Companies House pauses profit and loss filing for small companies: what still changes in April 2028

By Ben Davies · Updated 23 October 2026

On 23 October 2026 the government paused the plan for small companies and micro-entities (the smallest companies) to file a profit and loss account at Companies House from April 2028. It followed a recommendation from the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce, which said the change would add a heavy new burden on the businesses least able to carry it.

The rest of the April 2028 reforms are going ahead. Most importantly, from 1 April 2028 every company's accounts, dormant companies included, must be filed through commercial software.

What was paused

The requirement for small companies and micro-entities to file a profit and loss account with Companies House. It was due to start in April 2028.

That means the rules on what you file stay as they are today:

• A micro-entity files its balance sheet. Its profit and loss account stays private.
• A small company can still file "filleted" accounts: a balance sheet with no profit and loss account.
• A small company can still file abridged accounts: a shortened version of its balance sheet and profit and loss account.

The privacy opt-out that was promised in June 2026 is no longer needed. It only existed to keep a newly required profit and loss account off the public register.

For more on the shortened formats, see are abridged and filleted accounts being abolished?

What still starts on 1 April 2028

• Software-only filing. All accounts must be filed through commercial software in iXBRL, the digitally tagged format Companies House can check automatically. Companies House will stop taking accounts on its website or on paper. Other filings, like the confirmation statement and director changes, are not affected.
• A stronger audit-exemption statement. Any company that claims exemption from audit, as dormant companies do, will need a fuller statement from its directors on the balance sheet. It names the exemption being claimed and confirms the company qualifies for it.
• All parts of the accounts filed together. The balance sheet, notes and any reports go in as one set, not piece by piece.
• A limit on shortening your year. A company that wants to shorten its accounting reference date more than once in five years will have to give a business reason.

Your deadlines don't change. Accounts are still due nine months after the end of the company's financial year.

Why it was paused

The plan to make small companies file their profit and loss account comes from the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. It has moved several times:

• Original plan: April 2027.
• January 2026: paused for review.
• 9 June 2026: confirmed for April 2028, with an option to keep the profit and loss account off the public register.
• 23 October 2026: the profit and loss part paused again, on the taskforce's advice. Software-only filing kept.

Small businesses had two worries. Preparing and filing the extra figures was a new cost. And putting turnover and profit on a public register would show competitors, suppliers and customers how a small business was doing.

What "tell Government once" might mean

During the pause, the government says it will look at streamlining how companies file with Companies House and HMRC, under its "tell Government once" aim. The idea is that a company gives the same figures once, rather than once to each.

Nothing concrete has been published: no proposal, no timetable. Until something is, a company files its accounts with Companies House and, if HMRC has asked for one, its Company Tax Return (CT600) with HMRC, as two separate filings. HMRC's joint service for filing both together closed on 31 March 2026.

DormantFile already handles both from one place: the accounts to Companies House and the nil Company Tax Return to HMRC. We'll follow the "tell Government once" work and update this guide when there is something real to say.

What it means if your company is dormant

Almost nothing changes from what was already planned.

• What you file stays the same. Dormant accounts are a balance sheet and a few short statements. That includes a company that traded in the past and still carries figures on its balance sheet. No profit and loss account is filed, and the pause keeps it that way.
• How you file still changes. From 1 April 2028 dormant accounts must go through commercial software.
• The audit-exemption statement gets longer. Dormant companies claim exemption from audit, so this one touches their accounts. Companies House hasn't published the new wording yet.

DormantFile already files dormant accounts through the Companies House software channel, fully tagged. It writes the audit-exemption statement for you, and we'll update it to the new wording when Companies House publishes it. A DormantFile customer has nothing to do.

What it means if you file micro-entity accounts

If your company isn't trading but isn't quite dormant, perhaps because it's repaying a Bounce Back Loan, you probably file micro-entity accounts.

Before today, you would have had to file your profit and loss account from April 2028 and then choose whether to keep it off the public register. That's now off the table. You keep filing the balance sheet only, and your profit and loss account stays private, as it is now.

The software-only rule still applies to you from 1 April 2028. DormantFile files micro-entity accounts for non-trading companies through the same software channel.

What to do now

1. Nothing, for the profit and loss account. There is no new requirement to prepare for.
2. Settle how your accounts get filed. The software-only rule is still coming. If your company is dormant, you can file dormant company accounts online through software today, from £19/year, with the nil Company Tax Return covered under the same plan.

What's still open

Companies House is holding a forum with software providers in the next few weeks to go through the practical and technical detail. The things still to be published include the exact wording of the new audit-exemption statement and the technical rules for software filing.

We'll update this guide as each one lands. For the full list of 2028 changes, see Companies House accounts changes from April 2028 and the 2028 reforms hub.