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 sign up for Making Tax Digital through your Government Gateway account. HMRC has a sign-up service at gov.uk. This is a one-time step.

Note: it can take up to 72 hours for HMRC to process your sign-up. Don't leave this to the deadline day.

Step 2: Connect to HMRC through flonancial

Log into flonancial and click "Connect HMRC" on your dashboard. You'll be redirected to HMRC's website where you grant flonancial permission to submit on your behalf. This uses HMRC's official OAuth process, 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 template), 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.

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.