Year-end accounts and corporation tax, minus the £300 accountant bill
Plain Filings takes a bank statement CSV, produces micro-entity accounts and a CT600 with the iXBRL tagging HMRC and Companies House require, and shows you every figure before anything is filed. It is built for companies whose year fits on one page, and for the bookkeepers who look after dozens of them.
- Handles the common adjustments and stops, with an explanation, when something is outside its scope
- Produces FRS 105 micro-entity accounts and the tagged iXBRL files, with the computation shown line by line
- Dormant companies get a dormant-accounts mode that takes about five minutes a year
HMRC's free service for filing company accounts and the CT600 together closed on 31 March 2026.
Source: gov.ukAccountants typically charge £150–400 a year for a dormant company's filings alone.
Source: dormantfile.co.ukThe free way to file closed, and the paid ways are built for accountants
For years a tiny UK company could file its accounts and corporation tax return free through HMRC's own service, which closed on 31 March 2026. Companies House is going the same way: from April 2028, accounts must be filed through software, and micro companies will have to include a profit and loss account for the first time.
That leaves very small companies, dormant, a contractor's limited company or a single buy-to-let, choosing between an accountant and desktop tax software built for practices. Accountants charge £150–400 a year even for a dormant filing; desktop suites cost £100–300 or more and assume you know what a tax computation is.
Missing a deadline is expensive: Companies House late-filing penalties start at £150 and double for a second late year, and HMRC adds its own for a late CT600. For a company with nothing happening, that is a lot to pay for a form.
Without it
- An accountant: The right choice if the company has anything unusual: multiple directors with loans, R&D, property disposals, group…
- DormantFile and TinyTax: DormantFile charges about £19 a year and TinyTax starts at about £20. Both are cheaper than us for a dormant company;…
- Desktop tax suites: Practice software costs roughly £100–300 or more a year and does far more, including complex computations. It assumes…
With Plain Filings
- Handles the common adjustments and stops, with an explanation, when something is outside its scope
- Produces FRS 105 micro-entity accounts and the tagged iXBRL files, with the computation shown line by line
- Dormant companies get a dormant-accounts mode that takes about five minutes a year
- Bank CSV import
- Micro-entity accounts (FRS 105)
How it works
- 1
Tell us about the company
Enter the company number; we pull the registered details and year end from Companies House. Say whether it traded, was dormant, or holds property. About five minutes.
- 2
Upload the bank CSV
Export the year's transactions from your business bank account as CSV and upload it. Rules sort transactions into a small chart of accounts; you confirm anything unmatched. Dormant companies skip this step.
- 3
Review accounts and computation
You see the balance sheet, profit and loss, notes and the corporation tax computation, with each adjustment explained. Anything outside scope (see FAQ) is flagged and the filing is paused until resolved.
- 4
File
Approve, and the iXBRL-tagged accounts go to Companies House and the CT600 goes to HMRC, with receipts stored against the year. See the FAQ for the current status of our HMRC and Companies House approvals.
Features
Bank CSV import
Accepts CSV exports from any UK business bank. Transactions are categorised by rules you can edit, with a review list for anything unmatched. There is no bank login or open-banking connection, so we never hold your credentials.
Micro-entity accounts (FRS 105)
Generates the balance sheet, profit and loss account, notes and directors' statements in the micro-entity format, with the filleted version for Companies House and the full version for HMRC.
Corporation tax computation
Adds back depreciation and disallowed items, applies annual investment allowance to equipment purchases, carries trading losses forward and applies the current rates. Each line of the computation links to the transactions behind it.
CT600 with iXBRL tagging
Produces the CT600 and tags the accounts and computation in iXBRL as HMRC requires. You can download the files to check or to hand to an accountant.
Dormant mode
For companies that have not traded, produces dormant company accounts for Companies House and, where HMRC still expects a return, a nil CT600, in a few minutes a year.
Multi-client mode
Bookkeepers manage all of their companies from one list, with status per filing and a review link to send each client before approval.
Scope checks that stop the filing
If the company has an overdrawn director's loan at year end, R&D claims, group relief, property disposals or anything else we do not compute in early access, the filing is paused and you are told exactly why.
A look inside
What you see day to day: the working view and the monthly summary.
Who it's for
Dormant companies
A company kept for a name or a future project. You get both annual filings done in minutes, for less than a tenth of a typical accountant's fee.
Contractor and consultant companies
One director, one bank account, a few dozen invoices a year. You get proper accounts and a computation you can read.
Small property companies
A single-let company with rent in, mortgage interest and repairs out. Rental income and finance costs are handled; property sales are flagged for an accountant.
Works with
- Companies House company lookup (company number)
- Companies House software filing (approval in progress, see FAQ)
- HMRC Corporation Tax online filing (recognition in progress, see FAQ)
- Bank statement CSV from any UK bank
- iXBRL (FRS 105 taxonomy) download
- PDF accounts and computation download
Pricing
Billed per company per year, including VAT. Founding customer pricing is fixed for three filing years. All plans include deadline reminders, the review step and downloadable iXBRL and PDF files. Full refund if we cannot complete a filing the plan covers.
Dormant
£29 per company per year
Companies that did not trade in the year
- Dormant company accounts for Companies House
- Nil CT600 where HMRC requires one
- Deadline reminders
- Filing receipts stored
- Email support
Trading
£49 per company per year
One-person companies with a simple year
- Bank CSV import, up to 1,000 transactions
- FRS 105 micro-entity accounts
- Corporation tax computation and CT600
- iXBRL tagging for both filings
- Scope checks with plain-English explanations
- Everything in Dormant
Practice
£249 per year
Bookkeepers filing for several companies
- 10 companies included, then £19 per company
- Multi-client dashboard with filing status
- Client review links before approval
- Editable categorisation rules shared across clients
- Priority support in January and before each deadline
Compared with the alternatives
- An accountant
- The right choice if the company has anything unusual: multiple directors with loans, R&D, property disposals, group structures. Expect £150–400 a year for a dormant company and more for a trading one.
- DormantFile and TinyTax
- DormantFile charges about £19 a year and TinyTax starts at about £20. Both are cheaper than us for a dormant company; we cover dormant and simple trading companies in one product, with a bookkeeper mode.
- Desktop tax suites
- Practice software costs roughly £100–300 or more a year and does far more, including complex computations. It assumes you are an accountant. Good if you are one with many complex clients.
What changed
- HMRC's free service for filing company accounts and the CT600 together closed on 31 March 2026. Source: gov.uk
- From 1 April 2028 all company accounts must be filed through software, and micro companies will have to file a profit and loss account; the government confirmed the reforms in June 2026. Source: icas.com
- Accountants typically charge £150–400 a year for a dormant company's filings alone. Source: dormantfile.co.uk
Your first week
We onboard new accounts within 2 business days. A dormant company can be filing-ready the same day; a trading company usually needs one review session to confirm categorisation rules.
- Day 1: Request service with your company number and year end. We check the company is in scope and confirm which plan fits.
- Day 2–3: Your account is live. Upload the bank CSV (or mark the company dormant) and review the categorised transactions.
- Day 4–5: Check the draft accounts and computation. Any scope flags are explained and we help you resolve them.
- Day 7: Accounts, CT600 and iXBRL files are ready for approval and filing, and reminders are set for next year's deadlines.
Security and data
- Data is stored in a UK or EU data-centre region, encrypted at rest and in transit (TLS 1.2 or higher).
- We never ask for bank logins; the only financial data we hold is the CSV you upload and the figures derived from it.
- Only the company's users and anyone they invite can see its records. Support access is granted by you per session and logged.
- Filed accounts, computations and receipts are kept while the account is open. Companies must keep records for six years, so export before closing an account.
- You can export everything at any time and request deletion; we complete it within 30 days and confirm by email.
Questions
Is Plain Filings approved by HMRC and Companies House?
Not yet. We are working through HMRC's recognition process for Corporation Tax software and Companies House's software-filing approval. Until both are complete, the product produces the accounts, computation, CT600 and iXBRL files for you to check and file through an accountant or another recognised route. We will email every customer the day direct filing goes live; if we are not approved before your deadline you get a full refund.
Which companies qualify as micro-entities?
Broadly, companies meeting two of three tests: turnover up to £1 million, balance sheet total up to £500,000, and no more than 10 employees, under the thresholds that took effect in April 2025. Charities, some regulated firms and companies in groups are excluded. Check your own position on gov.uk if you are near a limit.
What is outside the scope of early access?
Overdrawn director's loan accounts at year end (which trigger a separate tax charge), R&D claims, group relief, capital gains on property or shares, foreign income and payroll beyond a single director. If we detect any of these the filing is paused and you are told why.
Is this tax or accounting advice?
No. Plain Filings is filing software. It applies standard rules to the transactions you give it and shows you the result. Whether an expense is allowable, or whether a company should be dormant, is a question for an accountant or HMRC.
What happens if the computation is wrong?
You review every figure before approving, and the directors remain responsible for what is filed, as with any software. If a defect in our computation causes an incorrect filing we will prepare the amendment at no charge and refund that year's fee.
Do I need an accountant at all?
Legally, a micro company does not need one to file. Practically, many directors want a professional to look over the first year. The Trading plan lets you download the full accounts and computation to share with them.
Ready when you are
Tell us about your setup. We confirm by email and get you running within 2 business days.
Request service