Making Tax Digital · Landlords
Managing several bank accounts across trades and property businesses
ONLY£15A MONTHOne person can have several accounts and more than one business.
One person can have several accounts and more than one business. The records need to distinguish both: an account is a source of transactions, while a business is the activity being reported. Moving money between accounts should not create a second sale or expense.
Map accounts to the activities they serve
List each current account, savings account, payment provider and cash record. Note whether it serves one trade, several activities or mixed personal use. A dedicated account can simplify the mapping, but the actual transactions still need review.
Avona's published pricing information describes multiple cashbooks. Confirm the current support for your particular combination of trades and property income before configuring the workflow. Product access to multiple accounts does not automatically establish the tax allocation.
Record transfers on both sides
Match transfers between accounts owned by the same business and distinguish owner introductions or drawings. Where money moves between different activities, retain the explanation and appropriate records for each side.
If one account receives income from two trades, allocate each receipt using the supporting facts. The bank account name alone cannot decide which business earned the money. Separate UK and foreign property reporting as required.
Worked example: a tax savings account
A sole trader transfers £1,000 from the trading current account to their own tax savings account. The transfer is not an allowable business expense, and the receiving account should not record £1,000 new sales.
The accounts reconcile through a transfer. Any interest earned has its own personal tax treatment and should not be confused with the original movement of funds.
Reconcile receipts, not just bank payouts
A bank deposit is not always the original sale. A platform, card processor or agent may deduct fees before sending you the balance. Keep the statement showing the gross amount, deductions, refunds and final payout, then explain the difference in your records.
Cash needs the same attention. Record customer cash when received under the cash basis, even if some of it is spent before the rest reaches the bank. Banking cash already recorded as a sale is a transfer between your cash and bank records, not another sale.
HMRC's record-keeping guidance covers income and business expenses. The useful practical test is whether another person could follow a payment from the original sale to the amount received without counting it twice.
Do not use bank feeds as a reason to ignore payment accounts, credit cards, cash or payments made personally for the business. List every place where business money passes, choose the source for each type of transaction and review transfers between those sources. This turns reconciliation into a repeatable check rather than a search through several unrelated statements.
A review that checks more than the total
Start with coverage: the correct person, business and period, plus all relevant accounts and cash records. Then look at completeness. A feed can be connected today while still missing an earlier week. Confirm the earliest and latest transactions against the source.
Next, inspect unusual items. Large transfers, loan receipts, refunds, net settlements and private purchases often need more context than a bank description provides. Check for duplicate imports where a statement overlaps a live feed. An automatic warning is useful evidence to investigate, not proof that the entry must be removed.
Finally, review category totals. A category unexpectedly showing zero, a large increase or a negative amount deserves an explanation. You do not have to make every annual tax adjustment at this stage, but you should understand the records behind the summary you approve.
HMRC explains what quarterly updates contain. Keep the approved version and the resulting acknowledgement together. If something later changes, correct the source record and use the software's supported update process so you can explain which figures are current.
Where this fits into Making Tax Digital
For 2026/27, the first mandatory phase generally covers individuals whose combined qualifying self-employment and property income was more than £50,000 in 2024/25, subject to exemptions. Qualifying income normally means income before expenses. It is a different figure from taxable profit. Check the qualifying-income rules.
Once within MTD, keep the required digital records and send quarterly summaries for each relevant business. The summaries are cumulative from the start of the reporting year. They do not contain your entire personal tax position, and sending one does not itself create a quarterly tax-payment demand.
HMRC does not require accounting or tax adjustments before each quarterly update. Those adjustments and the other information needed for the annual return still have to be completed at the appropriate stage. Keep a review list so a matter deferred until year end is not forgotten. Read HMRC's quarterly-update guidance.
Software can organise the information, but the business facts remain essential. Review the figures you approve rather than assuming that a successful import has also settled every tax question.
Check completeness by source and by business
First confirm that all accounts are represented. Then confirm that each business's income and costs are correctly allocated and its relevant update is complete. This two-part check prevents a connected account from masking an omitted activity.
Take the next step
Avona.app offers a self-service route from £15/month. Bring your records together, review the figures and choose a workflow that fits your business. For professional help, discuss the scope and total price of Avona Concierge, managed by chartered accountants, before choosing a service.