Companies House to bring in changes to accounts filing from April 2028

The government today announced how accounts reforms measures set out in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCT Act 2023) will be implemented. This follows extensive engagement with stakeholders to consider their views around the impact some of the reforms might have on companies.

Under the ECCT Act 2023, the government will reform how companies report information and what information they report when filing their annual accounts with Companies House. The accounts reforms seek to:

• improve the transparency, accuracy and reliability of data on the companies register
• inform business decisions
• modernise practices in line with other countries
• tackle economic crime

After some consideration, the government will proceed with the accounts reforms, including the following:

• requiring small companies and micro entities to file profit and loss accounts with Companies House as other companies do, but with the option to opt out of publishing this information on the public register
• requiring all companies to file their annual accounts via commercial software;
• removing the option for companies to file abridged accounts
• a strengthened eligibility statement for all companies claiming an audit exemption; requiring component parts of the filed accounts and reports to all be filed together
• reducing the number of times a company can shorten its accounting reference period

To give companies more time to prepare, this package of accounts reforms will now come into effect from April 2028, rather than April 2027. This means all companies will have one full accounting year, plus 9 months (21 months) to get ready.

We will be contacting all companies via their registered email address to tell them about these changes and signpost available guidance.

Balancing transparency with reducing business burden

Allowing small companies and micro-entities to opt out of publishing their filed profit and loss accounts addresses concerns from the business and investment community around the privacy and commercial risks for smaller companies of disclosing this information.

Details of how smaller companies can opt out of publication of profit and loss will be confirmed in due course.

Companies who wish to enjoy the benefits of publication, such as improved access to finance and enhanced transparency can still do so.

Where a company opts out of publishing its profit and loss accounts, Companies House, law enforcement and HMRC will still have access to help identify and tackle fraud, economic crime and tax evasion.

Software-only accounts filing

From April 2028, we will require all UK registered companies to file their accounts in Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL) format by using commercial software.

This applies to companies who file their own accounts and those who use third party agents or accountants to file their annual accounts. From this date, our web and paper-based filing systems will be closed for accounts filings.

We are providing a list of software providers on GOV.UK to help companies find a suitable software package.

This will improve the quality of financial data for register users and provide more opportunities over time for companies’ accounts data to be aggregated, compared and analysed for use more widely.

Companies House web filing services will remain available and fully supported for non-accounts filings, including confirmation statements and updates to director details. 

Read the Written Ministerial Statement.

Read the guidance on using software to file with Companies House to understand the changes and prepare for the move.