Your dashboard and the setup checklist

When you sign in you land on the dashboard. Brand-new accounts get a guided Get HMRC-ready checklist that walks you through setup, while existing accounts see their tax figures, next deadline and readiness at a glance.

Your dashboard at a glance

The dashboard is your home screen at /dashboard. You reach it after signing in. What it shows depends on how far through setup you are:

• Brand-new accounts (no property and no self-employment business) see the Get HMRC-ready setup checklist at the top.
• Existing accounts that are not yet connected to HMRC see an HMRC connection card instead, prompting you to link your account.
• Everyone sees a hero with a greeting, your projected tax liability for the year, your next deadline, and a readiness percentage, followed by your income and expenses trends and your list of properties or businesses.

The hero deadline comes from HMRC. The app reads your obligations and shows your real due dates on the Filing Calendar, so check there rather than relying on a date from memory.

Note: The headline figure is your projected tax liability for the year, taken from HMRC's latest calculation for you. It is a projection to give you a running sense of your position, not a final tax bill. Until HMRC has a calculation for you (for example before your first quarterly update is submitted), the headline shows an "Awaiting HMRC projection" message with a prompt to connect HMRC or submit, rather than a figure.

The Get HMRC-ready setup checklist

New accounts land on a checklist card titled Get HMRC-ready with the note A couple of minutes and a progress bar reading {n} of {total} done. It replaces the empty dashboard and guides you step by step. The first outstanding step with its own button becomes the single highlighted action, so you always know what to do next.

The steps are:

1. Create your account. Already done, and pre-ticked.
2. Verify your email. Also pre-ticked once you have confirmed your email during signup.
3. Add your first property (or Add your business if you signed up for self-employment). This is usually the first action button you see. See Add your first property.
4. Record your income & expenses. Add what you earn and spend. You can type entries in or import a CSV. When you add a transaction only the date, amount, and category are required: a description and a receipt are always optional.
5. Connect to HMRC. Link your HMRC account once so you can submit. See Connect your HMRC account.

As you complete each step, its row ticks off. The whole card disappears for good once you have at least one property or one self-employment business.

Important: The Record your income & expenses row does not have its own button, so the highlighted action can jump from adding a property straight to Connect to HMRC. That is by design. Record your figures from the Transactions area or by importing a CSV, and the row will tick off once you have any transaction.

The app builds your quarterly figures automatically from the individual income and expenses you record (typed in or imported from a CSV), so there is nothing to total up by hand.

Which steps you see

The middle step matches your income type:

• Property (the default): you see Add your first property.
• Self-employment: you see Add your business.
• Both: you see both rows, so the checklist covers adding a property and adding a business.

At the bottom of the checklist, the New here? See how it works link brings you to this Help Centre.

Switching between property and self-employment

If your income type is set to Both, a view switcher appears in your navigation with All, Property, and SE. Use it to focus the figures on one income source or to see everything together. This switcher only appears for Both users; if you have a single income type, the dashboard simply shows that one.

Tip: The Free plan covers one income source (one property, or one self-employment business). Tracking both property and self-employment together needs MTD Lite. See Plans and pricing.

If something goes wrong

• The checklist never appeared. It only shows to brand-new accounts with no property and no business. If you have already added a property or business, the checklist has retired as intended.
• The checklist vanished after I added a property. That is expected: it retires once you have a property or business. From then on you will see your figures, and an HMRC connection card if you have not connected yet.
• The highlighted button skipped a step. Only steps with their own button can become the highlighted action. Record income and expenses directly from Transactions or a CSV import instead.
• My next deadline or readiness looks off. The deadline is pulled from HMRC. Connect your HMRC account so the app can read your obligations, then check the Filing Calendar for the authoritative dates.

Frequently asked questions

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