Digital filing at Companies House is no longer simply an accounts-production issue. It now depends on the quality of a company’s statutory data, the people authorised to file, the software used and the way records are reviewed throughout the year. Directors who treat the annual filing as a last-minute task are more likely to encounter rejected submissions, identity-verification delays or information that no longer matches the company’s position.
The timetable has recently changed. Mandatory software-only accounts filing will start on 1 April 2028, rather than April 2027. That gives companies more time, but it should not encourage delay. The next year-end is a sensible point to test whether the information feeding into digital filing at Companies House is complete, consistent and under proper control.
The scale of non-compliance remains significant. Companies House recorded 303,000 late filing penalties in 2025/26, with penalties worth £156.4 million levied across the UK (Companies House, 2026). A missed deadline may begin as an administrative problem, but it can affect credit checks, due diligence, banking relationships and confidence in the board’s governance.
A year-end review should therefore cover more than the trial balance. It should confirm that the public register, internal statutory records and filing process tell the same story.
Check the company information on the register
Begin with the public record. Names, addresses and appointments often change after a restructuring, office move, acquisition or ownership change. Waiting until the confirmation statement is due increases the risk that several corrections will be needed at once.
The review should cover:
- Registered office: Confirm that the address is current, monitored and suitable for official correspondence.
- Registered email: Check that messages reach an active mailbox with appropriate staff cover.
- Directors and secretary: Make sure appointments, resignations, names and service addresses agree with board records.
- People with significant control: Review whether changes in ownership, voting rights or control have altered the PSC position.
- SIC codes and share information: Confirm that activities, capital and shareholder details remain accurate.
Every company must file a confirmation statement at least once every 12 months, even where nothing has changed. Current directors must verify their identity first, and the company must provide each director’s personal code. Companies House will not accept the filing until all directors have completed this step (Companies House, 2026).
Our company secretarial service can help keep the records needed for digital filing at Companies House up to date.
Prepare the accounts data for digital filing at Companies House
Statutory accounts should be built from complete, reconciled records that support the final disclosures. Structured digital filing at Companies House will make unexplained adjustments and manual reworking harder to manage efficiently.
Before year-end, review bank reconciliations, debtors and creditors, fixed assets, stock, payroll balances, director loan accounts and intercompany positions. Each balance should have a supporting schedule and an owner responsible for resolving differences.
For example, a group may record a management charge in one company without posting the matching cost in another. A late journal may make the accounts balance, but it does not fix the process. Resolving the issue before year-end improves statutory accounts and group reporting.
Narrative information also needs attention. Related-party disclosures, guarantees, commitments and post-balance-sheet events cannot be generated reliably from ledger data alone. Directors should notify the accounts team about legal claims, refinancing, dividends, ownership changes and significant contracts as they arise.
Well-prepared annual accounts reduce filing risk and provide a stronger base for tax, audit, lending and shareholder reporting.
Understand what changes from April 2028
From 1 April 2028, all UK companies will have to file annual accounts through commercial software in iXBRL format. Companies House will close its web and paper routes for accounts filings, although online services will remain available for other statutory submissions.
Small companies and micro-entities will also have to file profit and loss accounts. They will be able to opt out of publishing that information, although the detailed process is still to be confirmed. Abridged accounts will be removed, audit-exemption statements strengthened and the component parts of accounts and reports filed together (Companies House, 2026).
Do not assume current software is suitable. Some products maintain bookkeeping records but cannot prepare compliant statutory accounts or submit every accounts type. Groups, charities, community interest companies and businesses with less common reporting requirements may need additional functionality.
Map the process now: who closes the ledger, prepares the accounts, reviews the iXBRL tagging, approves the final version and submits it. This will expose gaps before digital filing at Companies House becomes the only route.
Tighten filing habits and board oversight
Private companies normally have nine months after their accounting reference date to file accounts. Late filing penalties start at £150 and rise to £1,500 when accounts are more than six months overdue. They double where accounts are late in two successive financial years.
Use a timetable that works back from the filing date and allows time for bookkeeping completion, queries, tax work, audit where required, board approval and rejected submissions.
Directors should also distinguish between the Companies House deadline and the corporation tax timetable. The accounts filing date, Company Tax Return deadline and corporation tax payment date are related, but they are not the same.
Monthly or quarterly management accounts can identify unreconciled balances, deteriorating cashflow and reporting issues before they reach the statutory accounts. Multi-entity boards should also receive a compliance calendar covering every company, filing owner and approval date.
Make digital filing at Companies House part of year-end planning
Digital filing at Companies House should be treated as a governance process supported by software, not as a software project left to the finance team. The main risks usually begin earlier: outdated director information, incomplete PSC records, weak reconciliations, uncertain approval responsibilities or an accounts package that cannot handle the company’s reporting requirements.
Before year-end, we recommend checking the public register against the statutory books, confirming that all directors and PSCs have dealt with identity verification, reviewing the accounts-production route and setting an internal filing date comfortably ahead of the statutory deadline. Companies that currently rely on paper or Companies House web accounts filing should also decide when they will move to commercial software, rather than waiting until 2028.
The extra preparation has wider benefits. Reliable statutory information supports due diligence, finance applications, transactions and group reporting. It also reduces the risk of a filing being rejected after the deadline, when there may be no time left to correct it without a penalty.
The April 2028 start date gives businesses a defined preparation window, but the next set of accounts provides the best practical test. To review your records, responsibilities and software readiness before year-end, speak to us about digital filing at Companies House support. We can coordinate the company secretarial and accounts work so that the register, statutory records and final filing remain aligned.