Help Centre

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Step-by-step guides and answers for filing with confidence — Making Tax Digital, Self Assessment, Corporation Tax, VAT and statutory accounts.

MTD ITSA
Getting started with MTD ITSA

What Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is, the four-step setup on your dashboard, and the difference between demo mode and live mode.

2 min read
MTD ITSA
Your details and National Insurance Number

Where your personal details go, and why your National Insurance Number is required before any submission.

1 min read
MTD ITSA
Connecting to HMRC

How to authorise Tax Optimiser to talk to HMRC, the difference between an individual and an agent connection, and when to reconnect.

1 min read
MTD ITSA
Your businesses

How Tax Optimiser retrieves your income sources from HMRC, the three business types, and what each business holds.

1 min read
MTD ITSA
Business settings: accounting type and quarterly periods

The per-business settings that shape how figures are reported: cash or accruals accounting, standard or calendar quarters, and full or consolidated expenses.

2 min read
MTD ITSA
Keeping digital records: the spreadsheet upload

How quarterly figures get into Tax Optimiser: uploading a spreadsheet, the full and consolidated example templates, and mapping your own cells.

2 min read
MTD ITSA
Quarterly updates: sending an update to HMRC

Sending a quarterly update: reading the values, confirming the declaration, and amending a quarter after it has gone.

1 min read
MTD ITSA
Annual adjustments: finishing the year

The end-of-year additions - dividends, foreign income, pensions, reliefs - that complete the year before your tax is worked out.

1 min read
MTD ITSA
Your tax calculation

Asking HMRC to work out the tax on what you have reported, the three kinds of calculation, and how to read the result.

1 min read
MTD ITSA
The final declaration and managing tax years

The once-a-year declaration that crystallises your tax bill, what must be done first, and how to re-open a year to amend it.

1 min read
Corporation Tax
Corporation Tax for charities and CASCs (CT600E)

Set the organisation's Corporation Tax company type to Charity or CASC and the CT600E supplementary page appears, ready to complete and file with the CT600.

3 min read
Partnership Returns (Beta)
Partnership (SA800) returns in Tax Optimiser (beta)

Prepare and file SA800 Partnership Tax Returns for LLP and partnership clients: a six-step wizard, self-calculating boxes, the official form as a PDF, and direct HMRC filing.

2 min read
Partnership Returns (Beta)
Getting started with SA800 returns

Where the LLP (SA800) menu appears, what the returns list shows, and what New Partnership Period prefills for you.

2 min read
Partnership Returns (Beta)
SA800 details, declarations and the page 2 questions

The Details step: partnership name and live-checked UTR, boxes 3.1/3.2, period dates, the agent and amended-return declarations, and the page 2 questions.

2 min read
Partnership Returns (Beta)
SA800 trading income and expenses

The full SA800 income and expenses page: entering income and expense totals, capital allowances, and how the calculated boxes 3.65 and 3.73 drive the rest of the return.

2 min read
Partnership Returns (Beta)
The SA800 balance sheet

Boxes 3.99 to 3.115: assets, liabilities and the partners' accounts, with all three totals calculated and a built-in way to check the sheet balances.

1 min read
Partnership Returns (Beta)
The Partnership Statement: partners and profit shares

Adding partners, boxes 6-12, entering each partner's share, and the live checks: the allocation-vs-return warning and the UTR check that prevents error 8205.

2 min read
Partnership Returns (Beta)
SA800 supplementary pages (SA801-SA804)

Land & Property, Foreign, Chargeable Assets and Savings on one screen - each page files only when it carries figures, and SA801's net position calculates itself.

1 min read
Partnership Returns (Beta)
Reviewing, printing and submitting the SA800

The review summary and its two warnings, printing the official SA800 form, what Submit really does (sign, send, poll), and handling rejections and amendments.

2 min read
Self Assessment (Beta)
Self Assessment tax returns in Tax Optimiser (beta)

Prepare and file full SA100 Self Assessment returns for clients not in MTD — with a live tax calculation — from inside Tax Optimiser. Beta access via support@taxoptimiser.co.uk.

2 min read
Self Assessment (Beta)
Getting started with a client's return

Opening a client's first Self Assessment year, the pre-filled personal details, choosing the return's pages with Add Section, and the save-as-you-go model.

2 min read
Self Assessment (Beta)
Entering income: employment, self-employment, property and investments

Entering the return's income pages: multiple employments, self-employment short and full pages, UK property, and interest and dividends — with the HMRC box references on every field.

2 min read
Self Assessment (Beta)
Reliefs, student loans and the rest of the return

Pension contributions, Gift Aid, Marriage Allowance, the High Income Child Benefit Charge, student loan plans, and the return's closing boxes.

2 min read
Self Assessment (Beta)
The tax calculation and the SA302 PDF

The live SA302-style calculation: the staged statement, the band-by-band breakdown, PAYE coding adjustments and the claim to reduce payments on account, warnings, and the downloadable SA302 PDF.

3 min read
Self Assessment (Beta)
Submitting the return to HMRC

Filing a prepared return: the five pre-flight checks, the declaration, what happens during submission, and reading the submission history.

2 min read
Self Assessment (Beta)
Amending an accepted return

Accepted years lock; Reopen for amendment files a replacement return. The amendment deadline, rejections, and chasing stuck submissions.

1 min read
Self Assessment (Beta)
The supplementary pages: partnership, foreign income, trusts, capital gains and more

Partnership shares, foreign income with FTCR, trust and estate income, capital gains, residence status and the SA101 pages — how each supplementary schedule is entered and calculated.

4 min read
Integrations
Connect Tax Optimiser to Sodium Practice Management

Generate a Sodium API key, paste it into your firm settings, pick your practice, and sync your limited-company clients into Tax Optimiser in one click.

2 min read
Company Accounts
How to create an accounting period

Every set of accounts and every CT600 hangs off an accounting period. Here is how the system creates them for you automatically from Companies House, and how to add one by hand when you need to.

4 min read
Corporation Tax
How to create an accounting period

Every set of accounts and every CT600 hangs off an accounting period. Here is how the system creates them for you automatically from Companies House, and how to add one by hand when you need to.

4 min read
Company Accounts
Statutory accounts: touring the View Accounts screen

Find your way around the View Accounts screen: the live preview, page links and the editing actions.

2 min read
Company Accounts
Full or filleted: what gets filed where

Two versions of one set of accounts: what filleting removes, where each version is filed, and how amended filings work.

2 min read
Company Accounts
Company information, dates, pages and addresses

The Company Information, Dates, Pages and Addresses windows - the descriptive details that appear throughout the document.

1 min read
Company Accounts
Directors and signing

Manage the directors list, sync it from Companies House, and designate who signs the balance sheet.

1 min read
Company Accounts
Notes for micro-entity (FRS 105) accounts

The four FRS 105 notes explained, including the mandatory average-employees figure and how note templates work.

2 min read
Company Accounts
Notes and policies for small-company (FRS 102 1A) accounts

How the note set grows under FRS 102 Section 1A, which notes fill themselves from the trial balance, and the accounting policies window.

2 min read
Company Accounts
Validation, signing and signed accounts

Clear the validation list, record who signed and when, and keep the signed copy on file - then you are ready to submit.

2 min read
Company Accounts
Choosing your accounts framework: FRS 105 vs FRS 102 Section 1A

How FRS 105 (micro-entity) and FRS 102 Section 1A (small company) accounts differ, and the size thresholds - including the higher limits from 6 April 2025 - that decide which one your company uses.

4 min read
Company Accounts
How to amend a set of accounts

Replace a set of accounts you've already filed: check the original went through, correct the figures, mark them as amended, and re-file with Companies House and HMRC.

3 min read
Accountant Workflow
The accountant workflow: from firm setup to filed accounts and CT600

The map of the journey: set your firm's filing credentials once, then create each client and file accounts and Corporation Tax through the two wizards.

1 min read
Accountant Workflow
Firm settings for filing: Presenter ID and Government Gateway

Where the firm's Presenter ID and Government Gateway login live, what each one is, and how to obtain a Presenter ID.

2 min read
Accountant Workflow
Creating client organisations: lookup or by name

Two ways to add a client: search the live Companies House register, or create by name and fill the company number in yourself.

2 min read
Accountant Workflow
Whose credentials file what: firm vs organisation

The Gateway login is firm-wide with a per-client override; the Presenter ID is firm-only for firm-managed clients. Here are the rules, the override, and the errors.

2 min read
Accountant Workflow
Sending statutory accounts to Companies House

Filing a client's accounts as a firm: credits instead of per-period fees, the firm's presenter credentials, and the pre-flight checks before the wizard sends.

2 min read
Accountant Workflow
Sending the CT600 to HMRC

Filing the CT600 for a client: the UTR and Gateway login it needs, what the warnings mean, and the final confirmations before sending.

2 min read
Accountant Workflow
Preparing the period: trial balance, accounts and the Corporation Tax computation

Every period follows the same three stages before you can file: get the trial balance in, build and review the accounts, and build the Corporation Tax computation. Here's the map.

3 min read
Company Accounts
Import a trial balance from a spreadsheet

Bring a year's figures in from Xero, Sage 50 or any spreadsheet, map them to HMRC and Companies House-ready accounts with AI help, and make it balance.

7 min read
Corporation Tax
Corporation Tax: getting started

Enable the service, link Companies House, add your UTR and create your first accounting period.

2 min read
Corporation Tax
Getting your numbers in: the trial balance

Import from Xero, QuickBooks or a spreadsheet, or key the trial balance by hand - then make sure it balances.

2 min read
Corporation Tax
Building the Corporation Tax computation

Work through the calculation sections - disallowables, adjustments, donations and non-trade income - and watch the payable figure update live.

2 min read
Corporation Tax
Capital allowances: pools, additions and the AIA

Disallow depreciation, record your asset additions, and claim the Annual Investment Allowance.

2 min read
Corporation Tax
Trading losses: carry forward and carry back

Record brought-forward losses, elect to carry back, and let the carried-forward balance calculate itself.

1 min read
Corporation Tax
Reviewing the computation, accounts and CT600

Read the cross-referenced computation, finish the statutory accounts, and clear the validation checks.

2 min read
Corporation Tax
Submitting to HMRC and Companies House

Sign the accounts, clear the pre-flight checks, and file to HMRC and Companies House through the guided wizards.

2 min read
VAT
Reconnect to HMRC (and fix the "wrong account" message)

Renew your HMRC connection in two minutes, and sort out the "incorrect Government Gateway account" message.

3 min read
VAT
VAT: getting started

Switch on the VAT service, enter your VAT registration number and find your way around.

1 min read
VAT
Map your spreadsheet in VAT Settings

Tell Tax Optimiser which sheet and cells of your spreadsheet hold the nine VAT-return boxes.

2 min read
VAT
Connect to HMRC and find your VAT periods

Practise the HMRC connection in demo mode, then grant authority for real and let your periods flow in.

2 min read
VAT
Upload your VAT figures

Drag your spreadsheet onto the open period and check the nine boxes it fills.

2 min read
VAT
Send your return and keep the receipt

Accept the declaration, get HMRC's acceptance back and keep the receipt as proof of filing.

2 min read
VAT
Liabilities, payments and the quarterly cycle

Track what HMRC says you owe and have paid, and settle into the quarterly routine.

2 min read
Company Accounts
Adding your Companies House Number and applying for a Presenter ID to file Statutory Accounts

Learn how to enter your firm's Companies House Presenter ID and Auth in TaxOptimiser, and how to apply for credentials if you don't yet have them.

1 min read
Tax & accounting jargon?
Browse plain-English definitions in the A–Z Glossary.
Open the Glossary →
Documents & templates
Download user guides and sample VAT spreadsheets.
Open Documents →