What you can file yourself online
GOV.UK lists a wide range of filings you can make online. For a limited company these include the confirmation statement, dormant company accounts, micro-entity and small company accounts, director appointments, changes and removals, people with significant control (PSC) notices, registered office changes, a change of company name and an application to strike off.
Filing online is cheaper than paper where there is a fee. A confirmation statement costs £50 online and £110 on paper. Many changes, such as appointing a director or filing dormant accounts, have no Companies House fee at all.
What you need before you file yourself
- A GOV.UK One Login. GOV.UK says you have needed one to sign in to WebFiling since 13 October 2025.
- The company authentication code, which Companies House sends to the registered office.
- For a confirmation statement, every director must have verified their identity and have a Companies House personal code. Verifying through GOV.UK One Login is free.
- The right details for the form, such as dates, the company's shareholders and its business activities.
What a filing service adds
SimpleFilings prepares the filing from your answers, checks it and submits it once you approve it. You pay £4.99 per filing, and any applicable government fee is included in the total price. There is no subscription.
Before filing a confirmation statement, we check whether the current 12 month payment period has already been paid, so you do not pay the £50 twice. We also check that the directors' personal codes have been given.
You still need the company authentication code for most filings. If it is lost, a replacement can be requested. Companies House posts it to the registered office, or to an officer's home address if you use its home address service.
SimpleFilings does not carry out identity checks or issue personal codes. Each director verifies for free through GOV.UK One Login, or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), and gives us their personal code.
What changes in April 2028
Companies House announced on 9 June 2026 that from April 2028 all UK companies must file their accounts in iXBRL format using commercial software. The web and paper routes will close for accounts.
This covers dormant accounts too. If you file dormant accounts yourself on WebFiling today, you will need software, or someone who uses it, to file accounts from April 2028.
Other filings are not affected. Companies House says web filing will remain available and fully supported for non-accounts filings, including confirmation statements and updates to director details.
Worked example: a dormant company's year
A dormant company usually files one confirmation statement and one set of dormant accounts each year.
- Yourself online: £50 for the confirmation statement, no fee for the dormant accounts. £50 in total.
- Yourself on paper: £110 for the confirmation statement, no fee for the dormant accounts. £110 in total.
- SimpleFilings: £4.99 + £50 for the confirmation statement, and £4.99 for the dormant accounts. £59.98 in total.
Which route suits you
- Filing yourself suits you if you have GOV.UK One Login, the authentication code and the details to hand, and you are comfortable checking the form.
- A filing service suits you if you would rather answer plain questions and have the filing checked before it goes in, for £4.99 a filing.
- An accountant suits you if you also need accounts prepared, tax returns filed or advice. SimpleFilings does not prepare trading accounts or file Company Tax Returns.
When another option may suit you better
- You are confident with WebFiling and have the authentication code. Filing yourself costs only the government fee, and nothing at all for many changes.
- You need accounts prepared or Company Tax Returns filed. An accountant, or accounts software, covers work that SimpleFilings does not.
- You need your identity checked by someone else. An Authorised Corporate Service Provider can do this. SimpleFilings does not carry out identity checks.
- You will be filing accounts from April 2028 onwards. Accounts will then have to be filed using commercial software, so you may want a product or adviser that covers this.