Changes Affecting Companies and Directors From March 2024
Companies House are making changes to their fees, filing and legislative processes, with the first set of changes set to be introduced from 4th March 2024.
Some of these changes include:
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Changes to filing accounts
- Companies House will soon be transitioning towards filing accounts by software only (will be phased in over the next 2 to 3 years)
- Small and micro-entity companies will need to file their profit and loss accounts. The detail of what they will need to include will be set out in secondary legislation
- Small companies that do not qualify as micro entities will also need to file a directors’ report
- Removing the option to file ‘abridged’ accounts
- Any company claiming an audit exemption will need to give an additional statement from their directors on the balance sheet
- Limiting the number of times a company can shorten its Annual Reporting Period
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New rules for registered office addresses
Companies must have an ‘appropriate address’ as their registered office at all times.
An appropriate address is one where:
- any documents sent to the registered office should be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company
- any documents sent to that address can be recorded by an acknowledgement of delivery
These changes mean you will not be able to use a PO Box as your registered office address from 4 March 2024. You can still use a third-party agent’s address if they meet the conditions for an appropriate address.
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New requirement for all companies to supply a registered email address
From 4 March 2024, new companies will need to give a registered email address when they incorporate.
Existing companies will need to give a registered email address when they file their next confirmation statement with a statement date from 5 March 2024.
This email address will not be published on the public register.
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New requirement for all companies to confirm they’re trading for a lawful purpose
All companies will need to confirm that the intended future activities of the company will be lawful.
You’ll need to confirm this every year on the confirmation statement. You will not be able to file a confirmation statement without this statement.
This will apply to all confirmation statements with a statement date from 5 March 2024 onwards.
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Companies House filing fee increases
Companies House are increasing all of of their filing fees from March 2024, see a summary below of the most common filings that could affect your business:
Transaction Filed Old Fee New Fee Confirmation Statements Online £13.00 £34.00 Change of Name Online £8.00 £20.00 Voluntary Strike Off Online £8.00 £33.00 Reduction of share capital of a company Online £10.00 £33.00 Registration of a charge Online £15.00 £15.00 -
Other changes
Companies House will:
- Have greater powers to query information and request supporting evidence
- Make stronger checks on company names
- Have the ability to annotate the register when information appears confusing or misleading
- Be taking steps to clean up the register, using data matching to identify and remove inaccurate information
- Now be able to share data with other government departments and law enforcement agencies