“Kinore has allowed a space in our finance manager’s role to provide the higher value add, the strategic commercial advice that we need.”
For many business owners, this is one of those things that gets dealt with at incorporation and then forgotten about. A name goes on the form. Maybe it’s a spouse or a co-director who didn’t fully realise what they were agreeing to. Twelve months later, nobody is quite sure who’s responsible for the annual return or what the filing deadline actually is.
Every Irish limited company must have a company secretary. It’s not optional and it’s not a formality. Under Section 129 of the Companies Act 2014, the obligation is clear: appoint a company secretary, or you’re in breach of company law.
Kinore can be formally appointed as your named company secretary, ensuring the legal requirement is met, your annual return is filed correctly and on time, and you don’t have to think about it again.
The company secretary is a statutory officer of your company. Under the Companies Act 2014, the role carries specific legal significance, including co-signing the annual return with a director and acting as a point of contact with the Companies Registration Office (CRO).
Kinore is registered as company secretary on your company's public record with the CRO.
We co-sign and file your annual return (Form B1) each year within the required 56-day window after your Annual Return Date (ARD).
We monitor your filing deadlines proactively, so you're never relying on memory or a calendar reminder you set three years ago.
We act as the statutory point of contact for CRO correspondence related to the annual return.
One important point: under the Companies Act 2014, overall responsibility for company law compliance rests with the directors, not the company secretary. But the secretary still plays a critical administrative role, and leaving the position unfilled creates risk you don’t need.
If your company has a single director, you cannot also act as company secretary. The CRO requires a separate person or body corporate for single-director LTD companies. Appointing Kinore resolves this cleanly.
This service is designed to do one thing well: meet the legal requirement and keep your annual return on track.
Formal appointment as company secretary. Kinore is registered with the CRO as your named company secretary via Form B10.
Annual return filing. We prepare and file your Form B1 annually through the CRO's CORE platform, including the €20 statutory filing fee.
Proactive deadline management. We track your Annual Return Date and manage the full timeline, so you never need to worry about the 56-day filing window.
CRO correspondence handling. We deal with any CRO queries or send-back letters related to your filing.
What this service does not include: maintaining statutory registers, preparing board minutes, managing share transfers, or handling broader company law filings beyond the annual return. That scope falls under our full company secretarial maintenance service.
The consequences of missing your CRO annual return deadline are automatic. There is no grace period beyond the 56 days.
According to the CRO’s published guidance, late filing penalties include:
An immediate fine of €100, plus €3 per day for every day outstanding, up to a maximum of €1,200 per return.
Loss of audit exemption for two years, which is often far more expensive than the fine itself.
Persistent late filing can lead to involuntary strike-off, meaning your company ceases to exist legally.
Since the Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Act 2024, the CRO has resumed active enforcement of strike-off actions. Having a dedicated, qualified company secretary managing your annual return removes this exposure entirely.
The named company secretary service covers the essentials: legal appointment and annual return filing. For many small companies, that’s all you need.
As your company grows, so do your statutory obligations. New directors, share issues, registered office changes, board resolutions; all of these require additional CRO filings and proper record-keeping. That’s where full company secretarial maintenance comes in.
The transition is seamless. Because Kinore is already appointed as your company secretary, moving to the full service doesn’t require any change of officer at the CRO. We simply expand the scope. Think of named company secretary as the foundation; full maintenance builds on it to cover everything else.
Hear directly from the businesses we’ve helped grow, adapt, and stay compliant, and see how the right finance partner can give you confidence and time back to focus on what matters most.
Watch Testimonial
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“Kinore has allowed a space in our finance manager’s role to provide the higher value add, the strategic commercial advice that we need.”
Aebhín Cawley
“A pleasure to deal with. Very informative when in the need of help. Removes the stress of carrying out all the bookkeeping and returns and I never need to worry about missing deadlines. Highly recommended.”
James McGeehan
“After frustrating experiences with slow Xero posting, high fees and poor communication from previous firms, the difference with Kinore has been night and day. APIs run smoothly, support is fast, and we can now make confident decisions and manage cash flow easily.”
David Miller
“Kinore has been a trusted partner since we were founded in 2022. As a small limited company without an in-house finance team, their accounting and company secretarial support is invaluable. The team is reliable and allows us to focus fully on growing the business.”
Claire Walsh
“Our partnership with Kinore has been excellent. The team are professional and approachable, and they always deliver to a very high standard. We value the relationship and the support they provide to us.”
Stephen McDonnell
When you appoint a company secretary, you’re placing a formal legal officer on your company’s public record. The Companies Act 2014 requires directors to ensure the person appointed has the skills necessary to discharge statutory duties.
Kinore’s company secretarial team holds qualifications from the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland (formerly the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators), the recognised professional body for company secretaries. This isn’t a side service bolted onto an accounting practice. It’s delivered by specialists in Irish company law and CRO procedures.
Every filing goes through our two-layer quality control process. A preparer completes the work, a senior reviewer checks it, and your dedicated account manager coordinates the process. That structure means errors don’t reach the CRO.
Kinore is a Chartered Accountants Ireland regulated firm, ISO 9001 certified, and a five-time Xero Ireland Partner of the Year (2021 to 2025). The depth of the team and the quality systems behind the work are what set a structured firm apart from a one-person practice.
You have a legal obligation. We have the qualifications, the systems, and the team to meet it, properly and on time, every year.
Need a qualified company secretary appointed quickly? Get in touch and we’ll have it sorted.
Named company secretary covers the formal CRO appointment and annual return (Form B1) filing. Company secretarial maintenance is broader: it also includes maintaining statutory registers, preparing board and shareholder minutes, filing changes of directors or registered office, managing share transfers, and other CRO filings. Both are delivered by the same qualified team at Kinore.
The annual return is a Form B1 filed electronically through the CRO’s CORE platform. It provides a snapshot of your company’s details: directors, secretary, shareholders, registered office, and share capital. For most companies, financial statements must be attached. It must be filed within 56 days of your Annual Return Date and co-signed by one director and the company secretary.
The service is provided on a fixed annual fee basis covering appointment, annual return filing, deadline management, and CRO correspondence. The €20 CRO filing fee is included. We’ll confirm exact pricing when you get in touch, as it depends on your company structure.
Yes. Because Kinore is already your appointed company secretary, upgrading to full maintenance requires no change of officer at the CRO. We simply extend the scope of what we manage.
Yes. Under Section 129 of the Companies Act 2014, every Irish registered company must have a company secretary. If your company has a single director, that director cannot also serve as secretary. A body corporate such as Kinore can be appointed to the role.
