Sole Trader Guide
This guide walks you through using Calceum as a self-employed sole trader. You’ll learn how to set up your business, record transactions, and send quarterly updates to HMRC.
What MTD means for sole traders
If your self-employment income exceeds the MTD threshold, you’re required to keep digital records and send quarterly updates to HMRC. Calceum handles both requirements.
Key dates for sole traders:
- April 2026 — MTD for Income Tax begins for those with income over £50,000
- April 2027 — Extends to those with income over £30,000
Setting up your self-employment
You can set up your self-employment income source in two ways:
- Getting Started wizard — Complete the wizard after signing up to connect to HMRC and link your income sources
- Business switcher — Use the business switcher dropdown in the sidebar header and select Add Business
Once connected to HMRC, Calceum retrieves your registered businesses automatically. For each self-employment, you’ll see:
- Business name and trade description
- Accounting period start and end dates
- Accounting method (cash basis accounting or traditional accounting)
Screenshot: Self-employment business card
Recording business transactions
You can record income and expenses in several ways:
- Manual entry — Add transactions one at a time
- Spreadsheet import — Upload from Google Sheets or Excel
- Bank import — Import transactions from your bank statement
Common expense categories
Sole traders typically claim expenses for:
- Office costs (stationery, phone, software)
- Travel (business mileage, public transport)
- Professional fees (accountant, legal)
- Marketing and advertising
- Equipment and tools
See Categories for the full list of allowable expenses.
Sending quarterly updates
Each quarter, you send a summary of your income and expenses to HMRC. The quarterly periods are:
- Q1: 6 April – 5 July (due 5 August)
- Q2: 6 July – 5 October (due 5 November)
- Q3: 6 October – 5 January (due 5 February)
- Q4: 6 January – 5 April (due 5 May)
See Quarterly Updates for the full process.
End of year
After Q4, you send your end of period statement and make your final declaration. This replaces the traditional Self Assessment tax return.
See Tax Return for details on the year-end process.
Next steps
- Recording income — How to add business income
- Recording expenses — How to add business expenses
- Self-Employment — Detailed guide to the self-employment section