With digital filing and public transparency changes on the horizon, will your business be ready for the new Companies House rules taking effect in 2027?
In addition to adjusted company size thresholds from April 2025 and identity verification becoming mandatory this autumn, company directors need to be aware of further changes that Companies House will be implementing from 1st April 2027.
Here’s a summary of how company accounts are changing and what gbac can do to help you.
Mandatory digital filing
If you are a director and currently submit your company accounts yourself instead of using an agent, you will no longer be able to do this via the Companies House web service or paper filing.
While the web service will remain open for filings like confirmation statements and director updates, from April 2027, you can only file company accounts using digital software.
This means directors must use suitable commercial software, which adds to the running costs of a limited company. Ideally, this software should also comply with HMRC filing requirements, as Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is expanding in 2026.
Accounts filing options
Companies House is streamlining the filing options for company accounts for micro-entities and small companies, which means that from April 2027:
- Companies can no longer prepare and file abridged accounts.
- Small companies must file a directors’ report.
- Micro-entities and small companies both have to file profit and loss accounts.
These changes will result in more company information being publicly available than before.
Despite Companies House announcing these changes, it’s still unclear whether the requirement for profit and loss filing will take effect on 1st April 2027 with the others.
Financial year end changes
Companies can currently shorten their financial year end as often as they like. However, Companies House will be restricting this to once every 5 years, unless the business has a valid reason for shortening its financial year end more often.
This will then match the rules for companies lengthening their financial year end.
Get professional help with company accounts
The government website currently provides an online service that can help different businesses find the right type of software for filing company accounts.
Alternatively, if you are looking to outsource your bookkeeping, tax management, or statutory filing processes, you can contact our Barnsley accountants for professional assistance.
We can help you with various aspects of financial management and filing obligation fulfilment, so get in touch by calling 01226 298 298 or emailing info@gbac.co.uk for bespoke support.