Guides
Small Company Accounts: Thresholds, Options & Audit
Updated 10 Jun 2026
A small company gets reduced filing and reporting obligations — including, for most, exemption from audit. For financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2025, your company is small if it meets at least two of: turnover of £15 million or less, a balance sheet total of £7.5 million or less, and 50 or fewer employees. This page covers the thresholds, what you can choose to file, the audit exemption, and what changes in April 2028.
Does your company qualify as small?
Meet at least two of the three criteria. The thresholds rose for financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2025 (the trigger is the year's start date, not its end).
| Criterion | FYs beginning before 6 Apr 2025 | FYs beginning on/after 6 Apr 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £10.2m or less | £15m or less |
| Balance sheet total | £5.1m or less | £7.5m or less |
| Average employees | 50 or fewer | 50 or fewer (unchanged) |
The two-year rule applies: after its first year, a company changes size category only by meeting (or failing) the conditions two years running. And the 2025 uplift came with look-back relief — when testing the prior year you can assume the new thresholds applied then, so companies could benefit immediately.
If you're under the micro limits (£1m turnover, £500,000 balance sheet, 10 employees), the even simpler micro-entity regime is probably yours.
What can a small company file?
Small companies currently have choices about how much appears on the public register:
- File without the profit and loss account. Today a small company can file its balance sheet and notes without the P&L — practitioners call this "filleted" accounts (not an official term). The P&L is still prepared; it just isn't published.
- Abridged accounts — a reduced-disclosure format. Still available today, but being removed in April 2028.
From April 2028 the choices narrow. Small companies will file a balance sheet, directors' report, auditor's report (unless exempt) and a profit and loss account — balance-sheet-only public filing ends. An opt-out from publishing the P&L is confirmed (the mechanism isn't yet). All accounts also become software-only filings from the same date.
Do small company accounts need an audit?
Usually not. A small private company is exempt from statutory audit if it meets at least two of the same three thresholds above. Three caveats:
- Shareholders can demand one. Holders of at least 10% of shares (by number or value) can require an audit by writing to the registered office at least a month before the year end.
- Some company types are never exempt — public companies, banks, insurers and certain other regulated businesses must be audited regardless of size.
- The balance sheet must say so. Exempt accounts carry the directors' statements claiming the exemption, and from April 2028 an enhanced statement naming the exemption applies.
Deadlines and penalties
The same as any private company: accounts are due 9 months after the year end (first accounts: 21 months after incorporation), with the standard penalty bands for late filing. Full detail on the company accounts page; exact dates from the deadline checker.
Frequently asked questions
What does "filleted" accounts mean? It's the practitioner nickname for filing the balance sheet and notes without the profit and loss account. It isn't an official Companies House term — and the option effectively ends in April 2028, when filing the P&L becomes mandatory.
My company just crossed the small thresholds. Do I lose the regime straight away? No — the two-year rule means you change category only after failing the conditions for two consecutive years.
Does audit exemption happen automatically? There's no application — you claim it through the statements on the balance sheet, provided you qualify and no 10% shareholder group has demanded an audit.
What's the difference between small company and micro-entity accounts? Micro-entity is a separate, smaller category with its own minimal format. If you fit micro, you can use either regime — micro-entity accounts covers the simpler option.
I'm a sole trader — does this apply to me? No. Sole traders file nothing with Companies House — see sole trader accounts.
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