What do the Companies House accounts categories mean?
Which categories exist and how common are they?
Each category describes the last set of accounts filed, not the company's current size. Counts are for the 5,166,057 active companies on the register snapshot of 1 October 2026 (full breakdown).
| Category on the register | What it means | Active companies | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micro Entity | Accounts under the micro-entity regime: short balance sheet, usually no profit and loss account filed | 1,674,362 | 32.4% |
| No Accounts Filed | No accounts delivered yet, usually because the company is new and its first deadline has not arrived | 1,341,352 | 26.0% |
| Total Exemption Full | Small company exempt from audit, filing full rather than abridged accounts; the profit and loss account may still be left out | 1,228,842 | 23.8% |
| Dormant | Dormant company accounts: no significant transactions in the year | 559,853 | 10.8% |
| Unaudited Abridged | Small company, no audit, abridged balance sheet with fewer line items | 148,417 | 2.9% |
| Full | Full accounts, typically audited accounts of larger companies | 79,385 | 1.5% |
| Small | Accounts under the small companies regime that do not fall into the categories above | 62,564 | 1.2% |
| Audit Exemption Subsidiary | Subsidiary exempt from audit because its UK parent guarantees its liabilities (section 479A) | 33,610 | 0.7% |
| Group | Consolidated accounts of a parent company and its subsidiaries | 27,091 | 0.5% |
| Medium | Accounts of a medium-sized company | 6,231 | 0.1% |
| Filing Exemption Subsidiary | Dormant subsidiary exempt from filing accounts because its UK parent guarantees it (section 448A) | not counted separately |
You will also meet rarer values such as Audited Abridged, Total Exemption Small (an older category for small audit-exempt companies), Partial Exemption, Initial, Interim and "Accounts type not available".
Where do you see the category?
On the Companies House company page the accounts section and filing history describe each set of accounts, for example "Micro company accounts made up to 31 March 2026". In the free monthly register file the field is Accounts.AccountCategory, written in capitals ("MICRO ENTITY", "TOTAL EXEMPTION FULL"). The public API returns the last accounts type in lower case with hyphens, such as micro-entity or audit-exemption-subsidiary.
Size limits behind the categories
Size categories follow the Companies Act thresholds, which rose for financial years starting on or after 6 April 2025. A company must meet at least two of three conditions:
| Size | Turnover | Balance sheet total | Average employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micro-entity | up to £1 million | up to £500,000 | up to 10 |
| Small | up to £15 million | up to £7.5 million | up to 50 |
| Medium | up to £54 million | up to £27 million | up to 250 |
From 1 April 2028 companies will no longer be able to file abridged accounts, and small and micro companies will have to file a profit and loss account, with an option not to publish it.
Worked example
Example (illustrative, not a real company): a company's filing history shows Dormant (2021), Micro Entity (2022 to 2024) and Total Exemption Full (2025). It started trading after a dormant first year, then grew past the micro-entity limits in two consecutive years and moved to the small company regime. Its 2025 accounts may include more notes, but turnover can still be absent if it chose not to file the profit and loss account.
Why it matters when checking a company
The category tells you what you can and cannot learn before you open the accounts. Micro and abridged accounts rarely show turnover; full and group accounts usually do. It also correlates with filing discipline: 14.9% of audit exemption subsidiaries and 8.4% of full accounts filers were overdue on 1 October 2026, against 1.5% of micro-entities (overdue statistics).
To see the category and balance sheet for any company, search it here.
Common confusions
- "Full" does not mean large. A small company can choose to file full accounts.
- The category is backward-looking. It reflects the last filing, which can easily be more than a year old.
- "No Accounts Filed" is not a red flag by itself. Most are simply new companies.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Preparing and filing Companies House accounts
- Companies Act 2006, section 479A and section 448A
- GOV.UK: Audit exemptions for private limited companies
FAQ
What does total exemption full mean on Companies House?
Total exemption full means a small company claimed exemption from audit and filed its accounts in full form rather than abridged. It is the third most common category, used by 23.8% of active companies at their last filing. Despite the word "full", the company may have chosen not to file its profit and loss account, so turnover is often missing from the public copy.
What is the difference between micro entity and unaudited abridged?
Both are small, unaudited accounts. Micro-entity accounts follow the shortest balance sheet format, available only to companies within the micro-entity limits. Unaudited abridged accounts are filed by small companies that prepare a fuller set of accounts but file an abridged balance sheet with combined line items. Abridged filing is due to end from 1 April 2028.
Why does a company show no accounts filed?
Usually because it is new. A private company's first accounts are due 21 months after incorporation, or later in some cases, so recently formed companies show no accounts for well over a year. On 1 October 2026, 16,436 companies with no accounts filed were already past their first deadline, which is worth checking before you trade with one.
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