Web and paper filing close in April 2028, and one rule has been paused
What happened
On 23 October 2026 Companies House published an update on how company accounts will have to be filed from April 2028. Two things changed, and they point in opposite directions. The first is a pause. Small companies and micro-entities were due to have to file a profit and loss account with Companies House from April 2028. That requirement has been paused. The pause follows recommendations from the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce. Companies can still file abridged accounts, and smaller companies can still remove — the technical word is "fillet" — their profit and loss information from accounts filed after 1 April 2028. The second change is going ahead as planned. From April 2028, all UK registered companies must file their accounts using commercial software, in a format called iXBRL. The Companies House web filing service, and paper filing, will close for accounts from April 2028. Three other changes are also still planned for April 2028: a strengthened eligibility statement for companies claiming an audit exemption; a requirement to file the component parts of accounts and reports together; and a limit on how many times a company can shorten its accounting reference period. Web filing stays available for other things, including confirmation statements and director updates.
Why this matters
There are millions of small companies on the UK register. A great many of them file their own accounts, once a year, through the Companies House website, without an accountant. From April 2028 that route closes for accounts. Every company will need software, or an accountant or agent who has it. That is a change of habit, not just a change of form. Companies House gives its reasons. Better transparency, accuracy and reliability of the data on the register. Support for people making decisions about companies. Tackling economic crime. Bringing the UK into line with practice in other countries. And streamlining Companies House and HMRC filing, under what the government calls a "tell Government once" ambition. The paused requirement is the part small business owners were most worried about. Filing a profit and loss account publicly means publishing your turnover and your margins, where any competitor or customer can read them. For a one-person company bidding for work, that is commercially sensitive. The taskforce that reviewed small business regulation recommended a pause, and the government has accepted it. What has not happened is a cancellation. A pause is a pause.
What the evidence actually says
Be careful about what this announcement does and does not say. It gives no number for how many companies are affected, and it sets out no penalties. It is about the rules, not the consequences of missing them. It does not say the profit and loss requirement has been scrapped. It says it has been paused, following the taskforce's recommendations. Anyone planning on the basis that it will never happen is making an assumption the announcement does not support. It does say, clearly, that software filing is going ahead as planned. That is the part to act on. There is a document trail if you want the detail. Companies House points to a Written Ministerial Statement, reference hlws419, the government's response to the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce report, and its own guidance on using software to file. April 2028 sounds comfortably far away. It is not, in accounting terms. It is roughly a year and a half of annual cycles. The real deadline for most companies is the set of accounts they prepare before that date, because that is when the software has to be chosen, bought and tested on a real filing.
Practical advice
If you are a company director, here is the short version. You do not need to do anything today. Nothing changes until April 2028. Before then, you will need software that can file accounts in iXBRL. Companies House keeps a list of providers on GOV.UK, at gov.uk/software-company-accounts. If an accountant or agent files for you, ask them one question now: "Will you be filing our accounts in iXBRL from April 2028, and does that change your fee?" Ask for the answer in writing. They will almost certainly have thought about it already, which is reassuring, but you want to know rather than assume. If you currently file your own accounts through the Companies House website, start looking at software well before your last filing under the old system. Do not leave it to the month the web service closes. Keep filing confirmation statements and director updates as normal. Web filing for those is not closing. Watch for the profit and loss requirement coming back. If publishing your margins would matter to you, this is worth tracking rather than forgetting about. And be wary of emails claiming a Companies House filing has failed and asking you to log in or pay. Type gov.uk into your browser yourself instead of clicking a link in a message.
What to know
On 23 October 2026 Companies House confirmed that from April 2028 all UK registered companies must file accounts in iXBRL format using commercial software, and that web and paper filing for accounts will close. The requirement for small companies and micro-entities to file a profit and loss account has been paused, following recommendations from the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce, and filleting profit and loss information remains possible after 1 April 2028. Other April 2028 changes stand: a strengthened audit exemption eligibility statement, filing the component parts of accounts together, and a limit on shortening accounting reference periods. The announcement gives no figures for how many companies are affected and sets out no penalties. Web filing continues for confirmation statements and director updates. The practical task before 2028 is choosing software, or confirming your accountant has it. Sources: Companies House, "Companies House update to accounts filing from April 2028", 23 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/companies-house-update-to-accounts-filing-from-april-2028; Companies House, "Find software to file your company accounts", https://www.gov.uk/software-company-accounts; Companies House, organisation page on GOV.UK, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house This article is for general information and is not legal, accounting or tax advice. For your own company's position, speak to a qualified accountant. It also does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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