If you run a small limited company, your accounting software is now a compliance question — and you should be asking it today, not in 2027. The government has confirmed that from 1 April 2028, every UK-registered company must file accounts via commercial software in iXBRL format; existing Companies House web and paper-based filing routes will close entirely, and the option to file abridged accounts will be removed. Small companies and micro-entities will be required to file their profit and loss account — something most of them have never had to do publicly before. The date is fixed. The software requirement is non-negotiable. Whether your current package is up to it is a question with an IT dimension, and it belongs on your agenda now.
The reform lands harder than it first appears. The most popular approach for small companies has been to file filleted accounts — preparing full statutory accounts for shareholders and HMRC, but filing a reduced version at Companies House that leaves out the profit and loss account, keeping revenue and profit figures off the public register. One of the most significant changes is the removal of abridged and filleted accounts: both small companies and micro-entities will be required to file a fuller set of financial information, including a balance sheet and profit and loss account. There is a partial concession on privacy — small companies and micro-entities will be able to opt out of having the P&L published on the public register, though even where publication is withheld, the profit and loss account will remain accessible to HMRC, Companies House, and law enforcement agencies. You are not hiding the figures; you are choosing who sees them. Competitors won't get an automatic look — but the registrar, the taxman, and the police will.
On the software question specifically: this change aligns Companies House with the process already required for Corporation Tax submissions to HMRC, so iXBRL itself is not new territory for accountancy practices. But companies that do not use a suitable commercial accounting software package for the preparation of their annual financial statements will need to either invest in new software or make new arrangements for the preparation and submission of their accounts. If you use spreadsheets, a basic bookkeeping tool, or software that has not been configured properly, you may need to change your process before 2028. Switching accounting software mid-cycle is disruptive — data migration, staff retraining, integration with your payroll or CRM — and that disruption compounds the closer you leave it to the deadline. Companies House has confirmed that all companies will have one full accounting year plus nine months — 21 months in total — to get ready. That window sounds generous until you factor in that changing your software stack takes longer than your accountant's approval period, and most businesses will only pass through the new rules once before the deadline bites.
Here is what to do: open your accounting software today and ask one question — can it produce an iXBRL-tagged accounts file for Companies House? If you don't know, ask whoever sold it to you, in writing, and get a named confirmation that their package is on the GOV.UK approved software list. If the answer is no, or if the tool hasn't been updated in years, start scoping a replacement now — not in late 2027 when every small business in the country is doing the same thing at once. This is exactly the kind of software audit we run for clients as a matter of course. If you'd like us to take a look at your setup, come and talk to us.
