Companies House accounts filing changes from April 2028: what goes ahead and what is paused

Position at 26 October 2026. Software-only filing and three other changes are due to start on 1 April 2028. Profit and loss filing for small companies and micro-entities is paused, so abridged and filleted accounts continue. Change log.

Identity verification is a separate requirement: directors give their Companies House personal code with the company's next confirmation statement.

The Companies House accounts filing changes apply to every UK-registered company, including dormant ones, and to anyone who files accounts for them. Companies House has announced that from 1 April 2028 accounts can be delivered only through commercial software, in iXBRL; every company claiming an audit exemption will have to name the exemption and confirm it qualifies; the parts of the accounts will be filed together; and shortening the year end more than once in five years will need a business reason. The new audit exemption statement is already in legislation but awaits commencement regulations, and the regulations for the year-end limit have not yet been made. The plan to make small companies and micro-entities file their profit and loss account was paused on 23 October 2026. These are the accounts part of the Companies House changes under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA).

What are the Companies House accounts filing changes from April 2028?

Four measures go ahead on 1 April 2028: software-only filing, a stronger audit exemption statement, filing the parts of the accounts together and a limit on shortening the accounting reference period. Two are paused: profit and loss filing for small companies and micro-entities, and the removal of abridged accounts. One is expected to fall away, and one runs separately.

The four "going ahead" rows are the "From April 2028" list in Companies House's outline transition plan, as updated on 23 October 2026, which it calls "the current intended timetable".

What was paused on 23 October 2026, and why

The Small Business Regulatory Taskforce recommended (1a) that the government "should reverse the decision to remove the small company exemption from filing full accounts", because small businesses already give HMRC the same information. The government's response says it has "decided to pause implementing the P&L filing requirement while we explore options to streamline Companies House and HMRC filing processes", and "will provide further details about this in due course". The written ministerial statement of the same day (HLWS419) adds: "Other accounts reforms requirements, including mandatory software-only filing, will be implemented from April 2028 as planned."

When will small companies have to file their profit and loss account? No date has been set. The sections that would require it (ECCTA ss53 and 54) are in force only so far as they confer a power to make regulations; otherwise they are prospective, and the current rules continue. Companies House says that "as a minimum" a micro-entity or small company files its balance sheet and notes, and that both "will still be able to remove ('fillet') the profit and loss information" from the accounts they file.

Will my profit and loss account be published? Not if the company files filleted accounts. The June 2026 plan's opt-out from publication was designed for a filing requirement that is now paused. A pause is not a repeal: the provisions can still be commenced, and this page will be updated when the government says more.

Is this the end of abridged accounts?

No. The end of abridged accounts, announced in June 2026, is paused with profit and loss filing. Companies House now says companies "will continue to be able to file abridged and filleted accounts (without profit and loss data) at Companies House from April 2028", and the GOV.UK announcement says the government "will continue to allow companies to file abridged accounts". The provision that would remove them (ECCTA s58) has not been brought into force for that purpose.

What does change for these companies: from 1 April 2028 their accounts go through software, and if they claim an audit exemption they give the stronger statement.

Software-only filing from 1 April 2028

From 1 April 2028 every company's accounts go to Companies House through commercial software in inline XBRL (iXBRL), a format whose tagged figures a machine can read, whether the company or its accountant files.

Can I still file accounts on WebFiling or by paper? Only before the cut-over, and the two GOV.UK sources word it differently. Companies House's guidance "Using software to file your company's information" (updated 25 September 2026) says: "From this date, our web and paper-based services will be closed for accounts filings. This means there will be no transition period. Any accounts due after this date must be filed using software. This includes revised accounts." The Companies House campaign page says: "all accounts filings made on or after 1 April 2028 must be filed by commercial software". The first goes further: it adds a rule about accounts due after 1 April 2028, whenever they are filed. Neither source explains how the two fit together, so meet both: use software for any filing made on or after 1 April 2028, and for any accounts due after that date, even if you file early.

For a private company, which has nine months from its year end to file:

In practice, 30 June 2027 is the latest month-end year end that can still go by web or paper, and only if filed before 1 April 2028. The table uses the ordinary nine-month deadline (s442(2) of the Companies Act 2006); first and shortened periods can differ (s442(3), (4)).

Package accounts (such as audit-exempt and dormant subsidiary packages and group package accounts) keep their own service, but must come from software that saves them as a ZIP file. WebFiling stays open for other filings, such as confirmation statements. The joint online accounts and Company Tax Return service already closed on 31 March 2026.

GOV.UK has a list of software for filing company accounts; not every product files every type of accounts. Even with an accountant, directors are "still legally responsible" for the accounts (see company directors' responsibilities). The legal basis is s1068(4) of the Companies Act 2006, which lets the registrar set the means of delivery and the software; since 4 March 2024 (ECCTA s75) that must be done by registrar's rules.

The stronger audit exemption statement

Today, an audit-exempt company's balance sheet must carry a statement by the directors that the company is exempt (s475(2) of the Companies Act 2006, "a statement by the directors to that effect"), plus the statements that the members have not required an audit and that the directors acknowledge their responsibilities (s475(3)). ECCTA s57 substitutes a new s475(2): no company is entitled to the exemption "unless its balance sheet contains a statement by the directors— (a) identifying the exemption in question, and (b) confirming that the company qualifies for the exemption." GOV.UK says this applies "From 1 April 2028" to every company claiming an exemption: small (s477), subsidiary (s479A) or dormant (s480). On 26 October 2026 no commencement regulations had been made (legislation.gov.uk), so whether it attaches to accounts filed from that date or to financial years starting after it is not yet settled.

Seen from the audit side, a statement that the company "qualifies" is a statement of fact above a director's signature. Before signing it, the directors need to have checked the size tests (with the two-year rule), the group conditions and the exclusions: see audit exemption thresholds. A subsidiary relying on its parent's guarantee names that route, with its own conditions: see the s479A parent guarantee. A company that finds it no longer qualifies needs an auditor in time to finish before the filing deadline (see UK audit requirements).

Filing the parts together

From 1 April 2028 the component parts of the accounts and reports are to be delivered together (Companies House transition plan). The power is s1068A of the Companies Act 2006, which lets registrar's rules require documents to be delivered together; s1068A(2) says a rule under s1068A(1)(a), for documents a company is required to deliver, may not require any document "to be delivered earlier than it would otherwise be required to be delivered". The deadline does not move, but one part can no longer be filed now and another later. For dormant subsidiary packages Companies House puts it plainly: "Currently, you can send the component parts to us separately ... From 1 April 2028, you will need to deliver all component parts together." For an audited company, nothing goes in until the auditor's report is signed.

Limits on shortening the accounting reference period

Today a company can shorten its accounting reference period "as often as you like" (GOV.UK). From 1 April 2028, Companies House says, "you will need to give a business reason if you want to shorten your company's accounting reference period more than once in 5 years". Its guidance adds that this "is subject to forthcoming regulations", and there is no amending text on legislation.gov.uk yet. Shortening matters because a shortened period can bring a new, later filing deadline (s442(4)).

Extending is already limited to once in five years, with exceptions (s392(3)), and to 18 months unless the company is in administration (s392(5)).

Changes to filing accounts, company by company

What each kind of company files now, and what changes on 1 April 2028 (software in every row).

The "files now" column follows s444 of the Companies Act 2006 and Companies House's guidance as updated on 23 October 2026. The s479A route needs a UK parent.

What directors should do before 1 April 2028

1. Find out who files, and with what: you, your accountant or the group; WebFiling, paper or software.
2. If you use WebFiling or paper, choose software now and file one set of accounts with it before the cut-over, checking it handles your type (abridged, audited, dormant or package).
3. Map your year end to the table above. Accounts due after 1 April 2028 need software, however early you file.
4. If you claim an audit exemption, check each year that the company qualifies, so that the new statement is true when a director signs it.
5. If the company is audited, plan the audit back from the filing deadline. The auditor's report has to be signed before the accounts can go in, and from 1 April 2028 the parts are filed together.
6. From 1 April 2028, do not plan to shorten the year end twice in five years without a business reason you can state.
7. Monitor the registered email address, where Companies House said it would write.
8. Watch the change log below. Late filing still brings a penalty.

If your filing deadline is approaching and the audit has not started, Innate offers statutory audits signed by an ICAEW-registered partner firm, which your company appoints as its auditor, with our platform doing the legwork: ask for a quote.

How the timetable has moved, and what could still change

Have the 2028 filing changes been delayed? Yes: from April 2027 to April 2028, and the profit and loss requirement is now paused.

What could still change: any profit and loss requirement; the regulations behind the year-end limit and the commencement regulations for the new audit exemption statement, which is already in legislation; and the directors' report. Companies House expects the small-company directors' report filing change "will no longer apply" because the government intends to remove directors' reports altogether, which needs regulations not yet made.

This page's change log. 26 October 2026: first published, on the position of 23 October 2026.