Companies House pauses plan to make small firms publish profit and loss accounts, but software filing goes ahead
From April 2028 every company will have to file its accounts using commercial software, and the web and paper routes will close. Small companies can keep their profit figures private.
Small companies and micro-entities will not, for now, have to send their profit and loss accounts to Companies House, after the government paused a change that had been due to start in April 2028. A separate reform that affects every UK company is still going ahead on the same date: accounts will have to be filed through commercial software.
The pause follows recommendations from the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce, which looked at reporting rules that fall hardest on smaller firms. Companies House announced the decision on Friday alongside a written ministerial statement.
What stays the same for small companies
Under the current rules, small companies can file abridged accounts and can leave out ("fillet") their profit and loss account from the version placed on the public register. The plan had been to end that option, which would have made their profit and turnover figures publicly visible.
That will no longer happen in 2028. Abridged accounts remain allowed, and filleting will still be possible for accounts filed after 1 April 2028. While the pause is in place, the government says it will look at joining up what companies send to Companies House and HMRC, so that firms report the same information once rather than twice.
What changes in April 2028
Software-only filing is the change most companies will notice. From April 2028:
- All accounts must be filed in iXBRL, a digital format that tags each figure so it can be read by computers, using commercial software.
- Companies House's free online accounts service and paper accounts will both close for accounts filing.
- The rule applies whether a company files its own accounts or uses an accountant or agent.
- Web filing stays open for other tasks, such as confirmation statements and changes to directors.
GOV.UK publishes a list of software that can be used to file company accounts, which firms that currently use the free web service can use to compare options.
Three further changes will also start in April 2028. Companies that claim exemption from an audit will have to give a strengthened statement confirming they qualify. The different parts of a set of accounts and reports will have to be filed together. And there will be a limit on how many times a company can shorten its accounting reference period, the date its financial year ends.
Why the rules are changing
The reforms come from the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. Companies House says the aim is to make the register more accurate and reliable, so that people dealing with a company can trust what it shows, to bring UK practice in line with other countries and to make it harder to use companies for economic crime.
Directors of small companies who file their own accounts have about two and a half years to choose software. Those who use an accountant should check that their adviser is ready for the switch.
