Choosing Making Tax Digital software
Once Making Tax Digital applies to you, quarterly updates and your tax return must be sent through HMRC-recognised software. The market splits into two very different product types, and picking the right shape for your situation matters more than picking a brand. Here is how to decide, and where preparation tools like ours fit.
Start with HMRC's official list
Only software on HMRC's recognised list can submit MTD updates. The canonical starting point is GOV.UK's "Find software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax" page, which fronts an interactive finder: you say which income sources you have (self-employment, UK property, foreign property) and it returns products that support them. HMRC has committed to free options existing for those with simple affairs, though free tiers carry limits; check the finder rather than relying on any third-party list, including this one.
The two shapes of MTD software
| Full record-keeping software | Bridging software | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An accounts package that keeps your digital records and submits to HMRC | A thin connector that takes records you keep elsewhere (typically spreadsheets) and makes the submission |
| Typical features | Bank feeds, receipt capture, invoicing, categorisation | Reads your totals, files quarterly updates and the return |
| Best for | People happy to move their whole workflow into one product | People with a working spreadsheet system they want to keep |
| Cost pattern | Monthly subscription; some free tiers | Cheap or free; pay per filing in some cases |
Both are legitimate. MTD's legal requirement is digital records plus digital links through to the submission; a spreadsheet feeding bridging software satisfies it just as an all-in-one package does.
What a quarterly update actually sends
Less than people fear: totals per income and expense category, cumulative from the start of the tax year, with no accounting adjustments required at quarter time. Deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and a nil update is still required for a quiet quarter. The heavy lifting is therefore not the submission itself but having categorised, up-to-date records four times a year; our deadlines guide covers the calendar in detail.
Questions that actually differentiate products
- Does it cover all your income sources? Self-employment plus property needs both supported, with separate updates per source.
- Does it do the year-end tax return as well as quarterly updates? Some products do one but not the other.
- Can your agent access it, if you use an accountant?
- What happens to your data if you stop paying? Export formats matter; five-year record-keeping outlives many subscriptions.
- Where do your records come from? Bank feeds suit ongoing bookkeeping; if you are reconstructing a year from statements, you need a way to get history in.
Three common situations, matched
| Situation | Sensible starting point |
|---|---|
| Sole trader with a working spreadsheet system and simple affairs | Keep the spreadsheet, add bridging software. Cheapest route, least disruption, fully compliant. |
| Landlord with one or two properties and modest transaction volume | A free tier of full software, or bridging plus a well-organised spreadsheet. Check the product supports UK property specifically, not just self-employment. |
| Self-employment and property, or an accountant already involved | Ask the accountant first: their practice software usually offers client access, and duplicating it wastes money. Otherwise a full package supporting both income types with separate updates per source. |
Whatever the shortlist says, trial the finalist with one real quarter of your own data before committing for a year. An hour spent loading three months of genuine transactions tells you more than any feature table: whether the categories fit your business, whether the bank feed actually finds your bank, and whether the update screen makes sense to you in particular. Most products offer a free trial long enough for exactly this test.
Where QuickMaths fits, honestly
QuickMaths is a preparation tool, not MTD filing software: nothing here submits to HMRC. What our free tools do is solve the messy step before filing: the bank statement analyzer turns statements into categorised transactions, the receipt scanner digitises expenses, and the quarterly reporter groups a year of statements into HMRC's quarters with per-category totals. The Excel output is designed to be carried into whichever recognised product you choose, or handed to your accountant. Whatever software you pick, the categorised totals are the part that takes the time, and that is the part we automate.
Frequently asked questions
Is a spreadsheet alone enough for MTD?
Do I need software before I'm mandated?
Can I change software mid-year?
Are there genuinely free options?
Sources (last reviewed 12 July 2026):