Small Company P&L Filing From 2028: Please Don’t Panic

From April 2028, small companies and micro-entities will need to file a profit and loss account with Companies House.

Yes, that sounds a bit scary.

No, it does not mean everyone automatically gets to nose through every single thing your business has spent money on.

So let’s keep this simple.

What is a P&L?

P&L stands for profit and loss.

It is a business report that shows:

Money in
minus
money out
equals
profit or loss

That’s it.

So when people say “Companies House will need your P&L”, they mean Companies House will need a summary showing what your business made, what it spent, and whether it made a profit or a loss.

They do not mean every single transaction will be published online for Dave down the pub to inspect with a pint and a packet of crisps.

What is changing?

Companies House has confirmed that, from April 2028, small companies and micro-entities will need to file profit and loss accounts. All companies will also need to file annual accounts using commercial software.

At the moment, many small companies file accounts with Companies House that provide little detail on trading income and expenses.

From April 2028, Companies House will receive more information.

Will my P&L be public?

This is the important bit.

Small companies and micro-entities should be able to opt out of having the P&L published on the public register.

So the P&L still gets filed with Companies House, but it does not automatically mean the public can see it.

Companies House has said the details of how the opt-out will work will be confirmed in due course.

What will Gold Stag do?

For Gold Stag limited company clients, our default position will be:

We will automatically opt you out of publishing your P&L, where the rules allow us to do so.

We are working on the basis that most small business owners do not want their profit and loss account publicly available.

Your P&L can show useful commercial information, such as your sales, costs and profit. That may be needed by Companies House, HMRC and law enforcement, but it does not mean your competitors, customers or nosey neighbours need a front-row seat.

So unless you tell us otherwise, we will opt you out where possible.

What if I want my P&L published?

That is fine.

Some businesses may choose to publish more information, especially if they want to show transparency, apply for finance, tender for work, or look more established.

But that should be a choice, not an accident.

So if you are a Gold Stag client and you do want your P&L published publicly, you will need to tell us.

Do I need to do anything now?

No immediate panic is needed.

The changes are due from April 2028, so there is time to prepare. The government originally planned for the reforms to start earlier, but the timetable has been pushed back to give businesses more time.

For Gold Stag clients, this should be fairly manageable, as we already work digitally and use cloud-based software.

The main thing is this:

More information will need to be filed, but not all of it has to be public.