I keep my own records: what is the easiest way to get them in?

Yes, you can keep your own records. With this app the quickest route is to import your spreadsheet or bank export, so each row becomes a record here, with no line-by-line typing and no receipts needed. You can also add entries by hand.

The short answer

There are two ways to get your records into this app, and you never have to scan a receipt:

1. Import CSV or Excel (quickest if you already have a spreadsheet or can download a bank statement). The app brings in each transaction and keeps it as a record.
2. Add entries by hand, one at a time. Only the date, amount and category are required.

Either way, your income and expenses end up held in the app, and your quarterly figures are built automatically from them. There is no totals box to fill in.

Note: You never have to scan a receipt. When adding or importing a transaction, only the date, amount and category are required (plus the property or business it belongs to). Description and receipt are always optional. See Do I have to scan receipts?.

Quickest route: Import CSV or Excel

This is the fastest path if you keep a spreadsheet or can export a statement from your bank. The app reads the file (CSV or Excel, up to 2MB) and writes each line in as an individual transaction, so your records are held in the app from then on.

Open Transactions (or Self-employment transactions) and click Import CSV or Excel. A four-step wizard takes you through choosing the property or business, uploading the file, mapping the columns, and previewing the rows before you import. For the full walkthrough, including saved column mappings, bank-format detection, and what to do if something goes wrong, see Import transactions from CSV.

Tip: If your file has no category column, the app assigns a category to each row from its description and amount. Look over the preview and correct any it could not place. Your corrections are remembered per payee, so the next import of the same recurring line pre-fills your choice.

Prefer to type them in?

You can add records one at a time instead. Open Transactions (or Self-employment transactions), click Add Transaction, and fill in the property or business, the date, the amount, and an HMRC category: that is all that is required, since a description and a receipt are always optional. See Recording income and expenses for the full walkthrough, including editing entries and recurring items such as monthly rent.

Can I keep my own spreadsheet and submit from it?

Under Making Tax Digital you must keep digital records of your income and expenses, and there must be a digital link between wherever you keep them and the software that sends them to HMRC. HMRC does let you keep your records in a spreadsheet and submit through separate bridging software, as long as that digital link is in place (for example linked cells or a formula, not copy and paste).

This app works differently. It is an all-in-one tool that keeps your digital records and submits for you, so it does not offer bridging to an outside spreadsheet: that is a deliberate design choice, not an HMRC rule. To use this app, you bring your records in once, by importing your spreadsheet or bank export (each row becomes a record here) or by typing entries. From then on the app holds your records and builds your quarterly figures automatically, so there is nothing to total up by hand. If you would rather keep your master records in your own spreadsheet and submit straight from it, that is what bridging software is for; which approach suits you is worth checking with HMRC or your accountant.

Tip: Keep your own source documents (invoices, receipts and statements) somewhere safe even after importing. HMRC can ask to see the evidence behind your figures. How long you need to keep records is worth confirming with HMRC or your accountant.

If something goes wrong

• The Import CSV or Excel button is not showing. Importing is available on Free and MTD Lite, for both property and self-employment. Make sure you have added the property or business you want to import against.
• An error during import (file size, row count, column mapping, or duplicates). See the full troubleshooting list in Import transactions from CSV.
• I need to undo an import. Use the Undo action on the confirmation toast shown right after importing. It reverses the import only if none of the imported rows has since been edited, so act straight away.

Frequently asked questions

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