Making Tax Digital · Sole traders
Two weeks before an MTD deadline: starting a digital-record catch-up
ONLY£15A MONTHIf your records are not ready two weeks before a deadline, begin by identifying the missing sources and access steps.
If your records are not ready two weeks before a deadline, begin by identifying the missing sources and access steps. A structured catch-up plan can reduce uncertainty quickly. The amount of work depends on the actual backlog, so avoid promises that every account can be reconstructed in minutes.
Use the first days to establish coverage
Confirm the relevant tax year, business and reporting calendar. Check MTD status and software authorisation. List all bank accounts, cash records, agents and payment providers, then collect the required historical data.
Do not assume a new bank connection retrieves everything from the start of the year. Check its earliest transaction and fill gaps through the supported import or entry process. Review overlaps so historical files do not duplicate live-feed records.
Reserve time for reconciliation and questions
Explain transfers, loans, private spending and net settlements. Request missing documents promptly and keep a short exception list. If professional help is needed, provide a clear description of the backlog and confirm availability and scope.
The first 2026/27 deadline was 7 August 2026. Use the actual deadline for the update now being handled rather than treating an old two-week countdown as current. If already late, the work still needs completing.
Worked example: a partial bank import
A business connects its account and sees records from June onwards, but the first standard period begins in April. It imports the missing April and May history, then checks the June overlap.
Only after coverage is complete does it rely on the quarterly totals. The connected status alone would have concealed two missing months.
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.
Understand the first-year concession
HMRC states that there are no penalties for missing quarterly-update deadlines for the 2026/27 tax year. That concession does not remove the digital-record or quarterly-reporting obligations, and it does not make all tax returns and payments penalty-free. Read the precise penalty guidance.
Outstanding quarterly reporting must be dealt with before completing the relevant annual return. However, a missed August 2026 update should not be described as an automatic penalty on the separate 2025/26 return due in January 2027. The 2026/27 annual-return deadline is January 2028.
After the first-year concession, the points rules apply to missed quarterly deadlines as described by HMRC. Do not assume that multiple businesses create multiple points at the same deadline. Annual-return rules, late-payment penalties and interest require their own checks.
If you have fallen behind, establish what is outstanding and work through the supported catch-up process. Keep evidence of technical problems and contact the appropriate support team with the business, period and error details. The useful next step is a complete record and an accepted update, rather than guessing what a generic warning might mean.
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.
Finish with an accepted update and a maintenance routine
Complete the review, submit through the supported route and retain the result. Start a recurring record check for the next period immediately. Catch-up is more useful when it also prevents the same missing-source problem from returning.
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.