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Free self-employed spreadsheet template for Making Tax Digital

Record your takings and costs in Excel as you go, then bring the whole file into Quarterwise when a quarterly update is due.

Free self-employed spreadsheet template for Making Tax Digital

A lot of sole traders run their books from a spreadsheet, and Making Tax Digital doesn’t stop that. HMRC wants four updates a year sent from software. This template gets the spreadsheet into the software in one upload, with nothing retyped.

Download the template (Excel)

It’s free and needs no account.

How it’s laid out

Five columns: Date, Description, Money in, Money out and Category. The example rows show a few weeks of a small business, with an invoice paid, materials bought, a phone bill, fuel and an accountant’s fee. Delete them and add your own, one payment per row, with dates typed the UK way (06/04/2027).

Put what a customer paid in Money in, in full. If a platform or payment provider took a cut before paying you, the cut goes on its own row in Money out.

A self-employed decorator checking her phone outside a house she is working on

Categories

The Category dropdown has HMRC’s self-employment categories, worded exactly as Quarterwise words them, so each row lands in the right place without any matching: sales, other business income, and the eleven expense headings from cost of goods to accountancy fees. Leave a row blank if you’re unsure and pick the category in Quarterwise after importing.

With turnover under £90,000 you can send HMRC your expenses as one total instead of by category. You still keep a record of each cost, and the categories are worth filling in anyway. They show you where the money goes, and they’re ready if your turnover grows past the limit.

Subcontractors under CIS: the tax a contractor takes off your pay isn’t in the dropdown. Put the gross amount in Money in, then record the deduction in Quarterwise beside that income. How CIS works under MTD.

Importing it

  1. Save the file, as Excel or CSV.
  2. In Quarterwise, open Imports and upload it.
  3. Choose your business.
  4. Check the preview, then confirm.

Quarterwise recognises the template, so there are no columns to match. Keep one file going through the year and upload it each quarter: rows already imported are skipped and only new ones come in.

Landlords have their own version with the property categories. If you’re both, use one file for each and choose where each goes when you upload it.

Common questions

Is the template free?
Yes, and you can download it without an account. The Quarterwise free plan covers one property or your self-employment, including filing the quarterly updates and the tax return to HMRC.
Can I keep using my own spreadsheet?
Yes. Quarterwise imports any .csv or .xlsx file with a date and an amount. The first time, you say which column is which and check a preview before anything is saved.
Is a spreadsheet allowed under Making Tax Digital?
Yes. HMRC accepts records kept in a spreadsheet as long as the figures reach your MTD software digitally. Importing the file does that.

Last updated 31 October 2026. Quarterwise is software, not a tax adviser — if you’re unsure how the rules apply to you, check with HMRC or a qualified accountant.

Related guides

Self-employed expenses under MTD: which category do your costs go in?Your quarterly updates send HMRC your business costs grouped into set categories. Here is what goes where, what you cannot claim, and what to do if you put something in the wrong place.Making Tax Digital for the self-employed: what changes and whenIf you work for yourself, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax changes how you keep records and report to HMRC, though the tax you pay is worked out the same way. Here is who is affected, what you send and when, and what happens if you are late.Consolidated expenses: sending HMRC one expenses totalIf your self-employed turnover is under £90,000, your quarterly updates can show your expenses as a single figure instead of splitting them into categories.

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