Guidance

Technical interface specifications for Companies House software

Technical specifications for developing software to send information to Companies House digitally.

Documents

Companies House technical interface specification (TIS)

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email [email protected]. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Companies House technical interface specification (TIS) for accounts

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email [email protected]. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

These documents give detailed technical specifications for our software filing service. Software filing allows users to send information to Companies House digitally.

You’ll need expertise in extensible markup language (XML) to develop software.

If you’re developing accounts software, you’ll also need expertise in inline extensible business reporting language (iXBRL).

If you’re developing more complex accounts packages, you’ll need to understand our zip functionality and how we use this in the Companies House software filing service.

If you’re a package accounts filer or developer, you must read and understand the file structure and the validation rules.

For questions about information in the TIS, contact us by email: [email protected]

Updates to this page

Published 14 September 2023
Last updated 6 June 2024 + show all updates
  1. TIS updated - version 5.3 published.

  2. TIS for accounts updated.

  3. Updated version of TIS for accounts.

  4. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page