Setting Up Making Tax Digital

Connecting Accounted to HMRC

Before Accounted can submit quarterly updates and tax filings on your behalf, you need to authorise the connection to HMRC. This is a one-time setup that takes about five minutes.

Before you start

Make sure you have:

• A Government Gateway account — This is the login you use for HMRC online services. If you don't have one, you can create one at gov.uk.
• Your UTR entered in Accounted — Go to Settings > Business Details and ensure your Unique Taxpayer Reference is saved.
• Your National Insurance number — HMRC will use this to verify your identity.
• MTD enrolment — You must be enrolled for MTD ITSA with HMRC. If you haven't enrolled yet, you can do so through your Government Gateway account or by asking your accountant.

Step-by-step connection

1. Go to Settings > HMRC Connection in your Accounted dashboard.
2. Click "Connect to HMRC" — You'll be redirected to the HMRC authorisation page.
3. Sign in to Government Gateway — Enter your Government Gateway user ID and password. This is handled entirely by HMRC — Accounted never sees your login details.
4. Grant authorisation — HMRC will ask you to confirm that Accounted can submit Making Tax Digital returns on your behalf. Review the permissions and click "Grant authority".
5. You'll be redirected back to Accounted — The connection status will show as "Connected" with a green indicator.

Testing your connection

After connecting, Accounted will run a quick test to confirm everything is working properly. You'll see one of the following statuses:

• Connected — Everything is working. You're ready to submit.
• Pending verification — HMRC is still processing the authorisation. This usually resolves within a few minutes.
• Action required — There's an issue that needs your attention, such as a mismatched UTR or missing MTD enrolment.

If the test fails, the most common causes are:

• Your UTR in Accounted doesn't match the one HMRC has on file
• You haven't enrolled for MTD ITSA with HMRC yet
• Your Government Gateway account isn't linked to your Self Assessment record

Authorisation renewal

HMRC authorisations last for 18 months. Accounted will notify you well in advance when renewal is needed, and the process is the same as the initial setup — just a quick redirect to Government Gateway.

Revoking access

You can disconnect Accounted from HMRC at any time from Settings > HMRC Connection. You can also revoke access directly through your HMRC online account under "Manage your tax agents". Note that if you revoke access, Accounted will no longer be able to submit quarterly updates or filings on your behalf until you reconnect.

What happens to your data?

Connecting to HMRC allows Accounted to submit returns. It does not give HMRC access to your Accounted data beyond what's included in your submissions. Your transaction details, receipt images, and bookkeeping notes remain private.