the director's loan account, pension contributions or deposits |
| Accruals and deferred income | Costs incurred but not yet invoiced, income received in advance |
"Falling due" follows the contract. A loan repayable on demand, such as most director's loans and overdrafts, belongs here even if nobody expects to ask for it this year.
Where do you find it in real accounts?
On the balance sheet it comes straight after current assets. Current assets minus this line gives "Net current assets" or, when negative, net current liabilities. Micro-entity accounts show only the total; small company accounts usually add a note with the breakdown above.
In iXBRL accounts filed under the FRC taxonomy there is no separate tag for this line. The value is the Creditors concept in a context whose maturity dimension member is WithinOneYear. Older UK GAAP filings use CreditorsDueWithinOneYear. Reading Creditors without checking the dimension gives you the wrong number, often the long-term creditors or the total.
What do typical values look like?
Small, and very uneven by industry. Across active companies whose latest machine-readable accounts have a balance sheet date of 1 January 2024 or later:
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Median creditors due within one year | £13,788 |
| Median current ratio (current assets divided by this line) | 1.19 |
| Companies with net current liabilities | 36.2% |
| Companies whose cash covers this line in full | 35.3% |
Real estate companies show the highest median, £43,447, largely because property loans and loans from directors sit here, and 56.8% of them report net current liabilities. Figures by sector are in our study of how much cash UK small companies hold.
How to read it when checking a company
Compare it with three things on the same balance sheet:
- Current assets. The current ratio tells you whether stock, debtors and cash cover the bills due this year. Below 1 is common in property and hospitality but is a real constraint for a trading supplier.
- Cash. Cash divided by this line shows what could be paid today without collecting a single debt. See cash at bank and in hand.
- Last year. The prior year column is on the same page. If this line grows much faster than turnover or current assets, the company is probably paying suppliers or HMRC more slowly.
Then read the note. £40,000 owed to the director on demand is a different risk to an outside supplier than £40,000 owed to HMRC or on an overdraft.
Common confusions
- It is not all liabilities. Creditors due after more than one year and provisions are shown separately further down.
- Deferred income counts. A customer deposit or a prepaid subscription is a liability here even though it will be settled by delivering work, not cash.
- Year end timing distorts it. A big supplier payment made the day before the year end makes the line look smaller than usual.
To track this line across a company's past filings, search the company.
Sources
- The Small Companies and Groups (Accounts and Directors' Report) Regulations 2008, Schedule 1 (balance sheet formats and creditor items)
- GOV.UK: Life of a company, annual requirements
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