Get ahead of the wave
Here we are in 2025 – and it’s time to start planning ahead, so your business is ready for the future. We’re quarter of the way through the century already – and, despite the fact that HMRC have been pushing Making Tax Digital (MTD) over the past few years, it’s likely that it will actually get off the starting blocks in April 2026. That’s only just over a year away.
If you are self-employed (or a landlord) and your business activities make an income of more than £50K a year, you’ll need to have all your ducks in a row. If you’re not already using compatible software, you’ll need to not only subscribe to that, but to get familiar with its use.
There’s a whole list of different accounting packages that will work. Probably the best known are Xero, Sage and Quickbooks. These will enable you to issue invoices, enter bills, reconcile your bank account and credit cards, track expenses and even pay your team.
If your business is pretty simple you might find Free Agent will do the job, it’s not only accredited to work with the HMRC system, but it’s also free if you bank with Natwest, RBS or Mettle!
The plus is that your accountant can access your software, which makes it much easier for them to iron out any glitches and help if you get stuck. It also makes preparing your quarterly and annual accounts much easier as everything is entered as you go along.
In principle it should be more streamlined and less work for your accountant to put your profit and loss information together without the need for bridging software. However, like anything new, there is a learning curve and it’s sensible to start using it so you can get feedback and help in integrating it into your business processes and understanding how it all links up.
Our clients are offered training on whichever system they choose as well as ongoing support, so you won’t be jumping in the deep end without any swimming tuition! It’s why our recommendation is to start exploring your options now – don’t wait until the last minute, when glitches can end up costing you money.
