How to Submit Your First MTD Quarterly Update (Step by Step)

Your first MTD quarterly submission can feel daunting. Here's exactly what happens, step by step, so there are no surprises.

Before you start

Make sure you have:

• A Government Gateway account (the same one you use for Self Assessment)
• Your National Insurance number
• Your spreadsheet with up-to-date income and expenses
• A flonancial account (free to create)

Step 1: Sign up to HMRC for MTD

Before you can submit through any software, you need to be signed up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax with HMRC. It's a one-time step, separate from Self Assessment, and HMRC may already have signed you up. Our sign-up guide walks through it, including the passport or driving licence check HMRC now uses. Don't leave it to deadline day.

Step 2: Connect to HMRC through flonancial

Log into flonancial, enter your National Insurance number and click "Save and connect to HMRC". You'll go to HMRC's own sign-in page to give flonancial permission to submit on your behalf. This uses HMRC's official process, so we never see your password.

Once connected, flonancial automatically imports your business details from HMRC.

Step 3: Upload your spreadsheet

Go to your business page and find the quarter you want to submit. Click "Upload & submit" and either drag your spreadsheet file in or click to browse.

Your file is processed entirely in your browser, it never touches our servers.

Step 4: Pick your figures

If your spreadsheet has a flo tab (from our free simple template for a business or property source with annual turnover below £90,000), your figures are read automatically. Otherwise, you'll see your spreadsheet displayed as a grid. Click the cell containing your total turnover, then click the cell containing your total expenses.

Landlords are also asked about residential finance costs, such as mortgage interest: pick the cell with that total, or confirm you have none. Keep it out of your ordinary expenses.

Step 5: Review and confirm

You'll see a confirmation screen showing your total income and expenses (other business income defaults to zero). Check the numbers match what you expect.

Remember: these should be cumulative year-to-date figures, not just this quarter's numbers.

Step 6: Submit

Tick the confirmation box and click "Submit to HMRC". The submission typically takes a few seconds. You'll see a confirmation with an HMRC correlation ID, that's your proof of submission.

What happens next?

Your figures are now with HMRC. You can verify this by checking your HMRC online account. Flonancial also keeps a record in your submission history.

Repeat this process each quarter. The whole thing takes about two minutes once you've done it before.