UK Government confirms Companies House accounts and filing reforms will go ahead

The UK Government has confirmed that the accounts and filing reforms set out in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 will go ahead from 1 April 2028.

In late July 2025, Companies House announced that the package of reforms, which was due to apply from 1 April 2027, would be delayed to allow for further stakeholder engagement.

This engagement has now concluded, and the reforms will proceed, with one significant change to the package announced last year: small companies, including micro entities, will have the option to opt out of making their profit and loss accounts public.

Therefore, from 1 April 2028:

• Small companies, including micro entities, will be required 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.
• All companies will be required to file their annual reports and accounts via commercial software using the inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL) format.
• The option for small companies to prepare and file abridged accounts will cease.
• All companies claiming audit exemption will need to prepare a strengthened eligibility statement.
• The component parts of companies’ reports and accounts will have to be filed together.
• The number of times a company can shorten its accounting reference period will be reduced.

In addition:

• As part of the UK Government’s Modernising Corporate Reporting reforms, we expect the requirement to prepare and file a directors’ report will be removed for all companies. Medium-sized and large companies will still be required to prepare and file a strategic report with Companies House.
• Companies House will acquire the power to annotate the register when a company hasn’t complied with a notice regarding its compliance with company law accounts requirements.

These reforms will also apply to Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs).

Setting 1 April 2028 as the start date gives all companies one full financial year, plus an extra nine months (21 months in total), to prepare. However, because this is a fixed date, the changes won’t line up with the start or end of a company’s accounting period. 

The reforms were announced to the UK Parliament in a written ministerial statement and further details have been published by Companies House on its Changes to UK Company Law website.