Companies House accounts reform: what’s changing from April 2028?

From April 2028, all UK companies will be required to file annual accounts with Companies House using commercial software in iXBRL format, ending paper and web-based accounts filing. However, plans to require small companies and micro-entities to file profit and loss accounts have been paused. Businesses should review their accounting systems now to ensure they are ready for the move to mandatory digital filing.

Big changes are coming to the way UK companies file their accounts, but some of the most controversial proposals have now been put on hold.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduced wide-ranging reforms designed to improve the quality and reliability of information held by Companies House, modernise the filing system and help tackle economic crime.

In June 2026, the Government set out plans that would have significantly changed the information small companies and micro-entities were required to file. But following further consideration and recommendations from the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce, an important update was announced on 23 October 2026.

Software-only filing is coming

The headline change that is going ahead is mandatory software filing.

From 1 April 2028, all UK registered companies will be required to file their annual accounts using commercial software in Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL) format. This applies whether companies prepare and file their accounts themselves or appoint an accountant or other third-party agent to do so. A list of software providers has been published.

For accounts filings, Companies House’s existing web and paper filing routes will close from that date. However, the Companies House web filing service will remain available for other statutory filings, including confirmation statements and changes to director details.

If your company currently relies on Companies House web filing or paper accounts, change is coming. If you need help in preparing and submitting your annual accounts, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us to see how we can support you.

This is where the position has changed significantly.

Under the proposals announced in June 2026, small companies and micro-entities would have been required to file their profit and loss accounts with Companies House, although they would have been able to opt out of having that information displayed publicly.

That requirement has now been paused.

The Government acknowledged concerns about companies having to provide information separately to Companies House and HMRC. It will instead explore ways of streamlining the two filing processes as part of a “tell Government once” ambition.

That means that, from April 2028, smaller companies will continue to be able to continue to “fillet” their accounts and remove profit and loss information from the accounts filed at Companies House.

For owner-managed businesses concerned about competitors, customers or suppliers seeing commercially sensitive information, this is a particularly significant change from the position announced earlier in the year.

What you should do next

April 2028 may sound some way off, but this is a fundamental change to the filing process. Businesses that currently rely on web or paper filing should establish whether their existing accounts software will support compliant iXBRL filing with Companies House. If you need help, please get in touch with the experts at PEM