Self-employed bookkeepers and freelance accountants spend their working lives helping clients navigate Making Tax Digital, but it's easy to lose track of your own position while focused on everyone else's. If you're self-employed rather than working through your own limited company, your qualifying income for MTD is assessed exactly the same way as any other sole trader: total self-employment income from your most recently filed Self Assessment return.
Most bookkeepers run a mix of ongoing monthly retainer clients (predictable, recurring fees) and one-off project work (year-end tidy-ups, catch-up bookkeeping, VAT return preparation). Many also resell or take a margin on accounting software subscriptions for clients. Under the cash basis, retainer income counts when you're paid each month, and if you're reselling software with a markup, your qualifying income is the amount the client actually pays you, not the wholesale cost you pass through to the software provider.
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Yes, if you're self-employed, your own qualifying income is assessed exactly the same way as any other sole trader, regardless of how well you understand the rules for clients.
No, both combine into the same qualifying income figure. Under the cash basis, retainer payments count when received each month, and project fees count when paid.
The amount the client actually pays you is your qualifying income. What you pass through to the software provider is claimed back as a cost, but doesn't reduce your gross income figure.
Yes, professional body membership and required CPD are normal allowable business expenses.
Yes, anti-money laundering supervision fees required to legally operate as a bookkeeper or accountant are an allowable business expense.