New Companies House rules will mean that small and micro‑entity companies must file a profit and loss (P&L) account from April 2028, but they can choose to opt out of having that P&L made public on the Companies House register. 

What has been announced?

The government has confirmed that, from April 2028, small companies and micro‑entities will have to file a profit and loss account with Companies House as part of their statutory accounts filing. This is part of the wider Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) reforms, which aim to improve the quality and usefulness of information held on the register and to support the fight against fraud and economic crime. 

Crucially, smaller companies will be able to file the P&L while opting out of publication on the public register, meaning that competitors and the general public will not automatically see this level of detail. Companies House, HMRC and law‑enforcement bodies will still have full access to the filed information so they can use it for compliance, tax and crime‑prevention purposes. 

Companies House are sending emails to the Registered Email address for each company confirming these changes, so be prepared for that to arrive!

The Background

The ECCTA was passed in 2023 and included more detailed and standardised accounts filings, including requiring small companies to file a P&L and directors’ report, and removing the option to file abridged accounts. Initially, the plan was that all companies would have to file using commercial software, and that small and micro‑entities would start filing P&L information as part of that package of reforms from April 2027. 

In 2025 and early 2026, following significant concern from small business representative bodies and the profession around privacy for small companies, the government paused the implementation of the accounts reforms. 

The latest announcement confirms that the changes will now come in from April 2028, giving companies one full accounting year and around nine months’ notice to prepare. 

What are small and micro entities?

Broadly, a company is classed as small if it meets at least two of these characteristics: 

1. Turnover of up to £10.2m
2. Balance sheet total up to £5.1m 
3. 50 or fewer employees

A micro-entity must meet at least two much tighter limits:

1. Turnover up to £632,000
2. Balance sheet total up to £316,000
3. 10 or fewer employees

A micro‑entity is essentially a very small company, with much lower thresholds than a standard small company, benefiting from the simplest accounting regime. Micro‑entities automatically qualify as small, but because they fall under this more restrictive category, they can usually prepare much shorter, simpler accounts and make fewer disclosures than other small companies, although the developing Companies House reforms will narrow some of these differences over time. 

Key changes to accounts filing

Under the ECCTA reforms, the company accounts rules for small and micro‑entities are being rewritten to make their obligations clearer, and to align more closely with other companies. The core changes confirmed so far include: 

• Small companies and micro‑entities will have to file a profit and loss account with Companies House, not just a balance sheet as currently. 
• Small companies will also be required to file a directors’ report, while micro‑entities will continue to have the option not to prepare one. 
• The ability to file abridged accounts will be removed, so the filed accounts will more closely match the full statutory accounts prepared for shareholders. 
• All companies will have to file accounts via commercial software; paper and web‑based Companies House account filing routes will be withdrawn. 
• Directors using audit exemptions (for example, a dormant company exemption) will have to include an explicit eligibility statement with the accounts. 

Further technical detail is still to be published, including the exact mechanics of how the P&L privacy opt‑out will work and how software will ‘tag’ information to keep it off the public record where appropriate. 

Public visibility versus confidentiality

For many owner‑managed businesses, the core concern has always been the risk of commercially sensitive information becoming publicly available. Historically, small and micro‑entities could file filleted or abridged accounts, which meant the detailed P&L figures never appeared on the Companies House register. The move to require filing of the full P&L raised understandable worries about revealing margins, cost structures and salary information to competitors or even local contacts. 

The revised approach is a compromise: the P&L must be filed, improving the quality of data available to regulators and enforcement agencies, but smaller companies will be able to opt out of having that P&L appear on the public record. Companies that see a strategic benefit in publishing their full figures, for example, to support funding discussions or demonstrate transparency, will still be able to choose to make their P&L public. 

What this means for owner‑managed businesses

For most owner‑managed businesses, the biggest practical changes will be around process, rather than the underlying accounting. The statutory accounts prepared already include a P&L; the change is that this P&L will now also need to be filed with Companies House via software, even if you choose not to have it published. Directors will no longer be able to rely on a short form or abridged set of accounts for the public record while keeping a completely separate ‘full’ version  for shareholders and HMRC. 

There may also be systems‑related implications, especially for businesses that currently rely on paper filing, the Companies House web‑filing service or older software. Moving to compliant commercial software and workflows ahead of the deadline will be important to avoid last‑minute disruption and to ensure that the privacy choices around P&L publication are correctly applied. 

How we’ll support clients…

We already manage Companies House and HMRC filing obligations for our clients. As these new rules are finalised, we’ll keep a close eye on the technical developments and will review each client’s filing profile and preference around the P&L privacy opt‑out, incorporating the necessary changes into our year‑end process well ahead of the April 2028 deadline. 

As always, our role is to ensure that clients are fully compliant while protecting their commercial confidentiality wherever the rules allow. That means we will:

• Analyse client company size classification and confirm whether the new small or micro‑entity P&L filing rules apply.
• Ensure the P&L is correctly filed with Companies House, but excluded from the public register where clients choose to opt out.
• Communicate clearly what is and is not visible on the public record, so clients understand what will be visible on the Register.

You can see the full announcement on Gov.uk here.

Though there are still some details to be clarified, if you have any questions or concerns at this point, please get in touch. Otherwise, we’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.