The planned requirement for small companies and micro‑entities to file full profit and loss (P&L) accounts at Companies House from April 2027 has been put on hold, and is now under review.

What was going to change?

The reforms sat within the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 and were aimed at increasing corporate transparency. Under the original plans, small and micro‑entity companies would have lost the ability to file abridged accounts and would instead have had to place much more detailed information on the public record.

In outline, the proposals would have meant:

• Micro‑entities: required to file a balance sheet and a profit and loss account at Companies House.
• Small companies: required to file a balance sheet, profit and loss account, directors’ report and (where relevant) an auditor’s report.
• Removal of abridged options: small companies could no longer exclude the P&L and directors’ report from the version filed at Companies House.
• Software‑only filing: accounts would eventually have had to be filed using compliant software, with web and paper filing phased out.

These changes were expected to apply from 1 April 2027 and would have significantly increased the amount of commercially sensitive financial information in the public domain for small businesses.

What has been paused?

Companies House has now confirmed that its plans to require small companies and micro‑entities to file profit and loss accounts from April 2027 ‘will not go ahead on that date’ and that the reforms are under review. The commitment is that businesses will receive at least 21 months’ notice before any new implementation date is introduced.

As things stand:

• The April 2027 start date for mandatory public P&L filing for small and micro‑entities has been withdrawn.
• The software‑only requirement for filing accounts has also been delayed.
• The government has not confirmed that the reforms are cancelled; they remain ‘under review’ and a final decision is expected in due course.

For many small business owners this is welcome news, but it should be seen as a pause rather than the end of the story.

Why has the change been delayed?

Several themes sit behind the decision to pause:

• Regulatory and cost burden: preparing fully detailed P&L accounts for publication would add time, cost and complexity for smaller businesses.
• Commercial sensitivity: business owners were understandably concerned that turnover, margins and other sensitive data would be visible to competitors, customers and suppliers.
• Questionable proportionality: while the reforms targeted economic crime and misuse of corporate structures, there was concern that the burden would fall mainly on compliant small businesses.
• Wider policy direction: the current administration has signaled an intention to reduce regulatory cost for business, and revisiting this measure is consistent with that direction.

At the same time, both Companies House and HMRC state that they remain committed to greater transparency and better‑quality information on the register over the medium term, even if the timetable on P&L filing has slowed.

What stays the same for now?

For the time being, existing small company filing rules continue to apply. In practical terms:

• Small and micro‑entities can continue to file abridged or filleted accounts at Companies House, meaning the public version need not include the detailed profit and loss account.
• There is no new obligation yet to move to software‑only filing for accounts, although digital filing remains encouraged and may return in future proposals.
• The current size thresholds that determine whether a company is ‘small’ or ‘micro‑entity’ continue to be the basis for which regime applies.

What do you need to be aware of?

Although the filing shake‑up has been paused for now, it’s been classified as a delay, rather than a cancellation of the changes. Separate changes to accounting standards are pushing for more disclosure, quite apart from the Companies House aspect, so it’s likely that more information will eventually have to be made available.

We’ll keep clients up to date and pass on any further announcements on the subject, whether from a Companies House perspective or that of accounting standards. There has been a clear commitment to at least 21 months’ notice of any new filing requirements from Companies House, but it will still be important to watch for an updated timetable or revised proposals.