Companies House WebFiling for Dormant Accounts — It’s being phased out

If you’ve got a UK limited company that hasn’t traded, you’re not off the hook. A dormant company still needs to file dormant accounts with Companies House every year, even if there’s been no business activity. For years, the go-to option for directors has been Companies House WebFiling — free and good enough.

But that era is ending.

From 1 April 2027, Companies House says all accounts filings (including dormant accounts) must be filed using commercial software, and the web and paper routes for accounts will close. That means if you currently rely on webfiling to submit your dormant accounts, you’ll need a new plan.

This post explains:

• how webfiling Companies House works today (including webfiling login steps)

• what’s changing in April 2027

• and why Just Dormant Accounts is the quicker, easier, software-based alternative that’s already aligned with the new filing direction.

What is Companies House WebFiling?

Companies House WebFiling (often searched as webfiling or webfiling Companies House) is Companies House’s online portal for submitting certain statutory filings, including dormant company accounts (AA02). Companies House itself has described WebFiling as providing a simple online template for dormant accounts submission.

It’s been popular because it’s:

• free to use

• relatively straightforward for dormant companies

• and doesn’t require buying accounting software

But it’s also very manual — and manual is where mistakes love to breed.

WebFiling login: how to access your account

If you’ve ever typed webfiling login or webfiling Companies House login into Google at 10:47pm with a filing deadline looming… you’re in good company.

To file dormant accounts through WebFiling, you generally need:

• the email address and password you used to sign up for WebFiling

• your company’s authentication code (posted to the registered office)

• to collect the figures from the prior year (or share capital) yourself

A big recent change: GOV.UK One Login for WebFiling accounts

Companies House has also moved WebFiling sign-in toward GOV.UK One Login, meaning the webfiling login process may involve connecting your WebFiling account to GOV.UK One Login (including 2-factor authentication).

So if your webfiling Companies House login suddenly looks different than you remember, you’re not losing your mind — the system has been changing.

How to file dormant accounts using WebFiling (today)

At a high level, the WebFiling dormant accounts process looks like this:

1. Sign in to your Companies House WebFiling account (your webfiling login)

2. Select your company (or add it using the authentication code)

3. Choose the option to file dormant company accounts (AA02) (WebFiling supports filing dormant accounts)

4. Complete the online template, confirm the company has been dormant, and submit

5. Receive confirmation from Companies House

Companies House also provides an online guide flow specifically for filing dormant accounts using WebFiling and lists what you need before you start.

Why people like WebFiling (and why it can still be a pain)

WebFiling is “simple” right up until it isn’t. Common friction points include:

• directors unsure what figures should (or shouldn’t) appear in dormant accounts

• typos in dates or share capital figures

• confusion about whether the company is actually dormant (Companies House dormant vs HMRC dormant can diverge)

And here’s the uncomfortable truth: with web templates, you’re always one accidental keystroke away from an avoidable rejection.

The April 2027 change: WebFiling accounts will be closed for accounts filings

Here’s the key shift:

Companies House guidance says that from 1 April 2027, all companies must file accounts using commercial software, and the web and paper-based services will be closed for accounts filings. This includes dormant accounts.

So, even if you love webfiling, the “file dormant accounts directly in the browser” route is being switched off for accounts.

(Important nuance: Companies House indicates web services will still exist for other filings — it’s the accounts filing route that’s closing.)

A related deadline that catches people out: March 2026

Separately, the joint online service to file accounts and Company Tax Return is set to close on 31 March 2026, pushing even more companies toward software tools. So the direction of travel is unmistakable: fewer free browser forms, more software-based filing.

What filing by software actually means

Software filing isn’t just “WebFiling, but with a different screen.” Companies House’s guidance explains that companies will use commercial software and that filing via software involves setting up the ability to file digitally (including creating a presenter account and getting presenter credentials). In other words: software filing is a different workflow, and leaving it until March 2027 is a recipe for stress.

Why Just Dormant Accounts is the better alternative to WebFiling

If WebFiling is a bare-bones template, Just Dormant Accounts is built for one job: filing dormant accounts quickly, cleanly, and correctly.

1) Quicker and easier than WebFiling

WebFiling works… but it’s not designed to be delightful. It’s designed to be functional.

Just Dormant Accounts is a dedicated tool for dormant accounts, so the flow is streamlined around what dormant companies actually need, not a one-size-fits-many filing portal.

2) Accuracy: less typing, fewer mistakes

Manual entry is where most dormant account errors happen: dates, share capital, company details, inconsistent fields. Just Dormant Accounts reduces that risk by automatically pulling key company data from Companies House, so you’re not retyping what already exists on the public register. That means fewer typos, fewer mismatches, and fewer “why did this get rejected?” moments.

3) It’s already aligned with the April 2027 direction

The biggest reason to switch now isn’t that WebFiling is “bad”. It’s that WebFiling for accounts is being closed, and Companies House is moving to software-only accounts filing from 1 April 2027. Just Dormant Accounts is software — meaning you’re not building your compliance routine around a filing route that’s on the way out.

If you currently use WebFiling, what should you do next?

If you’re filing dormant accounts today via webfiling Companies House, here’s the sensible move:

• Treat WebFiling as a short-term bridge, not your long-term solution.

• Switch to a software-based approach well before April 2027, so you’re not scrambling when the web route closes for accounts.

And if you want the simplest path from “dormant company” to “filed and done”, that’s exactly what Just Dormant Accounts is for.

Bottom line: WebFiling is fading. Software filing is the future.

Right now, Companies House WebFiling still works for dormant accounts, and plenty of people will keep using it while they can. But the rules of the game are changing:

• webfiling for accounts is being phased out,

• webfiling login is already evolving (hello, GOV.UK One Login),

• and from 1 April 2027, accounts must be filed using software, not web forms.

  
  

If you’d rather avoid the last-minute panic (and the avoidable mistakes), switching to Just Dormant Accounts now is the calm, future-proof option.