For the past three years, the most fiercely debated element of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) 2023 has been the removal of "filleted" or abridged accounts for small companies and micro-entities. The prospect of being legally required to put turnover, gross profit margins, and director remuneration on the public record left many UK business owners concerned about exposure to competitors, suppliers, and customers during negotiations.

On 9 June 2026, the government set out a significant policy change. In a written ministerial statement (HLWS99), the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State confirmed that small companies and micro-entities will still be required to file full profit and loss (P&L) accounts — but will be given a statutory option to keep those P&L figures off the public register. The government has also pushed the implementation date back a year, from April 2027 to 1 April 2028.

At CoreAcc Accountants, we see this as a meaningful, practical compromise. Below is a clear breakdown of how the new framework will work and what it means for your compliance strategy.

The New Framework: Filing for Authorities, Privacy for the Public

The 2028 reforms introduce a deliberate split between what companies must file and what the public can see. The underlying goal of ECCTA is to improve the accuracy of the Companies House register and help tackle money laundering and shell company fraud, which requires authorities to have full visibility of company financial data. At the same time, the government has acknowledged the genuine commercial risk that public exposure poses to small businesses.

Under the confirmed 2028 structure:

  • The filing obligation: every small company and micro-entity must prepare and submit a full P&L account to Companies House, via commercial software.
  • The public opt-out: by electing the statutory opt-out, a company's P&L figures will not appear on the public-facing Find and Update Company Information service.
  • The authorities' view: regardless of whether a company opts out of public display, HMRC, Companies House, and law enforcement retain full access to the underlying P&L data to support economic crime investigations.

Important: don't mistake this for a cancellation of the rules. It's a new compliance obligation, not a reprieve. You're still legally required to produce structured, iXBRL-tagged financial data, and you'll still need software capable of generating it correctly. Get this wrong and you risk automatic filing penalties, irrespective of whether the public can see the result.

The 21-Month Preparation Window

By delaying the start date to April 2028, Companies House has given directors roughly 21 months to prepare — broadly one full accounting year plus the standard nine-month filing window. That lead time matters, because the method of submission is changing too.

Accounts Filing Moves Off WebFiling

From 1 April 2028, Companies House will close the accounts-filing route on its legacy WebFiling portal and stop accepting paper accounts. Every UK company will need to file accounts digitally through commercial software, using Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL).

It's worth being precise here: WebFiling itself isn't disappearing entirely — it will still handle filings such as confirmation statements and changes to directors or registered addresses. It's specifically the accounts filing route that closes.

Separately, under the wider Modernising Corporate Reporting programme, the government has also confirmed that the requirement for companies to produce a standalone Directors' Report will be removed entirely — not just for small companies, but across the board.

Worked Example

Take an owner-managed limited company with a 31 December year-end.

  • Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2026 (filed in autumn 2027) can still use the current "filleted" filing approach.
  • Accounts for the period beginning 1 January 2027 (filed in 2028) fall under the new regime. This company will need iXBRL-compatible software, must file the full P&L, and — if it wants to keep its margins private — must actively elect the public opt-out at the point of filing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if a company chooses not to opt out of publication?

‍Not opting out is entirely legal and may suit some businesses well. Companies House has noted that smaller companies seeking to raise capital, secure commercial loans, or bid for public sector tenders may choose to publish their full P&L voluntarily, since visible financial performance can support credit assessments and demonstrate stability to lenders and customers.

Are micro-entities treated differently from small companies under the 2028 rules?

‍The principle is the same, but the components differ slightly. From April 2028, micro-entities will file a balance sheet and a P&L account. Small companies will file a balance sheet, a P&L account, and an auditor's report (unless a valid audit exemption applies). Neither tier is required to file a separate Directors' Report, as this is being removed for all companies. Both tiers can opt their P&L out of public display, but balance sheets remain fully public, as they are today.

What are the new rules on audit exemptions?

‍If a company claims a statutory audit exemption, the June 2026 update confirms directors must include a strengthened statement on the balance sheet, citing the specific section of the Companies Act 2006 being relied on and confirming the company meets the relevant thresholds.

How CoreAcc Accountants Can Help

The move to software-only filing and the new dual-track "opt-out" register removes much of the anxiety around commercial privacy, but it increases the administrative and software burden on small businesses. We help clients prepare for the 2028 regime by handling:

  • System migration and onboarding — moving you off manual tracking or WebFiling-only processes onto iXBRL-capable cloud platforms such as Xero or QuickBooks.
  • Corporate privacy strategy — assessing whether the public P&L opt-out is right for your business, or whether voluntary publication would better support credit applications or tenders.
  • Audit exemption reviews — preparing the newly required directors' statements correctly to avoid compliance issues.
  • Tax planning alignment — making sure your P&L submissions are consistent with your wider corporate tax and remuneration planning.

Contact CoreAcc Accountants to schedule a compliance review ahead of the 2028 deadlines.

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