Save a company's authentication code
Save the authentication code Companies House issued for a company once, so every filing for that company uses it.
Screenshots are retaken from IQ Entities on every release. Updated 14 October 2026.
Companies House posts each company a 6 to 8 character authentication code, and every electronic filing for the company has to carry it. It is separate from your presenter account: the presenter says who is filing, the code says the filing is authorised for this company. Save it once and IQ Entities uses it for every filing the company makes.
Add the code
Open the Companies House codes page (see Find the Companies House codes still missing) and find the company. Its row shows No code until one is saved.
Click Add code. On a company that already has one, the button reads Replace.
Enter the code in Authentication code, exactly as the letter from Companies House gives it.
Click Save code. The code is encrypted before it is stored, and filings for the company use it from then on.
Check or replace a saved code
Click Replace on the company's row.
Choose Show in the code box to read back the code that is saved. It is fetched only when you ask, and only for someone allowed to change it.
To replace it, type the new code and click Save code. The new code replaces the old one for every later filing.
Tips from practice
- The code belongs to the company, not to one registration, so a company has one code however many registrations it holds.
- When a filing is rejected for its authentication code, compare the saved code with the letter using Show before filing again. Every attempt uses a submission number.
- A company can request a new code through Companies House WebFiling if the letter is lost. Save the new code here as soon as it arrives, because the old one stops working.