Companies House has announced that the planned removal of the option to file paper accounts from 1 April 2027 will not go ahead at this time and the plans for online only accounts filing will be reviewed. This has a significant impact on the charity sector.

Update from companies house

On 28 January 2026 Companies House released an update stating that the plans to introduce an “online only” filing regime for company accounts from 1 April 2027 will now not go ahead. The announcement states that the policy is under review and there will be further updates in due course. This is good news for the charity sector as the current position is that charities which are also limited companies cannot file accounts with Companies House online. Software filing solutions that work well for charity accounts are still under development.

The ongoing review of this policy means that the soonest that online filing could be required by Companies House is 1 November 2027 as 21 months’ notice must be given once the revised approach is agreed. Realistically, we expect that this will probably be later in 2028 given the policy review has only just started. However, the original proposal published by the government last year was designed to help improve the fight against economic crime under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2003 - by requiring software-only submissions, Companies House had hoped to increase efficiency, reduce errors, enhance transparency, and make company financial information more secure and traceable.

Next steps and further updates

We will continue to engage with Companies House on their timetable for allowing online filing for charities. Long term this would be a positive development providing that the software available is fit for purpose and does not have a disproportionate cost, especially for smaller charities.

While this announcement gives additional time for the government to consider how the objectives of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act can be achieved pragmatically, a move towards online filing in the future remains likely. It is, therefore, important not to lose focus on finding effective solutions for online accounts filing for the charity sector. We will continue to monitor this and provide further updates as and when there are new developments.