Summer Is Almost Over. Unfortunately, Companies House Has Plans.
And just like that, summer is nearly over. The paddling pool is slowly turning into a wildlife sanctuary. The BBQ has been pushed back into the garage, where it will remain untouched until someone optimistically wheels it out during a sunny afternoon next March. Parents everywhere are discovering that their children have grown two shoe sizes since July, and supermarkets have already started quietly putting Christmas chocolates on the shelves.
There is, however, one organisation that has clearly spent its summer being considerably more productive than the rest of us.
Companies House.
While we were applying factor 30 and wondering whether 11am was too early for a beer on holiday, Companies House has been busy working through some fairly substantial reforms to the UK company register. And, over the next couple of years, they are going to affect pretty much anyone who owns or runs a limited company. So, as we reluctantly put the flip-flops away and accept that autumn is approaching, here is what is coming.
First up: "Can I see some ID?"
One of the biggest changes is identity verification. Companies House is gradually moving away from the charmingly trusting system where you could submit information about company directors with relatively little evidence that anybody involved actually existed. Under the new regime, people setting up, running, owning or controlling companies increasingly need to prove that they are who they say they are.
Since 18 November 2025, identity verification has been compulsory for new directors and people with significant control (PSCs) when incorporating a company or being newly appointed. Existing directors and PSCs have been moving through a 12-month transition period, generally linking their verified identity to the company through its confirmation statement.
In other words, Companies House is becoming a little less:
"Hello, my name is Mr Definitely A Real Person and I live at 1 Totally Legitimate Street."
And a little more:
"Passport, please."
For genuine business owners this shouldn't be particularly frightening, but it does mean another compliance job needs adding to the list.
Accountants are getting checked too
The reforms aren't stopping with directors. Eventually, identity verification will also become compulsory for people filing documents at Companies House. Third-party agents filing information on behalf of businesses will also need to be registered as Authorised Corporate Service Providers, or ACSPs. The latest Companies House timetable says these presenter requirements are expected no earlier than November 2027, with at least six months' notice before they are introduced.
Accountants are therefore also being asked to prove that we are real people. Which seems slightly unfair given that years of January tax returns have already removed most of the evidence that we are alive.
Companies House is becoming much less of a filing cabinet
This is probably the bigger story behind all the changes. Historically, Companies House has sometimes felt like an enormous digital filing cabinet. Companies send information in, Companies House puts it on the register, and everyone carries on with their lives. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act is changing that.
Companies House now has wider powers and is moving towards a system where information can be scrutinised, challenged and cross-checked more effectively. By no earlier than the end of 2026, the roadmap says Companies House expects greater cross-checking of information between itself and other public and private sector bodies, alongside compliance action against people who have failed to meet identity verification requirements.
The basic direction of travel is clear. Companies House doesn't just want information. It wants better information. This is broadly good news if you enjoy things such as "accurate public records" and "making it slightly harder to create 47 companies from a flat above a kebab shop".
Then comes April 2028
If you're thinking:
"Jon, 2028 is ages away."
I regret to inform you that 2020 was more than six years ago. Time has lost all meaning.
And 1 April 2028 is when some of the biggest accounting changes arrive. From that date, all UK companies will have to file their annual accounts using commercial software. Companies House's web and paper filing routes for accounts will close, and accounts will instead be submitted electronically in iXBRL format. For businesses already using accountants and accounting software, this probably isn't going to cause sleepless nights.
For anyone currently lovingly printing their accounts, putting them in an envelope, finding a stamp and sending them to Companies House like it's 1997, however, change is coming.
The fax machine has presumably been placed on notice too.
Small companies will have to provide more information
This is probably the change small business owners should pay the most attention to.
From April 2028, small companies and micro-entities will be required to file a profit and loss account with Companies House. However, following concerns about commercially sensitive information becoming publicly available, the government has confirmed that small companies and micro-entities will be able to opt out of having their profit and loss account published on the public register. Companies House, HMRC and law enforcement will still be able to see it. So your competitors don't necessarily get to discover exactly how much money you made last year. HMRC does. Which, admittedly, was probably the less exciting of those two audiences anyway. The precise details of how businesses will opt out of publication are still to be confirmed.
Abridged accounts are also heading for the beach
Another familiar feature of small company accounts is disappearing. From April 2028, the option to file abridged accounts will be removed. There will also be a stronger eligibility statement for companies claiming audit exemption, and the various component parts of accounts and reports will need to be filed together. Companies will also face restrictions on how often they can shorten their accounting reference period.
So the general theme appears to be:
More information. Better information. Fewer clever little filing manoeuvres.
Companies House has apparently returned from its summer holiday refreshed, motivated and absolutely determined to ruin everyone's shortcuts.
Should businesses be panicking?
No.
For most properly run small businesses, particularly those already using accounting software and an accountant, these changes should be manageable. And there is plenty of time. The major accounts reforms were originally heading towards April 2027 but have now been pushed back to April 2028, giving businesses and software providers longer to prepare.
But the wider message is important. Companies House is changing. It is moving away from being somewhere businesses simply send forms once a year and towards being a much more active gatekeeper of UK company information.
Directors need to be verified.
Agents need to be authorised.
Company information will increasingly be checked.
Accounts will become software-only.
Small companies will have to provide more financial information than they traditionally have.
So while none of this requires an emergency meeting just yet, it's worth making sure your company records, directors, PSC information and accounting arrangements are all in decent shape.
Goodbye summer, hello compliance
For now, though, there are more pressing concerns. The schools are going back. The nights are drawing in. The garden furniture is inexplicably wet. Someone in your office is already talking about Christmas. And the optimistic purchase of a 12-foot inflatable swimming pool in June is beginning to look increasingly difficult to justify. Summer 2026 is coming to an end. But Companies House has given us something to look forward to.
Two years of identity checks, software changes, additional disclosures and exciting conversations about iXBRL.
See you in summer 2028. We'll bring the sunscreen. Companies House will bring the compliance checklist.
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