What kind of accounts do UK companies file? (October 2026)
Key figures
| Accounts type at last filing | Active companies | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Micro-entity | 1,674,362 | 32.4% |
| No accounts filed yet | 1,341,352 | 26.0% |
| Total exemption full | 1,228,842 | 23.8% |
| Dormant | 559,853 | 10.8% |
| Unaudited abridged | 148,417 | 2.9% |
| Full | 79,385 | 1.5% |
| Small | 62,564 | 1.2% |
| Audit exemption subsidiary | 33,610 | 0.7% |
| Group | 27,091 | 0.5% |
| Medium | 6,231 | 0.1% |
| Other categories | 4,350 | 0.1% |
Snapshot: Companies House register, 1 October 2026, companies with status "Active". "Other" combines total exemption small, accounts type not available, audited abridged, filing exemption subsidiary and partial exemption.
What the split tells you
- Most UK companies publish very little. Micro-entity, dormant and abridged accounts together cover 46% of active companies. These filings show a short balance sheet and, today, usually no profit and loss account. See micro-entity and dormant company.
- Full financial statements are rare. Only about 1 in 50 active companies files full, group or medium accounts with a profit and loss account on the public record. If you need turnover for a small company, read how to find a company's turnover.
- A quarter of the register is new. 1.34 million active companies have not reached their first accounts deadline yet (or have missed it: 16,436 are overdue). Recent cohorts are large: 715,974 companies incorporated in 2025 are still live, compared with 471,944 from 2024.
- Larger companies are later. Companies filing full accounts are overdue 8.4% of the time, micro-entities 1.5%. Details in UK companies with overdue accounts.
Live companies by year of incorporation
| Year incorporated | Still on the register as live |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 176,630 |
| 2020 | 274,082 |
| 2023 | 404,159 |
| 2024 | 471,944 |
| 2025 | 715,974 |
| 2026 (to 1 October) | 592,744 |
These are survivors: companies dissolved since incorporation are no longer in the register file, so older years look smaller than the number actually formed.
What changes next
Companies House has announced that from 1 April 2028 all accounts must be filed through software, small and micro companies will have to file a profit and loss account (with an option not to publish it), and abridged accounts will end. Expect the micro-entity and unaudited abridged shares to shift once those rules apply. Source: GOV.UK, changes to accounts filing from April 2028.
Check the accounts type of any company
Our company search shows the accounts category and the latest balance sheet figures for every UK company. Through the API and MCP server you can pull the same fields for a list of companies.
Methodology
Source: Companies House Free Company Data Product (BasicCompanyData), snapshot of 1 October 2026, field AccountCategory (category of the most recent accounts filed). Population: 5,166,057 companies with status "Active"; companies in liquidation, administration or under a strike-off proposal are excluded. Shares are of active companies. Computed by Global Mindset Marketing Ltd. You may reuse these figures with a link to this page. More on sources: methodology.
FAQ
How many UK companies file micro-entity accounts?
1,674,362 active companies, 32.4% of the active register, last filed micro-entity accounts according to the Companies House register on 1 October 2026.
How many UK companies are dormant?
559,853 active companies (10.8%) last filed dormant accounts on 1 October 2026. Dormant here means the company filed dormant accounts with Companies House, which is not the same as being dormant for Corporation Tax.
What percentage of UK companies file full accounts?
About 1.5%: 79,385 active companies last filed full accounts, plus 27,091 group accounts and 6,231 medium-sized company accounts.
Why have so many companies not filed accounts?
Most are new. A private company has 21 months from incorporation to file its first accounts, and more than 1.3 million live companies were formed in 2025 and 2026.
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