Making Tax Digital · Sole traders
Avona and Pie Tax: choosing a modern tax-software workflow
ONLY£15A MONTHModern tax apps can make bookkeeping feel more approachable, but a familiar mobile interface is only part of the decision.
Modern tax apps can make bookkeeping feel more approachable, but a familiar mobile interface is only part of the decision. When comparing Avona and Pie Tax, start with your income sources, the reporting work and the support you need. Check the actual product rather than assuming all tax apps offer the same service.
Compare the complete journey
Avona and Pie Tax publish information about their own products. Use those pages to establish current scope, prices and support. Do not treat a headline price as proof of identical annual-return coverage.
Test how each option handles your records: bank imports, cash, spreadsheet history, refunds and private transactions. Then check quarterly reporting, corrections and the annual return. A tool can be pleasant for weekly bookkeeping while still requiring another service for part of your tax affairs.
Compare support as a separate requirement
Decide whether you want help using software, bookkeeping review or a managed professional engagement. Ask which income sources and tasks are covered, how questions are raised and what costs extra.
Avoid unsupported claims that users are switching in large numbers or that one competitor lacks human support. Your own workflow test is better evidence for your decision than a general claim about a market trend.
Worked comparison: a landlord with employment income
The user needs property records, a quarterly submission route and an annual process that includes PAYE income and savings interest. The comparison should therefore cover all three stages, not just whether a bank connects.
A lower software charge may be good value, but any separately required annual-return service belongs in the total. A more expensive product may also be sensible if it includes work the user otherwise needs to buy.
Choose software by the work it needs to do
Start with your actual income sources and records. A sole trade, a UK property business and foreign property can involve different requirements. A product suitable for one set of circumstances is not automatically suitable for every annual-return item you might have.
HMRC's software guidance allows different approaches, including software connected to existing spreadsheets. Check the complete workflow: importing or recording transactions, reviewing the quarterly summary, submitting it, making corrections and completing the annual return.
Try a representative sample that includes a refund, a private transaction, a cash item and an awkward bank description. Ask how the system handles a missing period and how you export records if you leave. These questions are more informative than a long feature list.
Software support and professional tax advice are different services. Confirm who answers each kind of question, when help is available and what the quoted fee covers. Avona.app's entry-level self-service price is £15/month; professional services and additional product capabilities should be checked against the current scope rather than assumed to be included.
A review that checks more than the total
Start with coverage: the correct person, business and period, plus all relevant accounts and cash records. Then look at completeness. A feed can be connected today while still missing an earlier week. Confirm the earliest and latest transactions against the source.
Next, inspect unusual items. Large transfers, loan receipts, refunds, net settlements and private purchases often need more context than a bank description provides. Check for duplicate imports where a statement overlaps a live feed. An automatic warning is useful evidence to investigate, not proof that the entry must be removed.
Finally, review category totals. A category unexpectedly showing zero, a large increase or a negative amount deserves an explanation. You do not have to make every annual tax adjustment at this stage, but you should understand the records behind the summary you approve.
HMRC explains what quarterly updates contain. Keep the approved version and the resulting acknowledgement together. If something later changes, correct the source record and use the software's supported update process so you can explain which figures are current.
Where this fits into Making Tax Digital
For 2026/27, the first mandatory phase generally covers individuals whose combined qualifying self-employment and property income was more than £50,000 in 2024/25, subject to exemptions. Qualifying income normally means income before expenses. It is a different figure from taxable profit. Check the qualifying-income rules.
Once within MTD, keep the required digital records and send quarterly summaries for each relevant business. The summaries are cumulative from the start of the reporting year. They do not contain your entire personal tax position, and sending one does not itself create a quarterly tax-payment demand.
HMRC does not require accounting or tax adjustments before each quarterly update. Those adjustments and the other information needed for the annual return still have to be completed at the appropriate stage. Keep a review list so a matter deferred until year end is not forgotten. Read HMRC's quarterly-update guidance.
Software can organise the information, but the business facts remain essential. Review the figures you approve rather than assuming that a successful import has also settled every tax question.
Make the decision with a real sample
Use a representative month, ask about any unsupported income and record the complete annual price. Choose the product you can review confidently. Avona.app's entry-level self-service price is £15/month, with professional support available under a separately agreed Concierge scope.
Take the next step
Avona.app offers a self-service route from £15/month. Bring your records together, review the figures and choose a workflow that fits your business. For professional help, discuss the scope and total price of Avona Concierge, managed by chartered accountants, before choosing a service.