The Government are introducing a number of changes to company law following the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. Beyond Corporate Trainee, Weronika Husejko, looks at what are the changes and how they will impact businesses.
The 2027 changes include the following:
- Identity verification for directors and PSCs of companies as well as members of LLPs
- Protection of personal information on Companies House
In terms of the changes to filing of company accounts, all companies will be required to file their accounts by software as of 1 April 2027. Companies will no longer have the option to file accounts by WebFiling or by paper. It is noted that many companies do already use software to file their accounts.
Another key change to accounting for small companies and micro-entities is that they will have to file profit and loss accounts. Filing ‘abridged’ accounts will not be an option.
The above changes have been met with concern by small companies. A recent article from The Times states that “[The] requirement to use commercial software and file profit and loss statements prompts worries about ‘snooping’ by rivals” and another article from City AM suggests that this is “a shift that founders say could hurt innovation”.
Companies House have also confirmed that there are further changes of which the Government plan to share full details in the “coming months”. This will include updates to audit exemptions and accounting reference periods.
There is of course still quite a bit of time before the changes are introduced. It is difficult to predict the real impact it will have at this stage.
This following Government page may be useful if you would like to find out more about the incoming changes: https://changestoukcompanylaw.campaign.gov.uk/
