The government has opened a consultation that aims to reduce paperwork for the UK’s small and family businesses, as it seeks to cut “outdated rules”.

The proposals outlined in the consultation include simplifying which businesses are required to adhere to which rules and assessing the merits of non-financial reporting requirements for private businesses; providing clarity on who financial reports and accounts are for and reducing the regulatory load for SMEs; and exempting a greater number of businesses, including medium-sized firms, from audits.

The consultation will also seek to make the UK’s reporting rules clearer and more coherent, replace complex rules regarding distributable profits and capital maintenance with a regime based around solvency and making electronic shareholder communications the default.

According to estimates, these proposed changes would collectively save in excess of £450 million.

UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds commented: “No-one goes into business to fill out forms. For years, hardworking firms in this country have been weighed down by pen-pushing paperwork and frustrating costs, ticking boxes that do nothing to help them grow their business.”

“We’re stripping back outdated bureaucracy and building a common-sense system fit for a 21st-century economy. This will cut the cost of doing business, giving breathing room to bosses across the country, and free them up to focus on what they do best, creating jobs and growth.”

A process to scrap director’s reports is already underway, along with plans to increase the number of businesses exempt from needing to provide strategic reports.

Onerous reporting rules and paperwork add a significant workload to the day-to-day tasks of running a business, generating considerable costs and taking up time that could otherwise be focused on growth.

The consultation opened on September 7, 2026 and will close at 23:59 on November 30, 2026.