Simple Digital Bookkeeping for UK Self-Employed
What is MTDify?
Manage Transations Daily (MTD)ify is a self-hosted bookkeeping application designed for UK self-employed people and small businesses who want a simple way to keep organised digital records. It replaces spreadsheets, paper notes, and scattered documents with one clean, structured system you control either locally using http://12.7.0.0.1:8000 or via self-hosting on your own subdomain.
Unlike cloud accounting software built for accountants or larger companies, MTDify focuses purely on day-to-day bookkeeping: logging income and expenses, storing receipts, tracking categories, and generating useful summaries. It is intentionally simple, and built for real-world everyday users.
What MTDify Is Not
MTDify is not HMRC-connected software and does not submit tax returns, VAT returns, or quarterly updates.
It is digital bookkeeping only. Its purpose is helping professionals outside of the MTD bracket stay organised, accurate, and ready, whether you complete your own tax return or hand your books to an accountant.
What Digital Bookkeeping Means
Digital bookkeeping simply means keeping your business records in a digital format rather than relying on paper or spreadsheets. This includes:
- Recording income and expenses
- Storing receipts digitally
- Organising categories
- Tracking totals throughout the year
- Keeping clear notes about what each transaction was for
Whether you are managing your own business records, or just want to be more organised, digital bookkeeping gives you a more consistent, reliable way to monitor your business finances.
Who MTDify Is For
MTDify is designed for:
- Self-employed developers or sysadmins
- Freelancers and contractors with an understanding of local development
- Developers switching away from spreadsheets
- Users who want a simple tool without unnecessary features
If you want a clean, simple, private bookkeeping system without monthly subscriptions and without accountancy jargon, MTDify fits your needs.
What MTDify Does for You
Digital Record-Keeping
Every income or expense you enter is stored digitally in one organised place. You can include the date, amount, category, client or supplier name, description, and attach photos of receipts if you use the Local Edition. This keeps your financial records tidy and easy to review.
Automatic Quarter Calculations
The Local Edition automatically assigns every transaction to the correct tax quarter based on its date. This is useful whether you're preparing for MTD or simply like seeing your year split into meaningful periods.
Clear Dashboard Summaries
The dashboard shows totals for income, expenses, and profit. You can view quarter-by-quarter or year-to-date, helping you understand your financial position at a glance. No clutter, no complex accounting terminology.
Category Organisation
MTDify includes clear categories for income and expenses. This helps with accurate record-keeping, clearer reports, and easier conversations with accountants if you use one at year-end.
Multi-Year Support
You can maintain your books across multiple years and easily switch between them. Useful when reviewing past performance or continuing bookkeeping into the next tax year.
Useful Exports
The Local Edition includes CSV export so you can give your accountant a clean file or import your data elsewhere if needed.
A Practical Example
Imagine you are a freelance software developer earning £20,000 a year.
Daily habit: When a client pays you, you open MTDify and record the transaction — date, client name, amount. When you buy software, equipment, travel tickets, or printing supplies, you log those too.
Receipt storage: You take a photo of receipts and attach them to the relevant transaction
Quarterly review: At the end of each quarter, you look at your dashboard and check everything is recorded correctly. The quarter breakdown shows total income, total expenses, and your profit for that period.
Year-end: When you or your accountant prepare your tax return, everything is already organised. You can export a CSV, filter by category, and see your totals instantly.
Instead of hunting through spreadsheets or paper, your books are complete and up to date.
How MTDify Helps Your Business
Saves Time: Recording transactions takes seconds, and keeping receipts digitally means less paperwork. Small daily habits prevent the big year-end backlog.
Reduces Stress: Your books stay organised throughout the year instead of becoming a last-minute headache in January.
Supports Accuracy: Digital record-keeping helps avoid missed transactions, lost receipts, and incorrect totals.
Helps Planning: Quarterly and year-to-date totals help you understand your profit, spending patterns, and seasonal trends.
Fully Private: Everything stays local on your computer. No online accounts. No data shared with third parties.
Getting Started
Manage Transactions Daily (MTD) is an open-source project and is free to download from GitHub which also contains the documentation.
https://github.com/djangify/mtdify
Summary
MTDify is a local-first bookkeeping application built for UK self-employed developers and professionals who want simple, organised financial records without using spreadsheets or cloud accounting systems. It keeps everything tidy throughout the year so you can easily prepare your tax return, understand your business finances, and stay on top of your numbers.
No subscriptions, no complexity - just clean, straightforward bookkeeping tools you control completely on your own machine.
ADDITIONAL READING
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