7 steps to prepare for Self Assessment with Tide Accounting

As a sole trader, knowing that Self Assessment is around the corner doesn’t have to fill you with stress. Our embedded accounting tool, Tide Accounting, is here to help you get the job done quickly and easily!

It works by syncing to your Tide bank account and automatically reconciling your transactions, so everything is neatly organised in one place and ready for you to review ahead of tax season.

For businesses with multiple business bank accounts, our new accounting plans Accounting Extra and Admin Extra offer the extra flexibility you need. Automatically sync your financial data and have everything centralised, for a complete overview of your finances. Learn more about our accounting plans.

Now that you know how Tide Accounting can simplify your Self Assessment process, let’s break down the steps you’ll need to take to get it done right:

Table of contents:

1. Set up Government Gateway
2. Understand costs you can claim
3. Reconcile your transactions
4. Capture ad hoc transactions
5. Review your bookkeeping
6. Download your Profit & Loss report
7. File your Self Assessment

7 steps to get you ready for your Self Assessment:

1. Set up your Government Gateway Account

Get started by ensuring you can log into Government Gateway or set up your account if you don’t have one.

2. Understand costs you can claim

Making the most of your allowable expenses can help reduce your tax bill, so make sure to read up on what costs you can claim to reduce your taxable profit.

3. Reconcile transactions

Your Tide transactions are automatically reconciled to save you time. To connect other business bank accounts and get a complete picture of your finances, you must be subscribed to our Accounting Extra or Admin Extra plans.

4. Capture ad hoc transactions

Create a new transaction record to capture any transactions that happened outside Tide or other connected business bank accounts, such as cash payments or credit card payments.

5. Review your bookkeeping

Tide saves you time by automatically categorising your transactions. Review outstanding bookkeeping tasks by checking your Bookkeeping Score for the relevant tax year and completing any remaining actions. Make sure you check your categorised transactions to ensure everything is accurate.

6. Download your Profit & Loss report

With your financial records up to date, it’s a good time to review your Profit & Loss report to understand your income, expenses and profit for the tax year.

7. File your Self Assessment

Log in to Government Gateway to complete your online return form. Tide Accounting has calculated estimates of your income and expenses, ready for you to copy and paste into the HMRC website.

Wrapping up

With this guide in hand, you’ll be able to tackle your sole trader Self Assessment with more confidence than ever before! The right tools, like Tide Accounting and our other accounting plans, can make all the difference, so you can focus on what really matters – doing what you love and keeping your business running smoothly.