What CCR007 is

CCR007 is the annual return the FCA requires from limited permission consumer credit firms. It is submitted through RegData, the FCA's online reporting system, and it captures basic information about your regulated activity over the reporting period — chiefly the income you earned from credit-related regulated activities.

That income figure matters beyond the return itself: it is the same figure that feeds your annual fee calculation. Report it wrongly and you may pay the wrong fee, which is a tedious thing to unpick later.

When it's due

Your deadline is not a fixed calendar date shared by every firm. It is set by your firm's accounting reference date — your financial year end. The reporting period runs to your accounting reference date, and the return falls due a set period after it.

The practical consequences are worth spelling out:

  • Two firms authorised on the same day can have completely different CCR007 deadlines.
  • If you change your accounting reference date at Companies House, your FCA reporting deadline moves too.
  • Your first return after authorisation may cover a short period rather than a full year.

RegData shows your own schedule once you are set up on it, which is why registering promptly after authorisation matters more than it appears to at the time.

What happens if you miss it

The FCA applies a £250 administrative fee for late submission. It is applied automatically — there is no warning letter first, and no discretion for a firm that simply forgot.

The larger risk is not the £250. Persistent failure to submit regulatory returns is a breach of your reporting requirements, and the FCA can and does cancel the authorisation of firms that stop reporting. Firms rarely set out to ignore the FCA; they change accountants, change email addresses, or assume someone else is dealing with it.

The most common failure we see has nothing to do with the return itself. A firm is authorised, files nothing for a year because nothing appears to be required, and then discovers the deadline passed months ago. Registering on RegData and diarising the date on the day you are authorised removes the problem entirely.

What you need before you start

  • RegData access — set up as soon as you are authorised, not when the deadline looms.
  • Your consumer credit income for the reporting period. For a typical broker this is commission received from lenders, not your total turnover — a distinction that trips people up.
  • Your accounting reference date, so you know which period you are reporting on.

The return itself takes minutes once you have the figures. Gathering the figures is the part worth planning for.

CCR007 and CCR009

Some firms also encounter CCR009, a return for relevant ancillary credit firms with its own reporting cycle. Which returns apply to you depends on the permissions you hold; RegData shows your own schedule, and that schedule is the authoritative answer rather than anything you read in a guide, including this one.

The wider picture

The annual return is one of several things that follow authorisation. You also confirm your firm details annually, notify the FCA when things change, and pay an annual fee of roughly £1,170 for a limited permission firm. Our guide to ongoing obligations after authorisation sets out the full picture, and the FCA fees guide covers what you pay and when.