Following on from the introduction of Economic Crime Transparency and Enforcement Act, the next major development in corporate transparency will be Companies House reform.
There have been consultations with various bodies – including The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The final white paper was issued at the end of February.
The key changes are as follows:
- Filing deadlines will not be shortened at the moment – currently 9 months after the year end for private limited companies, but legislation will be introduced to facilitate future changes;
- Small Companies will no longer have the option to file abridged accounts and will be required to file a profit and loss account and directors’ report – so the option to file filleted accounts will be removed;
- Micro companies will also be required to file a profit and loss account – but will continue to have the option not to prepare or file a directors’ report; and
- All Companies will be required to file accounts digitally with full tagging.
It will be some time before these measures come into effect and I will keep you posted.