No, you don't have to switch to software-only accounts filing in 2027, the reform has been paused

Over the past year a lot of alarming content circulated about big Companies House accounts changes landing in April 2027, mandatory software-only filing, the abolition of abridged accounts, and a new requirement for small and micro companies to publish their profit and loss figures publicly. For a Gulf director who values the privacy of a small UK company, the P&L change in particular caused understandable concern. Here is the current, accurate position: the most disruptive of these reforms have been paused.

Software-only filing, the proposal that all accounts must be submitted through commercial software rather than the Companies House web or paper routes, has been delayed and is, in the regulator's own framing, no longer going ahead for the foreseeable future. The requirement for small and micro entities to disclose their profit and loss has likewise been paused. And abridged accounts, which there were plans to abolish, remain available under the current rules.

Crucially, the government has committed to giving at least 21 months' notice before introducing any future accounts-filing changes. In plain terms: nothing in this area is changing imminently, and you'll have well over a year and a half of warning before anything does. If you saw a confident '2027 deadline' headline, it is out of date.

Why does this matter for Gulf directors specifically? Two reasons. First, privacy. Many of our clients hold UK companies precisely as quiet holding or investment vehicles, and the prospect of being forced to publish profit figures was a real worry. For now, small-company filing privacy is preserved. Second, cost and friction. Software-only filing would have pushed every director toward a paid filing tool or an agent; that pressure has eased.

What hasn't changed, and what you should still pay attention to, is the rest of the Companies House reform programme that is live. Internal statutory registers were abolished in November 2025 (changes now go straight to Companies House). Identity verification becomes fully enforced on 18 November 2026. Limited partnership reforms are progressing. And the revised FRS 102 disclosure rules took effect on 1 January 2026. The accounts-filing mechanics may be on hold, but the broader tightening of the UK register is very much not.

Our role here is to separate signal from noise so you don't act on a deadline that no longer exists, while staying ahead of the ones that are real. If you've been told you need to buy filing software or prepare for public P&L disclosure, you don't, not yet, and not without long notice. If you've been told Director ID verification can wait, that one is real and close. We keep track of which is which so you don't have to.