I was just reading through the TIS_for_accounts 5.9__003_.odt and it mentions that Academy Trusts are going to be enabled for accounts filing through the Companies House Gateway (if I understood correctly) and that the mandatory charity number requirement is going to be removed in order to allow these types of entities to file accounts.
Am I correct in assuming then that in our XML accounts submissions will need modifying for these types of entities so that under the FormHeadertag these charity types will simply be identified with a CompanyName tag and will not require a CompanyNumber tag?
Or will these entities perhaps get a Company Number type identifier in order to file accounts electronically?
The update in the Companies House Technical Interface Specification removes the mandatory charity registration number requirement. This was the key blocker that previously prevented academy trusts from filing electronically, as they are exempt charities and therefore do not have (and must not be given) a Charity Commission number.
This change, alongside the FRC taxonomy updates to explicitly support academy trusts, effectively enables them to file iXBRL accounts via the Companies House gateway for the first time. (This was introduced in 2022)
In terms of your specific question on the XML structure:
Academy trusts will still require a CompanyNumber
They are still companies limited by guarantee registered at Companies House, so the company number remains their primary identifier for filing
What changes is that the CharityNumber element is no longer mandatory (and should be omitted for academy trusts)
So in practice:
<CompanyNumber> → required
<CompanyName> → required
<CharityNumber> → not required / should be absent for academy trusts
There is no new or alternative identifier being introduced for these entities—they continue to use their existing Companies House registration number for electronic filing.
In short, it removes an invalid requirement rather than changing how academy trusts are identified.