Do I need MTD software if I use a spreadsheet?
If you already track your income and expenses in a spreadsheet, you don’t necessarily have to throw that away, but a spreadsheet alone doesn’t satisfy Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Here’s the distinction that actually matters.
Digital records vs. digital submission
MTD requires two separate things:
- Digital record-keeping: your income and expenses need to exist as a digital record, kept up to date (a spreadsheet counts).
- Digital submission: that record needs to be sent to HMRC via software that talks directly to HMRC’s systems, without manual re-typing.
A plain spreadsheet handles the first requirement but not the second. That’s the gap “bridging software” fills: it reads figures from your existing spreadsheet and submits them to HMRC in the right format, without you re-entering anything.
When bridging software makes sense
Bridging software suits you if:
- Your spreadsheet already works well for you and you don’t want to change habits
- You mainly need the submission step handled
- You’re comfortable doing your own categorisation and totals
Typical bridging tools run from around £30–£90 a year for an individual.
When it doesn’t
Bridging software won’t help with the parts a spreadsheet was never doing for you: sorting expenses into HMRC’s categories, catching miscategorised transactions, or showing you where you stand before you submit. If you want that handled rather than done manually, that’s what dedicated MTD software (like Simple MTD) is for.
A middle path
You can also import a spreadsheet or bank CSV straight into software like Simple MTD, get automatic category suggestions, and keep the manual entry you’re used to for anything it misses, without needing separate bridging software at all.
See our full guide to MTD categories for how everyday spreadsheet line items map to what HMRC actually wants.