Companies House is changing the way users enter its Find and update company information service, with GOV.UK One Login becoming the main sign-in option from late August. In its notice on GOV.UK, the agency said the existing Companies House account route will remain available for current users for now, but it will sit further down the sign-in page. For companies and advisers, that makes this less about filings themselves and more about day-to-day access. It is an administrative change, but it touches the login point for one of the most widely used corporate compliance services in the UK.

New users will not get the old route at all. Companies House says anyone setting up access from this point will need a GOV.UK One Login, while existing users can continue with their current details until a later migration date is announced. That distinction matters for firms onboarding staff, trainees or external support. Two people in the same office could soon be reaching the same service through different sign-in journeys, which is usually where small process gaps start to show up.

The agency is also trying to head off confusion over identity checks. This change is only about how users sign in; it is not, at this stage, a request to verify identity. That will matter to directors and accountants who may have seen wider discussion around Companies House reform and assumed this was the next compliance step. In practical terms, the message is straightforward: the front door is changing, but the service itself is not being rebuilt overnight.

GOV.UK One Login uses a single email address and password across a range of government services, with multi-factor authentication through an authenticator app or SMS. Companies House says that should give its users a more secure account set-up, and it fits with a programme that began moving its online services across in autumn 2024. For finance teams and company secretarial staff, the security point is not cosmetic. Shared inboxes, reused passwords and borrowed access have long been common in smaller organisations, but they sit awkwardly with a system built around named individuals and second-factor checks.

That is why the warning on shared accounts is probably the most important line in the notice. Each GOV.UK One Login must be linked to one person, using that individual's own email address and phone number. Companies House says teams that still share one Companies House account should now plan for separate user access before the new sign-in becomes compulsory for everyone. It is easy to see why. Once a shared account is linked to a one-person login, repeated sign-ins from different people or devices may trigger security controls and lock users out. For practices managing client deadlines, that is the sort of problem that only looks minor until a confirmation statement or filing window is due.

The sensible response is operational rather than dramatic. Businesses, accountants, administrators and corporate service providers should check who actually needs access, which email addresses are tied to current filing work, and whether any team members still depend on a shared login. Doing that before the mandatory switch arrives should make the final move much less disruptive. Market Pulse UK's read is that this is a quiet but relevant process change. It will not alter filing rules or create a new compliance duty on its own, yet it could still interrupt routine Companies House work if firms leave account clean-up until the last minute.