Many accountants and bookkeepers have been working hard to get ready for the launch of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax & Self-Assessment (MTD for ITSA), only to hear the announcement at the end of 2022 that it has been delayed for a further 2 years.
So, what’s your new plan?
Option 1 - Forgot all about MTD for ITSA until nearer the new 2026 launch date?
Option 2 - Keep the ball rolling, and continue to move your clients onto MTD software and apps to help them handle their income and expenses more efficiently?
Forward thinking accounting and bookkeeping practices may well decide to continue the digital rollout to clients, in which case, these seven steps to MTD for ITSA success may come in handy.
Create A Client Communication Plan
Be Prepared To Answer Client Questions
Agree How You’ll Deal With Software Queries
Decide Your Plans About Software Set Up
Review Your Client Packages
Consider Your Team’s Workflow
Measure Your Practice’s MTD Success.
Continue With Your Client Communication Plan
Although MTD for ITSA was promoted, there were probably still many business owners who hadn’t fully grasped the impact of it for their own business. The delayed deadline gives accountants and bookkeepers more time to brief clients and prepare them for the future.
Whether it’s posting news on your website, doing regular blogs, sharing news about MTD for ITSA on social media, running seminars or webinars or just talking to clients individually, remember to add regular MTD for ITSA news to your marketing activity. After all, whilst April 2026 seems a long time away now, it will be here before we know it!
Have More Time To Answer Client Questions
Clients will continue to have questions about how MTD for ITSA affects them. It’s worth taking time to think about how you will deal with these enquiries now, because, as the date for MTD for ITSA looms nearer, the number of enquiries will no doubt increase.
Agree How You’ll Deal With Software Queries
As a trusted advisor, your clients may look to you, as their accountant/bookkeeper for recommendations about which is the best MTD for ITSA software for them to use for their business. You may already have a chosen software you recommend, or you may need to do further research to investigate the options available and keep up-to-date with the latest tech releases. Decide your chosen route in advance so you can brief your team, or maybe consider creating some kind of software guide for clients if you think that might help?
A new app that has been designed to help sole traders and landlords with ‘Making Tax Digital for ITSA’, helping them to reduce the amount of time spent dealing with financial paperwork, receipts and invoices so they can spend more time growing their businesses is Kletta. Find out more at www.kletta.co.uk
Decide Your Plans About Software Set Up
You’ll have tech savvy clients, people who hate tech and those in-between! As a result, some clients will need more handholding when it comes to moving their accounts over to MTD for ITSA compliant accounting software than others.
At the very minimum you may want to offer to set up client’s MTD software accounts for them initially, to ensure each account gets created correctly. You may also want to consider offering training on some of the apps and systems, to help clients make the most of the features on offer and use the systems correctly – in which case you’ll need to decide whether you have the skills and capacity for this in-house, or if you’d need to outsource.
It’s worth thinking about this now so you’ve got a working system in place as April 2026 draws nearer.
Review Your Client Packages
MTD for ITSA will change how accountants and bookkeepers work, both in terms of the way work is handled, as well as how much work is involved. Whilst the amount of work on returns may increase due to submissions becoming quarterly, MTD accounting software should help to take some of the strain and help clients keep on top of their receipts and invoices better.
These changes may mean you need to review your current package offers, to see if any changes will be required with the onset of MTD for ITSA. For example, you may want to think about offering a software and service package to provide sole traders with additional support whilst increasing practice revenue. For example, the Kletta app offers great opportunities for accountant and bookkeeper businesses to benefit by building the app into their service packages.
Consider Your Team’s Workflow
The change from one self-assessment per year to quarterly reporting dates culminating in a year-end final declaration will mean that how you’ve worked before MTD for ITSA will need reviewing. These changes may affect the hours your team work, how many staff and contractors you need and how you plan the work schedule. Starting to think about this now, when there’s plenty of time before MTD for ITSA starts will definitely benefit your practice going forward.
Measure Your Practice’s MTD Success
It’s worth keeping a check on where your individual clients are at regarding moving to MTD for ITSA to keep track of how your overall client base is looking as the MTD for ITSA deadline draws nearer.
Find out more about Kletta solution for Accountants & Bookkeers
Find out more about how Kletta could help your sole trader and landlord clients with ‘Making Tax Digital for ITSA’, but also help accountants and bookkeepers make Making Tax Digital more manageable too.
The app can help sole traders reduce the amount of time spent dealing with financial paperwork, receipts and invoices so they can spend more time growing their businesses, with helpful tools including receipt capturing, mileage tracking, in-app filing and reporting, as well as the ability to take contactless card payments.
And for accountants and bookkeepers, the app can help with some of the MTD for ITSA strain, resulting in there being less manual work for accountants and bookkeepers to do for each client, allowing them to serve more clients and grow their businesses too!
If you’d like to know more, just send us message: support@kletta.co.uk.
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