New Companies House Filing Rules - What You need To Know
If you’re a small or micro-entity company, you may have heard that Companies House is making some big changes to how accounts are filed - starting from April 2028. These changes are part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.
Here’s our simple breakdown of what’s changing and how to stay compliant.
Software-only filing is coming
From April 2028, all accounts must be filed using commercial filing software.
Web and paper filing will no longer be allowed for accounts submissions. At Beaver & Bee, we already submit accounts using software so there will be no change for our clients.
Filing your company’s P&L will be mandatory
Micro Entities
From April 2028, micro-entities will need to file profit and loss account report with Companies House. Currently, micro companies only need to send a balance sheet to Companies House.
A company is a micro-entity if it has any two of the following:
a turnover of £1 million or less
£500,000 or less on its balance sheet
10 employees or less, more detailed accounts going forward.
Small companies
Currently, small companies can choose whether or not to send a copy of the director’s report and profit and loss account statement to Companies House.
From April 2028, small companies will need to file a balance sheet, profit & loss account and an auditor’s report (if required).
‘Abridged accounts’ will no longer be an option.
A company is ‘small’ if it has any two of the following:
a turnover of £15 million or less
£7.5 million or less on its balance sheet total
50 employees or less
Does this mean my company’s profit and loss statement will be public?
In a Companies House update on 9 June 2026, they announced that they will require small companies and micro entities to file profit and loss accounts with Companies House as other companies do but will offer the option to opt out of publishing this information on the public register.
This means as long as you opt out, your profit figures will not be open to the general public - Companies House and HMRC will still have access. Exact technical details on how to confirm the opt-out are still pending confirmation.
What does this mean for my small business?
All small businesses will be filing fuller, more detailed accounts going forward to Companies House.
But if you are opting out of making the profit and loss publicly available, you are still limited the financial information that’s openly available (for example to competitors, customers, suppliers to employees) so in practical terms not much is changing apart from Companies House now having access to the full accounts rather than “abridged” or “filleted” accounts which is commonly the case now for small and micro companies.
How we can help
We’ll of course be ensuring that your accounts will meet the new requirements when the rules kick in. We can also confirm whether you are reporting as a small company and whether your company is eligible to switch to micro-entity which still has more limited disclosures and reporting simplifications.
If you’d like to discuss these changes or you have any concerns, please feel free to get in touch.
You can get the official word from Companies House about all the changes here.
This article was updated in July 2026 pending announcements from Companies House with a one year delay for the introduction of the reforms and some changes to the filing requirements.
