Companies House accounts changes from April 2028: what dormant and small company owners need to know

By DormantFile · Updated 10 June 2026

On 9 June 2026 the government confirmed the biggest change to Companies House accounts filing in a generation. From April 2028, every UK company — including dormant ones — must file its annual accounts through commercial software. The free WebFiling route for accounts, and paper filing, will close. Small companies and micro-entities will also have to file a profit and loss account for the first time, though they can keep it off the public register.

These reforms come from the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) — the same legislation behind mandatory director identity verification. They were paused last year while the government consulted; they are now confirmed and going ahead.

What's changing, in one list

• Software-only filing. All accounts must be filed via commercial software in iXBRL (digitally tagged) format. The Companies House web route for accounts and paper filing both close. WebFiling itself stays open for other filings — confirmation statements, director changes, address changes — just not accounts.
• Profit and loss filing for small and micro companies. Micro-entities will file a balance sheet plus a profit and loss account. Small companies will file a balance sheet, directors' report, auditor's report (unless exempt) plus a profit and loss account. Today, both can file the balance sheet alone.
• A privacy opt-out. Small companies and micro-entities will be able to opt out of having their profit and loss account published on the public register. It must still be filed — Companies House, HMRC and law enforcement can see it — but your competitors and neighbours won't. The government has not yet published how the opt-out will work in practice.
• Abridged accounts abolished. The option to prepare abridged accounts disappears.
• Smaller technical changes, including a requirement that all component parts of the accounts are filed together, and a limit on how often a company can shorten its accounting reference period.

When does this start?

April 2028. The original plan was April 2027; the government pushed it back a year after concerns from smaller companies, giving everyone one full accounting year plus nine months — 21 months from the announcement — to get ready.

It's worth being honest about track record here: these reforms have moved once already, and the detailed rules (especially the profit and loss privacy opt-out) are still to be published in secondary legislation. The direction of travel, though, is now confirmed government policy with a ministerial statement behind it.

What this means if your company is dormant

Dormant companies are not exempt. If you currently log into WebFiling once a year and file dormant accounts for free, that route closes in April 2028. From then on, your dormant accounts must go through commercial software like everyone else's.

The practical effect:

• Your deadlines don't change. Accounts are still due nine months after your accounting reference date. See when dormant accounts are due.
• What you file barely changes. A dormant company has no transactions, so even if a profit and loss account is required, it would be nil. Companies House hasn't yet confirmed exactly how the new requirements apply to dormant accounts — we'll update this guide when the detail lands.
• How you file changes completely. No more free WebFiling for accounts. You'll need software, an accountant who uses software, or a filing service.

If you've been doing it yourself for free, this is the change that finally puts a price on a dormant company's admin — which is worth factoring into any keep-or-dissolve decision.

What this means if you file micro-entity accounts

If your company is small-but-not-dormant — non-trading, winding down, or holding a Bounce Back Loan — and files micro-entity (FRS 105) accounts, two things change in April 2028:

1. You can no longer file the balance sheet alone ("filleted" accounts). The profit and loss account you already prepare must be filed too.
2. You can opt out of that profit and loss account being made public.

For most micro-entities in this position the P&L is a handful of lines — often just loan interest — so the work is small. The privacy opt-out matters more: without it, your turnover and profit would be visible to anyone. With it, they're not. See our guide to profit and loss filing from 2028 for the detail.

What you should actually do now

Nothing urgent — April 2028 is a while away, and the technical detail isn't finished. But three sensible steps:

1. Know your dates. Work out which accounting period will be the first one you file under the new rules. If your year-end is 31 March, the accounts due in late 2028 will likely be the first affected.
2. Don't pay for panic. Some providers will market the 2028 deadline aggressively. Filing requirements aren't changing until April 2028, and your existing free WebFiling route works until then.
3. Pick your software route calmly. If you'd rather sort it once and stop thinking about it, services like DormantFile already file accounts the way the 2028 rules require — through the Companies House software channel, fully tagged — so the change date passes you by.

Where DormantFile fits

DormantFile has always filed accounts the "2028 way" — through the Companies House software filing channel in iXBRL, not through WebFiling. Dormant accounts and micro-entity accounts to Companies House, plus the nil CT600 to HMRC, from £19/year, with deadline reminders so nothing slips. When the WebFiling accounts route closes, nothing changes for our customers. See how it works and pricing.