Update: the Companies House accounts reform is back — software-only filing and P&L filing confirmed for April 2028

Update, July 2026: when we first published this article, the most disruptive Companies House accounts reforms — mandatory software-only filing and public profit-and-loss disclosure for small companies — had been paused, and we reported exactly that. On 9 June 2026, Companies House ended the uncertainty: the reforms are going ahead, with a confirmed start date of April 2028. We have rewritten this article to reflect the new position, because acting on the old one would now mislead you.

What was announced: from April 2028, every company must file its annual accounts through commercial software. The Companies House web filing and paper routes will close entirely, and accounts must be digitally tagged in iXBRL format. Small companies and micro-entities will be required to file a profit and loss account for the first time, and the option to file abridged accounts is being removed.

Now the part that matters most to many of our clients: privacy. Under the original proposals, small-company P&L figures would have been published on the public register — anyone could look up your revenue and profit. In the confirmed version, small companies and micro-entities can opt out of having the P&L published publicly. Companies House, HMRC and law enforcement will still see it, but competitors, clients and curious neighbours will not. For Arab directors holding UK companies as quiet holding or investment vehicles, this is the single most important concession in the whole package.

The timeline is genuinely comfortable if you start early. April 2028 is roughly one full accounting year plus the 9-month filing window away — the 21 months' notice the government promised. If your accountant already files through commercial software (Fileminder does — all our filings are software-based and iXBRL-tagged), nothing changes for you in practice. If you currently file yourself through the Companies House website, that route is the one being switched off, and you will need either software or an agent by April 2028.

Also confirmed in the same package: a strengthened eligibility statement when claiming an audit exemption (directors must state which exemption applies and confirm eligibility), and a limit on how often a company can shorten its accounting reference period — closing a loophole that was sometimes used to buy extra filing time.

The rest of the reform programme continues on its own clocks: director identity verification remains mandatory with existing directors providing their personal code with their company's next confirmation statement — that requirement is active and real. The accounts changes are further out but now certain. Our advice is unchanged in spirit: don't act on stale headlines in either direction. The 2027 scare stories were wrong, the 'it's all paused' comfort is now wrong too — April 2028 is the date, and the P&L privacy opt-out is the detail worth knowing.