Abridged and filleted accounts for small companies

Filleted accounts

Under section 444(1) as it applies today, the directors of a small company must deliver a balance sheet to Companies House and may also deliver the profit and loss account and the directors' report. Accounts filed without one or both of those are known in the profession as filleted accounts; ACCA uses the term in its guidance on filing the profit and loss account.

The members still receive the full accounts. Filleting changes only the copy on the public register, and the notes to the balance sheet stay in it.

A filleted balance sheet carries a statement in a prominent position that the accounts and reports have been delivered in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime (section 444(5)). Where an audited company leaves out the profit and loss account, the notes give information about the audit, including whether the auditor's report was qualified or unqualified (ICAS).

Abridged accounts

Paragraph 1A of Schedule 1 to SI 2008/409 lets the directors draw up an abridged balance sheet showing only the items in the format preceded by letters and roman numerals. They can also draw up an abridged profit and loss account that combines the items above gross profit into one line called "Gross profit or loss": items 1, 2, 3 and 6 in format 1, or items 1 to 5 in format 2.

Because the abridgement applies to the annual accounts as drawn up, the members receive the abridged version too.

Conditions for abridging

• All of the members of the company must have consented to the abridged balance sheet or abridged profit and loss account (paragraph 1A).
• Consent may only be given for the balance sheet or profit and loss account of the preceding financial year, so it is given for a particular year's accounts.
• The option is not available for a year in which the company was a charity at any time.
• When abridged accounts are filed, the directors also deliver a statement by the company that all the members have consented to the abridgement (section 444(2A)). Companies House's suggested wording is "The members have agreed to the preparation of abridged accounts for this accounting period in accordance with section 444(2A)" (Companies House guidance).
• ICAS points out that abridged accounts are not the same as abbreviated accounts (ICAS).

Abridged and filleted together

A small company can file abridged accounts and leave out the profit and loss account and directors' report from the filed copy as well. ACCA describes these filleted abridged accounts as "very common" in its 2025 article.

The text on legislation.gov.uk

Section 444 on legislation.gov.uk now shows the version substituted by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. The annotation says that version is in force only so far as it confers a power to make regulations, and is otherwise prospective. The filing options above come from the earlier text of section 444, which still applies to filings until the changes start.

What changes from 1 April 2028

• Companies House announced on 9 June 2026 that its accounts filing changes start in April 2028 (GOV.UK news release). The campaign site says they apply to filings made on or after 1 April 2028 (Changes to UK company law).
• Small companies will no longer be able to prepare and file abridged accounts (campaign site; Companies House guidance).
• Small companies and micro-entities must file a profit and loss account, with an option not to have it published. Companies House says how the opt-out works will be confirmed in due course.
• Every part of the filed accounts and reports must be filed together.
• Accounts must be filed in iXBRL through commercial software.
• The 2023 Act requires small companies to file the directors' report. The campaign site says the government has announced that it intends to remove the requirement for any company to produce a directors' report (campaign site). That removal is an announced intention, and the legislation for it has not been made.

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