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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.

Statutory 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
Statutory 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
Statutory 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
Statutory 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
Statutory Accounts
Directors and signing

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

1 min read
Statutory 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
Statutory 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
Statutory 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
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.
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Documents & templates
Download user guides and sample VAT spreadsheets.
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