10 reasons why accountants might embrace ECCTA

I see some firms making the decision that full engagement with the requirements of ECCTA is just not worth it. They’re put off by the requirements for and process of registering as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), and the potential continuing compliance liability associated with that status. There is particular fear around identity verification, with complex requirements around what constitutes a valid check, especially if you are relying on manual checks of documents rather than an electronic solution. There is no doubt there is real compliance risk here.

I’d like to look at the reasons why many accountants, especially those backed by great software, could see ECCTA as an opportunity – or at least another necessary evil – to be embraced. There are both protective and positive reasons to embrace all things ECCTA. Some of these represent two sides of the same coin.

The first five reasons are defensive.

Simply put, many clients will just expect their accountant to pick up everything related to ECCTA, including guiding them through identity verification. If you offer company secretarial services, part of the challenge is that in the clients’ eyes this is ‘Companies House work’. They are used to turning correspondence from Companies House over to you, so it should be no surprise when you are their expected solution to the new deluge of letters from the Registrar.

Without good messaging, a refusal to entertain this work may not land well.

That doesn’t mean you have to accept the task without question. It doesn’t mean you can’t offer clients options, including signposting them to ways to self-serve where possible. It doesn’t mean you need to take on the work within your existing terms with the client. However, it does mean it may be challenging to avoid completely.

The broader point is that a firm limiting its scope of services puts itself at a potential competitive disadvantage. If existing clients cannot rely on the range of services they need from their accountant, it’s possible they seek out another – and not only for the new service they need, but also more broadly.

That disadvantage could also apply when seeking to win new clients. If the client is looking for an accountant to offer practical help with ECCTA implementation, if their existing accountant offers such services or they are talking to competitors who include it in their holistic offering, you could find it harder to win business.

It’s worth saying that some accountants may reply that they see the real competitive disadvantage in taking on work that is cumbersome, prone to difficulty or will not be valued by clients. There’s some truth in that as it relates to identity verification, with the potential to be unprofitable if done badly. The work must be capable of being done efficiently and profitably. That points to a need to plan effectively, find efficient solutions and frame the value proposition with clients via well-targeted communication.

It’s understandable that some accountants are looking to avoid an involvement in identity verification and the process surrounding that. However, that process – and particularly submission of personal codes for each director, LLP member and PSC role – is becoming embedded as part of company secretarial work.

If you want to continue to file confirmation statements in the first year from 18 November, you will need to supply the Companies House personal codes that individual directors obtain as part of identity verification. If they are not supplied, the confirmation statement will fail. Any new director appointment to a company will also require the personal code. To form new companies, again personal codes will be mandatory.

Although the submission of personal codes for PSCs is controlled by a separate, new submission, the whole process of managing new PSCs (and those on the company register at 18 November) is tied to the identity verification and personal code regime.

Extricating your business from identity verification and the new requirements of ECCTA more generally may therefore make it harder to undertake company secretarial work for clients. In some cases, losing control of the identity verification process could make it harder to do the work you’ve done before. In others, it could result in giving up that valuable existing income stream, for example if you encourage clients to file confirmation statements themselves.

It might be possible for some accountants to avoid ACSP status in the short-term, encouraging clients to utilise the Companies House online service to verify their own identities. You may be able to navigate the logistical complexities involved in filing confirmation statements, appointments and new company formations.

However, for those accountants who wish to add value more broadly in company secretarial activity, ACSP status – even if you choose not to use it to undertake identity verification – will likely soon become a necessity. Companies House has said that any agent filing on behalf of a company will need to have ACSP status and provide their ACSP registration details as part of making submissions to the Registrar. This appears also to extend to filing accounts with Companies House, so is a requirement even for agents who do not undertake pure company secretarial work.

While this requirement was originally intended to apply from ‘spring 2026’, we understand there may be some delay in its implementation.

For those accountants who have not engaged more with ECCTA simply because they wished to avoid ACSP status and the challenges involved in registration, that decision may be worth revisiting if ultimately you envisage still needing to apply in 2026.

If many accountants are concerned by the complexity of the new requirements, how will their clients fare without support?

Many individual directors and PSCs who need to verify their identities will be unused to liaising with Companies House, possibly having chosen to throw away the raft of communications from the Registrar over the last six months. It will be the first time that many have personally needed to take individual action, rather than someone else involved with or acting for the company taking responsibility.

Many clients will struggle to negotiate Companies House’s online identity verification system. For some, and not just those who lack familiarity with online tools, it simply won’t be a viable option.

For those directors and PSCs who do successfully navigate identity verification, they still need to keep hold of their Companies House personal code and keep it separate from all their other personal identifiers. Then they need to remember to provide the code at the right time, in different ways for different roles and potentially for each company in which they are involved. The complexities here are ripe for mistakes and oversights.

Without codes to hand, the first confirmation statement from 18 November 2025 will fail, leading to another potential example of non-compliance.

At any point, an accountant may then receive a panicked call from their client, with an urgent need to make things right. Advisers typically won’t want to be in that situation. A proactive rather than remedial approach can help clients avoid non-compliance letters from Companies House, and the threat of fines, prosecution and company strike off.

The next five reasons are more positive!

The advent of identity verification, and changes under ECCTA more generally, provide a good opportunity for a wider client review. We’ve looked elsewhere at ways in which accountants can help their clients to get ahead, and those include reviewing who is involved with the company and how and when company secretarial work is undertaken.

It’s a good chance to educate clients, to add value. Whatever your choice on exactly which elements of the work you intend to undertake on behalf of clients, they will benefit from detailed input on:

• The requirements of ECCTA and effects on their business
• Their options to fulfil the new identity verification requirements
• When identity verification needs to be completed for different individuals
• How and when personal codes need to be submitted to Companies House for different individual roles

In the past, you may have liaised directly only with a single representative of a company. Identity verification requires engagement by all existing directors and PSCs, as well as new appointees from 18 November. The process of engaging with individual directors and PSCs to facilitate identity verification, while logistically challenging, may provide accountants with an opportunity to build new relationships and identify new business opportunities.

Whatever the immediate financial possibilities, supporting clients to negotiate a potentially difficult assignment helps to cement your relationship as their trusted adviser. If they have a sense of the potential complexity of the emerging requirements, and you can provide them with effective solutions, you are also delivering peace of mind.

In that way, ECCTA demonstrates a way in which compliance and advisory are two sides of the same coin. Providing support now can embed clients further, encouraging them to turn to you whatever their financial needs.

That can lead to longer-term, more valuable client relationships.

ECCTA can provide an opportunity to upsell service offerings to existing clients. Company secretarial might have historically been an area which some clients thought they could manage on their own, particularly if they have filed confirmation statements in the past. While therefore difficult historically to upsell as part of a holistic service, the added complexity introduced as part of ECCTA might be the trigger that enables this to be brought within the remit of a trusted accountant.

The conversation with a client now may provide opportunities to upsell services more broadly, beyond company secretarial compliance.

The headline change as part of ECCTA, the introduction of mandatory identity verification for company directors, PSCs and others, is a potentially valuable source of income to those accountants supporting it. I hear of some accountants charging upwards of £100 for each identity they are asked to verify.

Anything up to 15 million individuals will need their identity verified in the next 12 months alone: while many will do so via Companies House’s online service, others will choose to pay their trusted accountant to facilitate the task.

Even if it’s not something you’ve done before – with a need to comply with regulations, the requirements of ACSP status and recognising the difference to more familiar AML processes – many accountants are finding ways to undertake this work very profitably.

Great software can help: in Inform Direct, you can initiate an identity check using existing Companies House information, with an email to your client enabling them to complete a simple, step by step process to verify their identity. You’ll then simply need to supply details to Companies House of the successful identity check. During the period of our introductory offer, Inform Direct subscribers pay just £3 + VAT for a biometric identity check, or £4 + VAT also including an address check.

Managed compliantly and efficiently, there are real opportunities for your business to profit from a service many clients will value.

In winning new clients, firms are acutely aware of building their competitive advantage.

ECCTA compliance, comprising both a strong company secretarial capability and effective options to fulfil identity verification requirements, can help set your firm apart from competitors. A fully holistic offering in this area alongside other services will be attractive to many potential clients looking for a ‘one-stop solution’.

ECCTA potentially makes company secretarial compliance harder for individual companies, and we expect to see more businesses – who may have previously done the work themselves – seek out an accountant to help them with the work. This is a trend that may well accelerate, including when Companies House withdraws the ability to file accounts directly and instead mandates the use of commercial software.

That means there may be more business available in a growing market, particularly if some other accountants choose to step away from this work. For accountancy firms looking for a growth trajectory, this could be a way to take advantage.