Reporting changes for small companies

Companies House has recently announced changes to filing requirements for small companies. A bill detailing the proposals has been taken through Parliament and received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. The three main effects of this bill are:

• Abridged (formerly abbreviated) accounts will no longer be able to be filed
• All small companies will be required to file a profit or loss account
• Small companies will be required to file a director’s report

There will also be some amended requirements in relation to electronic filing and iXBRL accounts, as well as a limit on the number of times that a company can shorten its annual reporting period.

A small company is loosely identified through satisfying two of the following criteria:

• A turnover of £10.2m or less
• Gross assets of £5.1m or less
• Having 50 or less employees

These reporting changes for small companies bring more transparency to the readers of the accounts as companies will now have to report both their turnover and profit figures. This will assist credit lenders with their decisions and allow better quality information to be available to the public.

There is no confirmed timeline for the requirements to come into play as the implementation programme is still being finalised. Whilst the full accounts already prepared for will provide all the information required by Companies House, we would advise that business owners consider the changes in terms of the information that will need to be on public record once they are implemented as law. 

We will publish further details as they are released, including the implementation date.

Need help?

Please contact us to discuss the implications for your business, or any other queries we can assist with. Call 0330 024 0888 or email enquiry@larking-gowen.co.uk.

Alanah Thompson