From paperwork to software, in about six weeks.
A project with an end date rather than a permanent state of upheaval. Set up, a parallel period so nothing gets lost, half an hour of training, and someone reviewing the first quarter with you instead of leaving you to it.
- About six weeks, start to finish
- A parallel period so nothing is lost
- Half an hour of training, genuinely
- Your first quarter reviewed with you
- Ready before Making Tax Digital
Getting off paper without losing a year
A digital switchover is the move from a shoebox, a cashbook or a spreadsheet to software that keeps the record for you. It is a project with a beginning and an end, not a permanent state of upheaval, and it is best done at a year end or a VAT quarter end.
The reason to do it now rather than later is that from April 2026 it stops being optional for sole traders and landlords over £50,000 of qualifying income, and doing it under a deadline is worse than doing it deliberately.
Six weeks, typically
- 1Week one: what you have
Where the records live now, what the last set of accounts said, what is outstanding, and what has to survive the move.
- 2Week two: set up
The ledger opened with your chart of accounts, opening balances from the last accounts, and the bank feed connected.
- 3Week three: your bit
Half an hour showing you receipt capture and invoicing on your phone. That is genuinely the whole of the training for most people.
- 4Weeks four and five: run both
A parallel period where the old way and the new way both run, so any difference gets found while there is still something to compare against.
- 5Week six: switch
The old process stops. We reconcile the first full period and confirm the numbers agree.
- 6After: nobody left to it
The first quarter is reviewed with you rather than handed over. A switchover that is abandoned in month two is worse than one never started.
And what actually happens
- “I am not technical”
- The daily use is photographing a receipt and pressing send. If you can use a phone camera and a banking app, you can use this.
- “I will lose my history”
- Nothing is deleted. Opening balances come from your last filed accounts, and the old records stay exactly where they are — you must keep them for six years anyway.
- “It will cost more every month”
- A software subscription, yes. Against less bookkeeping time, a cheaper year end and no more penalties for late VAT. For most businesses it is net cheaper by the second year.
- “My bank is not supported”
- Every major UK bank has an open banking feed. Where one genuinely does not, a statement import does the same job with one extra step a month.
- “I have not got time right now”
- It is about four hours of your time spread over six weeks. The Making Tax Digital deadlines do not move, and the queue in the year before one is long.
What people ask about digital switchover
When should I do it?
At a year end or a VAT quarter end, and before the Making Tax Digital deadline that applies to you — April 2026 above £50,000 of qualifying income, April 2027 above £30,000, April 2028 above £20,000. Our MTD checker tells you which one you are.
Will you do the bookkeeping afterwards, or will I?
Either. Some clients do their own day-to-day and we review it; some hand it over entirely. The switchover is the same project either way — see cloud bookkeeping for the ongoing version.
What happens to my old records?
They stay yours and they stay where they are. HMRC requires you to keep records for at least six years, and the switchover does not change that.
What if it does not work for me?
That is what the parallel period is for. Running both ways for a month means you find out before the old process has been switched off, not after.
Do I need a new bank account?
No, though a business account genuinely separate from your personal one makes everything downstream easier and is expected if you trade through a company. See business banking.
