Keep-Your-Spreadsheet MTD Setup for UK Sole Traders

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began on 6 April 2026 for UK sole traders and landlords with qualifying income above £50,000. The threshold drops to £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and to £20,000 from 6 April 2028. Anyone in scope must keep digital records, using either MTD-compatible software or a spreadsheet linked to bridging software, and must send quarterly updates instead of one annual return. Many affected people already keep messy spreadsheets. They don't want to learn a full accounting package, and they don't know how to make their spreadsheet fit the new rules. Bridging software is cheap or free. What's missing is someone who tidies the spreadsheet, connects it and sets up a routine the person can repeat.

Who pays: UK sole traders and small landlords who keep their records in a spreadsheet. The core buyers are those above £50,000 qualifying income now, with the £30,000–£50,000 group following before April 2027. They are short on time, want to stay in control of their own figures and prefer not to pay for full ongoing bookkeeping or switch tools.

A fixed-scope remote setup. The client's existing income and expense spreadsheet is cleaned up and restructured with category columns that match the required record format, then linked to a bridging tool of the client's choice and tested. The client also gets a written quarterly routine so they can submit updates themselves. The service covers technical record setup only. It includes no tax advice, no tax calculations and no filing on the client's behalf. Hypothesis pricing: £150–£350 per setup, with an optional £40–£75 quarterly check-in.

• Cleaned and restructured spreadsheet with category columns and a consistent date and amount format
• Bridging software chosen with the client and linked to their spreadsheet, with a test connection confirmed
• Recorded screen walkthrough (10–15 minutes) of the client doing their own first quarterly update
• One-page quarterly routine checklist with dates for the client's tax year
• Written scope note stating that the work is technical setup only, with no tax advice and no submissions made for the client
• Data handling note confirming that client data is deleted after handover

A fixed-scope service that tidies a sole trader's existing income and expense spreadsheet, adds category columns, connects it to approved bridging software for quarterly digital tax submissions and sets up a repeatable quarterly routine, so the client never has to switch accounting tools..

Today’s alternatives: (1) Switch to full cloud accounting software, which is more cost and more learning than many spreadsheet users want. (2) Pay an accountant for MTD onboarding or ongoing bookkeeping, which is likely more expensive (fees not yet researched). (3) Do it yourself with free or low-cost bridging tools, which is cheap but leaves the spreadsheet tidy-up and routine to the client. (4) Do nothing until a deadline or penalty forces action.

Keeps

The core idea: one-person earners will pay for help getting their tax paperwork into the format the tax system now requires, and the help works best when it removes friction instead of adding new tools.

Changes

Delivered as a hands-on, fixed-scope human setup service with AI help instead of an automated consumer app. The focus is preparing records and a quarterly routine under a dated UK digital record-keeping rule, not finding refunds. The client keeps their own spreadsheet and makes their own submissions.

Not included

Does not give tax advice, calculate tax owed, chase refunds, file returns or act as the client's tax agent. Does not build or sell its own software. Does not take on ongoing bookkeeping unless supervision and insurance are confirmed.

In 10 days, one person runs a demand and feasibility test without doing any paid client work. Steps: (1) Read HMRC's anti-money-laundering supervision guidance and write a one-paragraph conclusion on whether technical record setup alone is in scope, citing the guidance. (2) Build a synthetic messy sole-trader spreadsheet, then restructure it and connect it to a free bridging tool in test mode, timing the full process. (3) Publish a one-page offer with a hypothesis price of £150–£350. (4) Personally contact at least 30 sole traders or landlords who use spreadsheets, through communities and your own network, and offer a 15-minute discovery call. (5) At the end of each call, ask whether they would pay the stated price once the service launches, and record the answer in writing (email or form).

Continue if: All of the following, shown in a shared log and documents: at least 30 outreach contacts logged with date and channel; at least 5 discovery calls held; at least 3 people confirm in writing that they would pay £150 or more for the setup; a written conclusion on AML supervision exists, citing the HMRC guidance it relies on; and the synthetic setup was completed end to end in 5 hours or less, with the time recorded.

• Regulation: paid bookkeeping-type work in the UK may require anti-money-laundering supervision. Starting paid work without it could be unlawful (hypothesis, must be verified).
• Scope creep into tax advice or tax calculations, which raises liability and may need professional qualifications or insurance
• Bridging software vendors may add their own guided setup, which would weaken the need for the service
• Demand may cluster around the 2027 and 2028 threshold dates, causing uneven income
• Accountants may bundle MTD onboarding cheaply into existing client fees
• Handling personal financial data brings UK GDPR obligations and data-breach risk
• The number of spreadsheet users in scope is not yet sourced, so market size is unknown

• Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began on 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income above £50,000.Fact
• The MTD for Income Tax threshold falls to £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and to £20,000 from 6 April 2028.Fact
• People in scope must keep records using MTD-compatible software, or a spreadsheet combined with bridging software, and must send quarterly updates instead of a single annual return.Fact
• One spreadsheet bridging software provider states that more than 50,000 people file with it.Company claim
• At least one provider offers free MTD software for Income Tax and VAT.Company claim
• Software is cheap or free, so the unmet need is hands-on spreadsheet tidy-up and routine setup, not the tool itself.Hypothesis
• Many UK sole traders keep their records in spreadsheets and would prefer to keep doing so.Estimate
• Buyers will pay £150–£350 for a one-off setup and £40–£75 for an optional quarterly check-in.Hypothesis
• Paid bookkeeping-type work in the UK generally requires anti-money-laundering supervision; whether technical setup alone is in scope must be confirmed.Hypothesis
• A typical client setup takes about 3–5 hours once the process is refined.Estimate
• Start cost is about £0–£300 before supervision fees and insurance.Estimate