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

ended 09. June 2026

The government has announced how accounts reforms measures set out in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCT Act 2023) will be implemented.

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

More details here.

  • What is your reaction to the announcement?
  • What are the pros of the reforms?
  • What are the cons of the reforms?

Responses asap.

5 responses from the Newspage community

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Matthew Knight
Chief Freelance Officer at Freelancing.Support
This is yet another burden for the smallest of businesses who are already stretched at the best of times. For companies of one, this means taking them away from doing the work, by wrapping them in yet more admin. If small businesses are the backbone of the country, as the Government often tells us, we are piling even more weight upon their shoulders. This announcement means not only more admin, but also costs, as businesses need to invest in new software to submit reports, and accountants to help prepare the new statements.
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Kate Underwood
Founder & Chief People Strategist at Kate Underwood HR and Training
Here we go again. Another layer of admin, lovingly gift-wrapped as "transparency". I'll be fair: the pros are real. Cleaner data on the register, fewer dark corners for fraudsters, and we finally look grown-up next to other countries. Crack down on economic crime? Be my guest. And the support on offer? Companies House promise an email and a tidy list of software providers on GOV.UK. No funding, mind. Just a nudge and a shopping list. Real help for small firms tends to vanish faster than free biscuits in a board meeting. So spare a thought for the honest owner, already wearing fifteen hats, now told to file profit and loss accounts, bin the abridged option and pay for software to do it. Punish the ones who never made the mess. April 2028 feels miles off. It isn't. Ring your accountant now, not in the 2027 stampede. Because you can't legislate honesty into crooks. You just hand the honest a bigger pile of paperwork and the bill to match.
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Tony Redondo
Founder at Cosmos Currency Exchange
Typical of a government populated by people with no experience of running a business, the April 2026 Companies House reforms make sense in theory but represent yet another regulatory burden on already struggling enterprises facing sky-high business taxes since 2024. From a bureaucrat's perspective, mandating commercial software and unified filing will modernise the register, produce accurate machine-readable data, and close loopholes historically exploited by shell companies to mask illicit financial flows. From those at the sharp end, the picture is less rosy. Phasing out free web-filing forces millions of micro-entities to absorb new software costs or hire accountants — a steep learning curve for businesses still running on spreadsheets. Stricter audit exemption rules and tighter limits on changing accounting periods add further administrative friction for entirely legitimate directors simply trying to keep their companies afloat.
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Steven Mather
Lawyer & Director at Steven Mather Solicitor
So Companies House is back to wanting every small business owner to bare their profit and loss to the world - but after a collective howl from the business community, no proposes graciously to let you keep it secret. Generous. The reform has been watered down so many times since 2023 it is practically homeopathic. You will now need to buy software just to file the accounts you have been filing for free for years. Yet more unnecessary burden on small firms with no material upside to them.
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Colette Mason
AI Ethics Consultant at Clever Clogs AI
Small businesses will be concerned about the added costs and administrative burden of mandatory software filing and new reporting requirements. Requiring micro and small companies to file profit and loss accounts may be seen as disproportionate, even with the option to keep them off the public register. The removal of abridged accounts and stricter accounting reference period rules could also reduce flexibility. For solopreneurs and owner-managed businesses, the reforms raise important privacy concerns around the collection and storage of essentially sensitive personal financial data. Many small business owners operate in competitive markets and value financial confidentiality. As the reforms are implemented, government must work with small businesses to minimise compliance costs, strengthen privacy protections and strike the right balance between transparency and practicality.