Get your Free Bookkeeping Template Now
Bookeeping Template
Free Bookkeeping Software
Doing your bookkeeping is a necessary evil when you’re running a small business, or even if you’re self-employed or have a rental property.
Not only is it important to stay on top of your income and expenses, but HMRC requires you to file tax returns that need the details of everything you have earned and everything you have spent.
There are plenty of different sorts of accounting software for small businesses on the market, but it can often be confusing selecting the right one for your needs.
And let’s face it, there isn’t all that much around if you’re looking for free accounting software! Most accounting software for small businesses comes with a price tag attached, and when you’re running a small business, keeping tabs on your cash flow means that you may not want to splash the cash on double-entry accounting software.
Get our Free Bookkeeping Template
Luckily for you, we’ve got a nifty little download that you can use, completely free! It’s a basic bookkeeping software template in MS Excel that will meet your needs if you are a small business that wants to keep track of your income and expenses. It even includes a profit and loss account for you, so you can see how profitable your venture is.
Using our free bookkeeping template will give you an idea of what is required when it comes to doing your bookkeeping without the commitment of an expensive and complicated piece of accounting software.
If you like it – great! Feel free to use it for as long as you like.
Or, if you realise that it can all be a bit of a faff and you want to focus your efforts on running your business instead, then you can have a chat with us about what our team can do for you.
Don’t forget, our standard packages come with free accounting software as part of the deal, as well as a super-start accountant to do all of the legwork for you.
What is online accounting software for small businesses?
Online accounting software allows self-employed small business owners, sole traders, and limited company directors to manage their business finances in a secure and organised online system. Usually, you access the software through a portal or via an app. With good online accounting software, you can track your invoices and expenses, check your finances anytime, anywhere, and even file VAT returns to HMRC if you like.
Why should a small business use accounting software?
Making sure that your finances are orgainsed is all part of running a business. It might not be the most fun part, but it is something that you are required to do by law.
Back in the old days, people used to use manual ledger books and write out their transactions each day. But nowadays, accounting software has made life much easier for small businesses.
Not only do you need to understand your business finances to ensure that your business is performing well, but HMRC and Companies House requires that you submit returns to them electronically – and accounting software will help you do that.
If you have to submit VAT returns, then it’s now essential that you (or your accountant) use making tax digital compliant accounting software to do the filings.
VAT returns were the first part of the switch to making tax digital, but most definitely won’t be the last. Small businesses should be prepared by getting to grips with accounting software as soon as possible.
If you want to run your business efficiently, as well as run your business aligned with the rules that are coming down the line, then accounting software is the way to go.
Do you provide free accounting software?
If you sign up with Mazuma then we provide MazApp, our free accounting software, as part of the package. Unlike most other software for small businesses, we don’t need you to do any data entry yourself, as we do it all. You just need to share your documents with us, and we’ll connect to your bank account, credit card and bank feeds, pick up any recurring invoices and make sure that you’re compliant with HMRC’s making tax digital.
On this page, we’ve provided you with some free accounting software in the form of a clever spreadsheet that works a bit like basic accounting software and will be enough to get you on the right path.
It’s great if you want to manage your cash flow, see what sort of accounting features are contained in accounting software (you’re gonna have some lingo to learn!), and of course, it’s completely free as a bonus!
Can you run your small business without accounting software?
For now, yes, you can. However, soon HMRC will be rolling out a new filing regime called making tax digital, which will see the burden of filing increase dramatically for small businesses.
Making tax digital is already in place if you file VAT returns, and soon it will be in place for income tax too.
Making tax digital for income tax (MTD ITSA), requires any sole trader, small businesses or individuals with untaxed income of over £10,000 per year to go from filing one tax return per year to a minimum of five.
And the kicker is that you won’t be able to file your making tax digital return directly on the HMRC website; you’ll have to file them using a piece of accounting software or a service like ours, which includes accounting software as part of the package.
Can you trust free accounting software?
Ever heard the phrase “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”? Well, perhaps you could also say that truly, there isn’t such a thing as free accounting software! That’s why we created the free bookkeeping template that you can download on this page – because we know that free doesn’t always really mean free. If you’re a small business looking for their first bookkeeping template, then our free plan may well be all you need for a little while.
Most companies that offer you free accounting software will put some serious limits on how much of it you can use – they will restrict the accounting features available to you so that you upgrade to the paid version – cheeky! That free plan might be fine if you don’t have multiple bank accounts, or recurring invoices, or want bank feeds and customer support. In the first instance, free accounting software will probably get you on the right track and let you assess whether doing your own bookkeeping is really something you want to spend your time doing.
And it’s not all that surprising that what you get for free accounting software is limited – there are often costs involved in hosting your data, connecting your bank account to bank feeds or providing customer support. After all, the provider of the free accounting software is also probably a business, so they have to make their money somehow!
Where we differ is that we actually don’t really want our clients to spend their time using accounting software. Small businesses have enough on their plate without having to spend their time dealing with software. No matter how good the free plan you have is, you still have to spend your precious time doing data entry. Free plan or no free plan – your time is money in small businesses!
We developed our own software for us to run on your behalf. It does all the things you’d expect a good piece of software to do – sends invoices, connects to bank accounts, files to HMRC for making tax digital. But the big bonus of our software is that our team drive it for you. That’s right – we hold the steering wheel to the software and all you have to do is hop in for the ride.
For us, the software is the thing that drives the efficiency of our business.
Let’s face it, our founders were small business owners too – they know the challenge. So they built MazApp, our accounting software, to be designed to be operated by qualified accountant instead of by you, the small business owners.
The end result is better all around – you have data that is reliable and prepared by accountants, and you don’t have to spend your precious time updating the software.
Win win!