Companies House accounts filing goes software-only from April 2028

Companies House will require all UK companies to submit their accounts through commercial software from 1 April 2028, ending paper and web-based accounts filing as part of its register reform programme.

The closure applies to accounts submissions rather than every service offered by the registrar. Paper and web routes will remain available for other statutory filings, according to details published by Accountancy Age.

What happened

The change will make commercial software the required route for delivering company accounts to the register. Businesses that currently submit accounts on paper or through Companies House’s web services will therefore need to change their filing arrangements before implementation.

For accountancy practices, the immediate task is to establish whether the systems they already use meet the incoming requirements. Preparing accounts digitally does not, by itself, establish that the same software can support the new submission process.

The reform also places attention on clients whose filing arrangements sit outside a practice’s existing software processes. Identifying those businesses will help accountants distinguish between clients who need a different filing route and those whose current arrangements can be adapted.

The background

Accounts reform sits within a wider Companies House transformation programme intended to improve the accuracy, completeness and accessibility of information on the register. The existing framework predates substantial changes in the way businesses produce and use financial information.

Millions of people and organisations consult Companies House data each year. Users include lenders, investors, suppliers, customers, government organisations and members of the public, with financial decisions worth millions of pounds drawing on the information it holds.

Although digital accounts preparation is already common, submissions can still differ in format and data quality. A more consistent filing environment is intended to reduce errors and make financial information easier to compare and analyse.

An important technology in that process is Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language, known as iXBRL. It applies standardised tags to individual pieces of financial information within an HTML document, allowing the accounts to be read by both people and computer systems.

Those tags give software a consistent way to interpret information that would otherwise be presented as a static document. The intended benefit is faster analysis without losing the readable presentation of the accounts themselves.

What people are saying

Companies House recommends that accountants use the preparation period to assess their software, establish which clients will be affected and explain the changes to them. Its advice is to begin that work before the April 2028 implementation date rather than leave the transition until filing routes close.

The registrar also directs businesses looking for a product to its software-finding tool. Separate information on approved software is available for those submitting package accounts.

For practices already producing iXBRL accounts, the transition may involve adjustments to existing procedures rather than an entirely new reporting process. Many accountants already encounter the format through tax filing requirements.

What happens next

The implementation date sets the timetable for companies and advisers to put suitable filing arrangements in place. Practices will need to match their review of software capability with an assessment of clients requiring additional support.

Companies will not necessarily have to learn the technical detail of digital tagging themselves. Accounting software and professional advisers can handle that work in many cases, leaving directors to establish how their business will prepare and submit accounts under the new requirements.