Five weeks ago I wrote, in a post about related party notes in small company accounts, that the filleting option disappears in April 2028. On 23 October that stopped being true. Companies House announced that the government will pause the requirement for small companies and micro-entities to file a profit and loss account, and will keep abridged accounts and filleting after 1 April 2028 (Companies House, 2026).
The more useful point is what didn't change, because the half of the reform that survived is the half that changes how accounts physically reach the register. I think a lot of small-company directors are about to hear "the reform's been paused" and stop preparing for the part that wasn't.
TL;DR: The P&L filing requirement for small companies is paused, and filleting survives. Software-only filing in iXBRL still starts on 1 April 2028, and web and paper accounts filing closes the same day with no transition. The directors most at risk are the ones who file their own accounts, including dormant companies.
What did Companies House actually pause?
One requirement. Small companies and micro-entities won't have to file a profit and loss account from April 2028, and they can still file abridged accounts and remove, or fillet, the P&L from what goes on the register (Companies House, 2026).
The word is "pause", and I'd keep using it. Nothing has been repealed. The government's response to the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce says it is pausing implementation of the P&L filing requirement while it explores options for joining up filing with HMRC, and that it is exploring a "tell government once" service. The Taskforce made 15 recommendations and the government accepted all but one (GOV.UK, 2026).
I wouldn't tell a client the P&L question is settled for good.
Was your margin ever going on the public register?
Mostly not, and this is where I think the relief is aimed at the wrong thing. The worry about this reform was always competitors and customers reading a company's margin. But the June 2026 version of the plan already said smaller companies could opt out of publishing their P&L on the public register, with the mechanics to be confirmed later (Companies House, June 2026).
So the privacy fight had largely been won more than four months before the pause. What the pause actually removes is the filing itself. Under the June plan, Companies House would have held the P&L even when the public couldn't see it. Now it won't receive it at all.
That distinction matters because of where the P&L already goes. HMRC gets the full accounts, profit and loss included, with the Company Tax Return. Companies House asking for the same figures again is the duplication the Taskforce was pointing at.
Why does "tell government once" matter to small companies?
Because it tells you where this is likely to go next. My read, and it is only a read, is that the P&L question has moved from "should Companies House collect it" to "should Companies House get it from HMRC". That's a data-sharing question, and it could be answered without a director ever filing anything extra.
There's an irony in the timing. HMRC and Companies House ran a joint free service for filing accounts and the Company Tax Return together, and it closed on 31 March 2026. Since 1 April 2026, HMRC expects commercial software for the tax return and the accounts that go with it (GOV.UK, 2026). The one route where you genuinely told government once has already gone.
The economist in me sees an old pattern: when two agencies collect the same data, the filer pays for the overlap. A joined-up service would shift that cost back to government.
Software-only filing still starts in April 2028
Software-only filing is going ahead as planned. From 1 April 2028, every UK registered company must file its accounts in iXBRL format (accounts with machine-readable tags behind the figures) using commercial software, whether it files itself or through an agent. Web and paper accounts filing closes that day, and web filing stays open only for non-accounts filings such as confirmation statements and director changes (Companies House, 2026).
Two details deserve more attention: there's no transition period, and the closure includes revised accounts. Accounts that can't be filed on time are late, and late accounts carry an automatic civil penalty. The same page warns that "not all software supports the iXBRL tagging you'll need" (GOV.UK, 2026).
| April 2028 change | Status after 23 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Small and micro-entity P&L filing | Paused |
| Abridged accounts and filleting | Kept |
| Software-only iXBRL accounts filing | Going ahead |
| Web and paper accounts filing | Closing |
| Strengthened audit exemption statement | Going ahead |
| Component parts filed together | Going ahead |
| Limit on shortening the accounting reference period | Going ahead |
Who is most likely to get caught out?
The self-filer. In the year to 31 March 2026, Companies House registered 4,073,353 sets of annual accounts, and 92.77% arrived electronically (Companies House management information, 2026). On my arithmetic that leaves roughly 294,000 sets still filed on paper. "Electronically" also includes web filing, which closes too, so the real number moving to software is larger.
That same year, 1,768,690 micro-entity accounts and 666,741 dormant accounts were registered. Dormant companies are in scope. A director who has filed a two-line dormant balance sheet through the web form every year for a decade will need a software product from April 2028, and that's a new annual cost for a company that earns nothing.
For the companies whose accounts I already prepare, very little changes in how they reach Companies House. The risk sits with the directors who never had an accountant, and with the ones who left one to save money.
Three changes nobody is talking about
All three survive the pause and start in April 2028. Companies claiming audit exemption will have to give a strengthened eligibility statement, companies must file all the component parts of their accounts and reports together, and there will be a limit on how many times a company can shorten its accounting reference period (Companies House, 2026).
The audit exemption change touches a lot of people. There were 1,463,049 accounts classed as audit exempt registered in 2025-26, 35.92% of the total (Companies House management information, 2026). The exact wording of the new statement isn't on the announcement, so I'm waiting for it before I change any templates.
The accounting reference period limit is the one I'd flag to anyone running late. Shortening a year end can reset the filing deadline to three months from the date of the notice under section 442(4)(b) of the Companies Act 2006. It's an old way of buying time. A cap on how often you can do it means that time-buying gets rationed.
What am I telling small-company clients this month?
Three things. First, if you fillet today, you can keep doing it. Second, if you file your own accounts, choose your software before 2027 ends, not in March 2028. GOV.UK has a finder for accounts filing software. Ask any supplier whether it files iXBRL accounts to Companies House, because not every bookkeeping tool does.
Third, if you own a dormant company you're keeping "just in case", 2028 is a good moment to ask whether the case still exists. Paying for software every year to report nothing is a fair prompt to decide.
Software choice will feel familiar to anyone who went through HMRC's MTD software list, and Companies House's record on identity verification says it enforces deadlines once set.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do small companies have to file a profit and loss account at Companies House from 2028?
No, not on current plans. On 23 October 2026 the government paused the requirement for small companies and micro-entities to file a P&L from April 2028. Nothing has been repealed, and the government is exploring joint filing with HMRC, so it could return in a different form.
Can I still file filleted or abridged accounts after April 2028?
Yes. Companies House has confirmed that abridged accounts stay available and that smaller companies can still fillet the profit and loss account from accounts filed after 1 April 2028.
Do I still need software to file my company accounts from April 2028?
Yes. From 1 April 2028 every UK company must file accounts in iXBRL using commercial software. Web and paper accounts filing closes with no transition period, and that includes revised accounts. Confirmation statements can still go through web filing.
Does software-only filing apply to dormant companies?
Yes. The requirement covers all UK registered companies, and dormant accounts are annual accounts. A dormant company that files through the web form today will need software or an agent from April 2028.
If you file your own company's accounts and want a second opinion on the move to software before 2028, get in touch. I'm happy to look at your setup and tell you what I'd change.