Business owner reveals simple change in atx she’s made to save time and money and is calling on others to follow her lead.
Business owner Helene Fleming says she has saved an estimated 40 hours annually by switching to digital tax, after years spent doing financial admin by hand.
Helene, who is in her fifties, and has run her holistic health business in the Highlands since 2008, says she found it a real struggle to keep her business running smoothly while also remaining tax compliant.
As a business owner Helene has to wear many hats, as she has to do it all, and admits she “freaked out” when she learned that Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax was to be rolled out next year.
But she has since made it her mission to empower other sole traders by letting them know about the benefits – saying digital tax will enable her to claw back an entire week of time every year.
Helene said: “I used to do all my tax returns by hand – I’d sit down a couple of times a month and work out all my totals, which would total around three hours each month.
“And then at the end of the year I’d take another half a day to go over all of my figures. It was very time-consuming and took valuable time away from my business.
“Now I can just input my data into the digital software every week – in fact every day if I choose to. The app has made this process very simple – it takes minutes, not hours, and it’s not at all onerous.
“Going digital will save me around 40 hours a year – which will have a huge impact on my business because I could teach or do all sorts of other work in that time.”
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is to be rolled out in April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with an annual gross income of over £50,000, who will be required to comply with the new system.
It comes as new research from technology company Sage shows sole traders are currently spending up to six hours submitting tax returns manually – with one in three still using pen and paper.
Almost 70% still complete their Self-Assessment tax return manually, and only 10% use cloud-based accounting software.
And Helene admitted she was among them before she learned about the impending changes to the tax system in June this year – from a post she spotted on Facebook.
She went on: “I saw something about Making Tax Digital on Facebook, of all places – there was a post asking, ‘Are you ready for MTD for Income Tax?’.
“My answer was, ‘Absolutely not – does this apply to me?’. Then I learned it didn’t at that stage but it will in the future, and I did totally freak out.
“I was worried that it was going to be very consuming, that I was going to be having to relearn the system and that it was just going to take so much of my time.
“But then getting on board was actually really straight-forward. It took me a while to transfer my data onto the software, but now it’s just really simple.
“If somebody pays me, I go: ‘Ok, just put it in the app’ and it’s just done. And then doing my tax returns will be simple because it’s all there in the app and in the software.
“The time I’ve got back is precious, because as a sole trader I don’t have enough hours in the day.
“And I’ve also gained the peace of mind of knowing that it’s not all down to me to add everything up.
“I know the app and software can do the sums and it will be right, especially as it is so easy to keep a close eye on everything from adding transactions to bank reconciliation.”
The Sage research also showed that only 30% of businesses are aware of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, ahead of the roll-out in five months’ time.
And Helene says she is keen to make other people aware of the upcoming changes. She said: “I would say to people who have been unaware of MTD, or are worried about it, that they should try Sage’s free accounting tool and see if they like it.
“They could always keep doing their books in their original manner as well, and if they don’t like it, hop off. But honestly, I think when people taste it, they will not want to go back.
“Most sole traders spend so much time trying to recall: ‘What did I do then? How much did I get paid for that? How did they pay me? Did they pay me cash?’ You spend a lot of time cross referencing your bank and your calendar.
“However well you know your clients, the situation still demands that you sit down and recall all this information – but with the app and bank reconciliation, you just enter it, and that it takes you 30 seconds. You don’t even have to reach for your physical books. The paid version of Sage Individual is awesome too. I can also invoice my clients, and upload all my receipts to match, as you get a fairly big cloud with it.
“All that not only gives you back your time, but takes a lot of your mental load as well.”
