MTD FOR INCOME TAX QUARTERLY UPDATES

MTD for Income Tax quarterly updates for all your client types.

Q: Can my clients use Excel spreadsheets to record their income and expenses?

Yes, clients can use Excel spreadsheets to record their income and expenses . Clients can keep their records in our ready-made Excel templates for self-employment, UK property and foreign property. You import the completed template into BrightBooks and send the quarterly update to HMRC.

Q: Do paper receipts need to be scanned for MTD?

No, paper receipts do not need to be scanned for MTD IT . HMRC requires each income and expense transaction to be recorded digitally, with its date, amount and category. The receipts and invoices themselves can stay on paper, kept as evidence.

MTD for Income Tax has been live since the 6th of April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000. BrightBooks is a bookkeeping software that handles quarterly updates for your self-employed and landlord clients, with direct HMRC submission, without forcing clients to change everything.

Cloud bookkeeping: full digital record keeping in BrightBooks, shared between client and accountant.

Spreadsheet bridging: clients keep their Excel records and you submit the quarterly update.

Bank-based records: bank feeds and smart rules for clients who run everything through their business account.

Digitisation of paper records: Clients photograph their receipts and invoices with the mobile app or forward them by email, and the details are extracted, ready for you to review.

Back to MTD for Income Tax Prefer to Talk? Call 0345 241 5030

SPREADSHEET BRIDGING

MTD IT clients can still keep their spreadsheets.

Don’t lose profitable clients just because they love Excel. The bridging tool lets them keep working their way while you handle MTD compliance, without forcing a switch. Or give clients access to BrightBooks for their bookkeeping and quarterly updates - you choose how your practice handles MTD for Income Tax.

No forced software adoption: clients carry on with spreadsheets, a tool they know.

Review before submission: you review and adjust the figures before they go to HMRC.

Ready-made templates: for self-employment, UK property and foreign property income.

Excel records
Import
BrightBooks
Accountant review
Quarterly update
HMRC

FEATURES

BrightBooks features for MTD for Income Tax and more

Full bookkeeping with MTD compliance, for clients who need complete digital records.

Cloud records: complete cloud-based record keeping. Sales and purchase ledger, debtors, creditors and online payments.

Real-time collaboration: you and your clients can work on the same records at the same time, with everyone seeing each other’s changes.

Direct HMRC submission: quarterly updates sent to HMRC from BrightBooks.

Learn About BrightBooks

Bridging software for spreadsheet users

Excel bridging for clients who keep their records in spreadsheets or other bookkeeping systems. Use our ready-made templates for self-employment, UK property or foreign property, then import it into BrightBooks to send the quarterly update.

Familiar workflows: clients keep using Excel the way they do now.

Import when ready: import from Excel when the quarterly update is due.

Accountant review: you review and adjust before filing.

Bank-based quarterly updates for bank-only clients

Import bank transactions automatically or by CSV, then use smart rules to categorise regular income and expenses, so there’s less manual data entry each quarter.

Who it suits: landlords and sole traders who run everything through business banking, with straightforward transactions such as rental income and property expenses.

Bank feeds and smart rules: transactions arrive automatically and smart rules categorise them.

CSV import: an alternative to bank feeds.

Minimal client involvement: little for the client to do each quarter.

Document capture available with BrightBooks

Clients photograph their receipts and invoices with the mobile app or forward them by email, and the details are extracted, ready for you to review before they’re posted to BrightBooks.

Photo or email: you or your clients can photograph a stack of receipts and invoices in one go (up to 20 per submission) or forward email receipts.

Data extracted automatically: supplier, date and amounts are read from each document.

VAT split automatically: VAT is split during processing, including invoices with more than one VAT rate.

Ready for BrightBooks: documents are matched to your suppliers, and nominal codes are assigned automatically from your supplier rules, ready to post.

Live status: see each document’s progress in BrightBooks and review the extracted data before it’s posted.

Stay on top of every quarter

Obligations from HMRC: quarterly periods and due dates come straight from HMRC, so you can see what’s due and when.

Submission status: follow each update from generated to submitted and accepted by HMRC.

Supporting reports: print the totals sent to HMRC with the transactions and nominal codes behind them.

HMRC tax calculation: open the client’s tax calculation in HMRC’s Business Tax Account directly from BrightBooks.

Your quarters, your method: standard or calendar update periods, and cash or accruals, for each income source.

Three line accounting: for your clients with turnover below the £90,000 threshold.

Tools your clients will use every day

Invoicing: on-the-go invoicing and payments.

Bank reconciliation: keep bank records matched.

CRM: customer and pipeline tools.

Reports: customisable reports.

Stock: stock management.

FAQS

MTD for Income Tax quarterly updates: frequently asked questions

What is BrightBooks designed to do?

BrightBooks is designed to provide full digital bookkeeping and MTD for Income Tax quarterly updates, including submission to HMRC.

What types of income can BrightBooks handle for MTD quarterly updates?

All three: self-employment, UK property (residential and commercial landlords) and foreign property (overseas rental income). Each has its own quarterly reporting requirements, and BrightBooks handles the HMRC submissions for all of them. Each income type is set up as its own business in BrightBooks, so clients with more than one income source have a business for each.

Can my clients use Excel spreadsheets to record their income and expenses?

Yes, clients can use Excel spreadsheets to record their income and expenses. Clients can keep their records in our ready-made Excel templates for self-employment, UK property and foreign property. You import the completed template into BrightBooks and send the quarterly update to HMRC.

Do paper receipts need to be scanned for MTD?

No, paper receipts do not need to be scanned for MTD IT. HMRC requires each income and expense transaction to be recorded digitally, with its date, amount and category. The receipts and invoices themselves can stay on paper, kept as evidence.

Does BrightBooks have document capture?

Yes, document capture is available with BrightBooks. Clients photograph their receipts and invoices on their phones or forward email receipts, and each document is processed automatically, with the data extracted and VAT split, ready for you to review in BrightBooks.

Does BrightBooks integrate with any other document processing tools?

Yes, BrightBooks integrates with other document processing tools, including Dext.

Does BrightBooks support three-line accounting?

Yes. Three-line accounting (HMRC calls it simpler categorisation) lets eligible clients categorise their records in less detail. It’s available to sole traders and UK landlords whose turnover from that income source is under £90,000, and to foreign property landlords, where the turnover threshold doesn’t apply. Sole traders only need to record whether each transaction is income or an expense, while residential landlords also need to identify restricted finance costs. BrightBooks supports three-line accounting for self-employment, UK property and foreign property.

Is Bright’s MTD for Income Tax software modular or bundled?

Choose the combination your practice needs - practice management, quarterly updates, final declarations, or all three. BrightTax retrieves quarterly data from HMRC, so it works with whichever MTD-compatible software your clients use.

Can I book a demo of Bright’s MTD for Income Tax software?

Yes. Book a demo and we’ll show you quarterly updates, the final declaration and MTD workflows working together.

GET STARTED

Get your practice set up for MTD quarterly updates

Bright covers the full MTD cycle, from quarterly updates to the final declaration, supported by a team of experts. BrightBooks handles quarterly updates. When the tax year ends, BrightTax handles the final declaration, retrieving your clients’ quarterly data from HMRC, so it works whichever MTD software they use. And BrightManager keeps your practice organised, so you know what’s due, when it’s due and what stage each client is at.

Talk to our team about your requirements. We also share updates and expert insight on digital tax, plus downloadable resources for client education.

Book a Demo Back to MTD for Income Tax Learn About BrightBooks Prefer to Talk? Call 0345 241 5030