The Free Filing Service Is Closing: Companies House Is Moving to Software-Only Accounts Filing in April 2028

If you own a UK limited company and file its accounts yourself using the free Companies House web service, that option has an expiry date. From April 2028, Companies House will require every UK-registered company to file its annual accounts using commercial software — and it will close the free web filing service and the paper route for accounts at the same time.

The change was confirmed by the government on 9 June 2026 as part of the accounts reforms under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. It had originally been planned for April 2027, but the deadline was pushed back to give companies more time. That means you now have a full accounting year plus nine months to prepare — but it also means the free tool many non-resident owners rely on will not be there forever.

What Exactly Is Changing

Today, most small UK companies file their annual accounts one of three ways: through the Companies House online (web) filing service, on paper, or through commercial accounting software. From April 2028, only the third option survives for accounts.

Companies House has confirmed that from that date all UK-registered companies must file their accounts in Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language — known as iXBRL — using commercial software. The web-based and paper filing systems will be closed for accounts filings. This applies whether you file your own accounts or use a third-party agent or accountant.

Why This Matters More for Non-Resident Owners

Many non-resident founders set up a UK company precisely because the admin is meant to be light and low-cost. A large share of them file their own dormant or small-company accounts directly through the free Companies House web form, without an accountant. That free form is exactly what is going away for accounts.

After April 2028, filing your accounts will mean using approved software that can produce a correctly tagged iXBRL file. In practice that means either subscribing to filing software yourself or engaging an accountant or agent who files on your behalf. For an owner sitting outside the UK, planning for this early avoids a last-minute scramble at your accounts deadline.

Dormant Companies Are Not Exempt

This is the point most owners miss. A dormant company — one that has had no significant accounting transactions in the financial year — still has to file dormant accounts every year. The software-only rule applies to all UK-registered companies, and there is no exemption based on company size or dormant status.

So even if your UK company has never traded and you have been filing simple dormant accounts through the free web form, you will still need to move to software-based filing from April 2028. "Doing nothing" commercially does not remove the filing obligation, and it will not exempt you from the new method.

What iXBRL Actually Means

iXBRL is not something you write by hand. It is a format that tags each figure in your accounts — turnover, profit, assets, and so on — so the data is machine-readable as well as human-readable. Your chosen commercial software generates the iXBRL automatically as part of preparing and submitting the accounts. You do not need to learn a new language; you need software that produces the format. Companies House publishes a list of software providers on GOV.UK to help companies find a suitable package.

What Is Not Changing

The move to software-only filing applies to accounts, not to every filing. Companies House web filing services remain available and fully supported for non-accounts filings — including your confirmation statement and updates to director or registered-office details. Your filing deadlines are not changing either: a private company still normally files its first accounts 21 months after incorporation, and subsequent accounts 9 months after the end of each accounting reference period.

The existing late filing penalties still apply on top of all this. For a private company, filing accounts even one day late triggers an automatic penalty starting at £150, rising with the length of the delay — and the penalty doubles if you file late two years in a row. Switching to software does not change those deadlines, so the practical risk is simply being unprepared to file at all when the free route disappears.

What You Should Do Now

You have time, but not unlimited time. Three sensible steps: first, note whether you currently rely on the free Companies House web service for your accounts, because that is the route being removed. Second, decide before your first accounts deadline after April 2028 whether you will subscribe to filing software or hand the filing to an accountant or agent. Third, if you use an agent already, confirm they will file your accounts through compatible software — the rule applies to agents too.

Alongside the software change, the same reforms will require small companies and micro-entities to file a profit and loss account (with an option to opt out of publishing it), and will remove the option to file abridged accounts. Those are separate content changes, but they arrive on the same April 2028 timeline, so it is worth planning for the whole package at once.

Have Questions About Your Own Situation?

Every company's setup is a little different, and the right filing route for a dormant holding company is not always the right one for an active trading company. If you would like to talk it through with the MP Partner experts team — no pressure, no hard sell, just clear answers about what this means for your company — we are happy to help.

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