Guide · Running a company

Companies House accounts changes: what the pause means for you

On 23 October the government paused the plan to make small companies file their profit and loss account at Companies House. That is welcome news for owners who would rather keep their figures private, but it is not the end of the changes. Software-only filing still arrives in April 2028, and identity checks for directors are being enforced now. Here is what changed, what did not, and what to do.

By Elliot · Published 26 October 2026 · Updated 28 October 2026 · 8 min read

The essentials

Filing a profit and loss account is paused for small and micro companies, with no new date.
From 1 April 2028 all accounts must be filed through software. Free online accounts filing ends.
Every director must verify their identity. The transition ends in mid-November 2026.
Filing deadlines and penalties are unchanged.

This is a plain-English summary of official announcements, not legal or accounting advice. Your accountant knows your company.

What happened

One change paused, the rest still coming

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 set out a long list of changes to how companies report. One of the most disliked was a duty for small companies and micro-entities to file a profit and loss account, which in June 2026 was set for April 2028 with an option to keep it off the public register. Small businesses argued it meant filing the same figures twice, once with Companies House and again with HMRC.

On 23 October, in its response to the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce, the government said it would pause that requirement while it explores a “Tell Government Once” approach to duplicate filing. Companies House confirmed the same day that abridged and filleted accounts continue. Everything else in the April 2028 package, above all the move to software-only filing, is going ahead as planned.

Where each Companies House change stands after 23 October 2026
Change	Status	When
Small companies and micro-entities filing a profit and loss account	Paused	Was due April 2028. No new date
Abridged accounts	Continue	Their planned removal is not going ahead in 2028
Filleted accounts (leaving the profit and loss off the public filing)	Continue	Still allowed after April 2028
Small companies filing a directors' report	Dropped	Decided June 2026
All accounts filed through commercial software, in iXBRL format	Going ahead	1 April 2028
Free online and paper filing for accounts ends	Going ahead	1 April 2028
Identity verification for directors and people with significant control	In force	Since 18 November 2025. Transition ends mid-November 2026
Accounts filing deadlines	Unchanged	Nine months after the accounting year end

The numbers

Millions of companies, and millions of directors to verify

Companies House's own statistics and annual report, 2025 to 2026.

5.5m

companies on the UK register at 30 June 2026

Source: Companies House

303,412

late filing penalties issued in 2025 to 2026, worth £156.6m

Source: Companies House

6 to 7m

people Companies House expected to need to verify their identity by November 2026

Source: Companies House

By 31 March 2026, about three million people had verified through GOV.UK One Login and another 783,000 through authorised agents, against the six to seven million Companies House expected to need to. That gap is why the identity checks, not the paused accounts change, are the deadline most small company directors should be watching this autumn.

The penalty figure is a reminder that the existing rules bite. Over 300,000 late filing penalties in one year is a far bigger cost to small companies than anything in the changes being debated, and the deadlines behind them have not moved.

For a small company

What it means if you run a limited company

Written for sole directors and small teams who handle their own filing.

Your profit stays private, for now

The plan would have made small companies and micro-entities file a profit and loss account, with an option to keep it off the public record. It is paused with no end date. You can still file the balance sheet only, as most small companies do today.

You will still need software in 2028

From 1 April 2028 every set of accounts has to be filed through commercial software in a tagged format called iXBRL, including accounts filed by an accountant. Companies House's free online accounts filing and paper filing end then. Confirmation statements can still be filed online.

Deadlines have not moved

Accounts are still due nine months after your accounting year end. First accounts are due 21 months after incorporation, or three months after the first year end if that is later. Nothing announced on 23 October changes a current deadline.

Directors must verify their identity

Every director and person with significant control must verify their identity with Companies House. Existing directors give their personal code on the company's next confirmation statement, and a confirmation statement cannot be filed until every director has done it. The first prosecutions for not verifying came in September 2026.

The company email address is a legal duty

Since March 2024 every company must keep a registered email address that works, and failing to is an offence. It is where Companies House sends reminders, so an old address from a past accountant or a former director is a real risk.

Your website must show company details

Separately from all this, a limited company's website has to show its registered name and number, where it is registered and its registered office address. It is the kind of thing that slips when a site is built in a hurry. Check your footer or contact page while you are thinking about Companies House.

What to do

Six things to sort, most of them this month

The first three take an evening. The rest are decisions to make before April 2028, without rushing them.

Check your dates on Companies House

Search for your company on the Companies House service and note when the next accounts and confirmation statement are due. Put both in the diary with a reminder a month ahead. The penalties for late accounts start at £150 and double if you are late two years running.

Verify your identity if you have not

Use GOV.UK One Login with photo ID, your bank details if you are eligible, an in-person check at a Post Office, or an accountant or solicitor registered as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider. You get a personal code to give on the next confirmation statement. If you are also a person with significant control, there is a separate step, due within 14 days of the confirmation statement date.

Confirm the registered email address

Make sure the company's registered email address goes to someone who reads it. If it is out of date, update it through the Companies House service. Every reminder, and every warning about a late filing, goes there first.

Decide how you will file after April 2028

If an accountant files for you, ask whether their software already files iXBRL accounts; most will. If you file your own accounts online today, you need to choose software before your first accounts due after 1 April 2028. GOV.UK has a tool to find software by accounts type. Companies House does not recommend products, and there is no official free option.

Keep filing as you do now

Until April 2028 nothing about how you file changes. Small companies can still file abridged or filleted accounts, keeping the profit and loss off the public record. Do not rebuild your process for a requirement that has been paused with no date.

Know what the 28 October Budget changed

For Companies House filing, nothing. The Budget repeated the aim that businesses should only have to tell government something once, but it set no new date for the paused profit and loss requirement and left software-only filing on 1 April 2028, and every deadline, as they were. Two HMRC items are worth knowing. From 1 April 2028, corrections to a company tax return must be filed online, not by post or email. And a call for evidence, open until 20 January 2027, asks whether information could pass between HMRC and Companies House so you give it once. It proposes no change yet, but if filing the same figures twice frustrates you, that is the place to say so.

Out-of-date advice

Why so many articles now say the opposite

This plan has changed three times in a year. In January 2026 Companies House said the accounts changes would not start in April 2027. In June it set April 2028, with a profit and loss account filed but optionally hidden and abridged accounts abolished. In October that part was paused and abridged accounts kept. Anything written before 23 October, including some accountants' guides, may describe a plan that no longer stands.

Watch the words, too. “Scrapped” is wrong: the government says paused, the powers remain in the 2023 Act, and no review date was given. Some articles also say Companies House's free online accounts filing already closed in March 2026; what GOV.UK says ends on 1 April 2028 is free online and paper filing of accounts. We could not confirm the March claim from an official page, so we have left it out.

We are a web agency, not accountants, and nothing here replaces advice from yours. We wrote it because most of our clients run small companies, and the official pages are spread across half a dozen places. Every claim links to the government source it came from.

FAQ

Companies House changes, answered

Do small companies have to file a profit and loss account from 2028?

Not under current plans. On 23 October 2026 the government paused the requirement for small companies and micro-entities to file a profit and loss account at Companies House, which had been due from April 2028. No new date was given. Small companies can continue to file abridged or filleted accounts, which leave the profit and loss off the public record.

Has the profit and loss filing requirement been scrapped?

No, it has been paused. The government's statement says it has decided to pause implementing the requirement for April 2028, while it looks at reducing duplicate filing between Companies House and HMRC through its Tell Government Once plans. The underlying powers in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 remain on the statute book but have not been brought into force.

Is software-only filing still happening in April 2028?

Yes. From 1 April 2028 all company accounts must be filed through commercial software in iXBRL format, and Companies House's free online accounts filing and paper filing for accounts end. This applies to accountants and agents too. Confirmation statements and changes such as appointing a director can still be filed through Companies House's web service.

When do existing directors have to verify their identity?

Identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025, with a 12-month transition that ends in mid-November 2026. Existing directors give their personal code on the company's next confirmation statement after the requirement started, and the statement cannot be filed until every director is verified. New directors must verify before they are appointed.

What are the Companies House late filing penalties?

For a private company, accounts filed up to one month late cost £150, one to three months £375, three to six months £750, and more than six months £1,500. The penalty doubles if the accounts are late two years in a row. Late filing is also a criminal offence and can lead to the company being struck off.

What is the £800m saving the government announced?

The government's 23 October 2026 announcement estimated almost £800m a year of savings for businesses, made up of over £600m in reduced administration and up to £155m from extending tariff suspensions. Streamlining company reporting accounts for £290m of it. The pause on profit and loss filing was announced in the same package but was not given its own figure.

Did the Autumn Budget 2026 change Companies House filing?

No. The Budget on 28 October 2026 did not mention Companies House. It gave no new date for the paused profit and loss requirement and did not change software-only filing from 1 April 2028 or any filing deadline. HMRC opened a call for evidence, running until 20 January 2027, on whether information could flow between HMRC and Companies House so companies provide it once, and confirmed that amendments to company tax returns must be filed online from 1 April 2028.

What does a limited company's website have to show?

Under the 2015 Names and Trading Disclosures Regulations, a limited company's website must show its registered name, its registered number, the part of the UK it is registered in, and its registered office address. Most companies put this in the site footer or on the contact page. It is unrelated to the accounts changes but often missed.

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