Companies House Accounts Changes: Practice Checklist

Every UK company will have to file its accounts through commercial software in iXBRL format from 1 April 2028, as the Companies House accounts changes under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 take effect a year later than first planned.

The date was confirmed by Companies House on June 9, 2026. The reforms were originally due on April 1, 2027, before the government paused them after concerns from smaller businesses and their advisers.

For practices, the practical effect is an 18-month window from today. Companies House has said the delay gives companies one full accounting year plus nine months to prepare, and firms that file for clients will need to know which software, which clients and which filings are affected before then.

The 2027 date still circulates in older guidance and client emails. Anything that cites it is out of date.

Companies House accounts changes: what applies from April 2028

Accounts filed with Companies House must be prepared in inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language, known as iXBRL, and submitted through commercial software. The Companies House web and paper routes for accounts will close on April 1, 2028.

Web filing stays open for other statutory filings, including confirmation statements and changes to director details. The accounts route alone is closing.

The rule applies whether a director files directly or an accountant files as agent. A sole director who today keys micro-entity accounts into WebFiling will need software of their own or an agent.

The government’s changes-to-accounts page lists several further changes from the same date:

Small companies can no longer prepare and file abridged accounts.
Small companies and micro-entities must file a profit and loss account.
A company claiming audit exemption must give an enhanced directors’ statement on the balance sheet, naming the exemption and confirming eligibility.
All components of the accounts must be delivered together.
A company that shortens its accounting reference period more than once in five years must give a business reason.

Companies House will write to every company at its registered email address and point it to guidance.

Profit and loss disclosure after the pause

The profit and loss requirement was the main source of the objections. Many small companies file filleted accounts now, showing a balance sheet and nothing on trading performance, and some directors regard their profit and loss statement as commercially sensitive.

The June announcement answered that concern in part. Small companies and micro-entities must deliver a profit and loss account to Companies House, but can opt out of having it published on the public register.

Sally Baker, corporate reporting director at ICAEW, said: “It’s right that small companies and micro-entities should continue to have the option” to keep their profit and loss account off the public register. She added: “We’re pleased that our concerns have been recognised.”

The mechanism is not yet defined. The government has said only that details of how companies opt out will be confirmed in due course, so firms cannot yet tell clients how or when to make the election.

The opt-out limits public access, not regulatory access. Companies House and enforcement bodies will hold the filed data, which matters when a client asks whether the figures are really private.

Software readiness for the filing change

The first task is an audit of the tools in use. Many practices already produce iXBRL accounts for tax filing, and for them the change may mean adapting existing processes rather than adopting new ones. Others, particularly those preparing accounts in spreadsheets or word processors, will not be covered.

Companies House runs a tool to help companies find compliant software, and publishes a list of approved software for package accounts. The Financial Reporting Council has set up a Digital Reporting Education resource centre for businesses at each stage of digital reporting.

Practices should put four questions to each vendor:

Does the product produce iXBRL accounts for every entity size the firm files?
Does it support filing without abridged accounts?
When will it support the profit and loss opt-out once Companies House defines it?
What does it cost per filing, per client or per seat?

The cost question matters to small firms. Concern about the price of filing software was among the objections that led to the pause. The firm’s finance software selection kit gives a structure for scoring vendors, and the comparison of practice management software for accounting firms shows which products sit alongside filing tools.

Firms that file with Companies House already will recognise the workflow in Companies House filing. The change is to the format and the route, not to the filing duty.

Which clients need a conversation first

The clients most exposed are those who file for themselves. A micro-entity whose owner files through WebFiling each year has no software and no agent, and will find the route closed.

The second group is clients who file abridged or filleted accounts. They will move to a full filing that includes a profit and loss account, and many will want to discuss the opt-out before they agree to it.

The third is audit-exempt companies. Directors will need to make the enhanced statement on the balance sheet, which means the engagement letter and the sign-off process should say who checks eligibility.

A practical sequence for the client book:

Flag every client that files its own accounts, and every client that files abridged accounts.
Check each audit-exempt client against the exemption criteria before the first filing under the new rules.
Agree who files, in which software, and at what fee.
Tell clients that the profit and loss account will be filed, and that the opt-out process is not yet confirmed.

The tax law change client letters are written for rule changes of this kind and can be adapted for Companies House. Fee changes for clients moving from self-filing to agent filing are best raised at the next engagement renewal, not left to the last quarter.

What comes next for accounts filing

The government has also said it intends to remove the requirement for any company to produce a directors’ report. No date has been given, and firms should not change templates until the regulations are made.

The Companies House accounts changes sit within a wider programme to improve the quality of the register. The same Act already requires identity verification for directors and people with significant control, with a transition period that closes in mid-November 2026.

The next fixed point is the opt-out detail. Companies House has said it will confirm how small companies and micro-entities can keep their profit and loss account off the register, and the change takes effect on April 1, 2028.