Free MTD spreadsheet template pack
Yes, you can stay on a spreadsheet under Making Tax Digital. These free templates give you income and expense sheets pre-mapped to HMRC's quarterly update categories, ready to connect to HMRC through bridging software. Enter your email and download them now.
What you get
- A self-employment workbook and a property workbook, with UK and foreign rentals on separate sheets.
- Every category column is one HMRC quarterly-update category, using HMRC's own names, so your totals line up with the boxes in your software.
- An example row and an automatic totals row on every sheet.
- An instructions tab, and a mapping tab that shows each column against its HMRC category and source.
- Formulas only, no macros. Opens in Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice.
How the spreadsheet route works
MTD needs your records kept digitally. A spreadsheet is fine, as long as it is connected to HMRC through bridging software using a digital link. The bridging software reads the category totals from your sheet and sends them to HMRC, so you never retype figures by hand. Our guides on whether spreadsheets are allowed and what bridging software is cover the rules in full.
Bridging software that works with spreadsheets
Options include 123 Sheets, AbraTax and GoFile. We do not show prices here because they change. Compare current prices, and how each one fits your situation, on the Software Chooser, where genuinely free routes come first.
What these templates assume
- They cover the quarterly-update categories only. Year-end adjustments and allowances are handled when you finalise your figures in your software.
- They use the full HMRC categories. If your turnover is below £90,000 you may be able to use a simpler income or expense split, which the instructions tab explains.
- You will submit through bridging software or an app that connects to HMRC. The templates are your records, not the filing route.