MTD bridging software connects the spreadsheet you already keep to HMRC, so you can carry on with Excel or Google Sheets and still meet Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. The spreadsheet holds your digital records; the bridging product reads it through a digital link and sends your quarterly updates. It suits landlords with a tidy spreadsheet habit and a simple portfolio. If your spreadsheet is patchy, or you would rather not maintain formulas and links, software that creates the records itself is usually less work.
This guide explains what bridging software is, the rules your spreadsheet has to follow, the digital link rules, the trade-offs, and how to decide. It is written for UK landlords, and most of it applies to sole traders too.
What bridging software is
GOV.UK's software guidance describes two types of product:
- Software that creates digital records. You build your records inside it by linking a bank account, scanning receipts or typing entries in. These products usually meet all the requirements in one place.
- Software that connects to your records, which is what people call bridging software. It connects to records you keep elsewhere, such as a spreadsheet, and makes the submissions for you. Some bridging products can send quarterly updates and submit your tax return; others do less.
Whichever you choose, your software as a whole has to create, store and correct digital records of your property and self-employment income and expenses, send quarterly updates, and let you add your other income and submit your tax return by 31 January after the tax year. You can use more than one product to do this, but only one product for each separate submission. A landlord cannot send property updates from two products. The bridging software glossary entry has a one-line definition.
What your spreadsheet must hold
With bridging, the spreadsheet is your record-keeping software. Under GOV.UK's digital records guidance, each record of income or expense needs:
- the amount;
- the date the income was received or the expense was incurred;
- a category, using the same categories as Self Assessment.
For property, income includes rent, lease premiums, reverse premiums and inducements, and expenses include rent you pay, repairs, maintenance and other services. All your UK lettings form one UK property business, so one sheet covering every property is fine; you do not need a tab per house. Our free landlord income and expenses spreadsheet is laid out with a date, an amount and a category on every line.
There are two easements worth knowing. If your UK property turnover is under £90,000, you can use simpler categorisation, though residential landlords must still pick out finance costs that are restricted, such as mortgage interest. And if you own property jointly, you record only your share, and you can combine income into one record per category per update period.
The digital link rules
The rule that trips up spreadsheet users is the digital link. If you use more than one product, the record-keeping one must be linked to the one that submits. The guidance lists the accepted methods:
- linked spreadsheet cells;
- emailing a spreadsheet so it can be imported;
- moving a file on a portable device such as a memory stick;
- XML or CSV import and export;
- automated transfer, or an API.
Once a record has been sent in a quarterly update, you must not move it by hand. That means no retyping figures into the bridging tool and no cut and paste. If you correct a record later, correct it in the spreadsheet and let the link carry the change across. The digital links glossary entry sums this up.
Joint landlords do not need to link to the other owner's records. And you do not need a link for income outside self-employment and property, such as dividends or savings interest.
Bridging software: pros and cons
Where bridging works well:
- You already keep a clean spreadsheet with a date, an amount and a category on every row.
- You have a handful of properties and few transactions each month.
- Your accountant wants the spreadsheet in a format they already use.
- You want the smallest change from what you do today.
Where it gets harder:
- Typing every line. A spreadsheet does not read your bank account, so each rent payment and invoice is entered by hand, and missed lines go unnoticed.
- Keeping the link intact. A broken formula, a renamed column or a copied tab can break the import, usually close to a deadline.
- Two products to manage. One for records and one for submission, each with its own updates and settings.
- Corrections. Updates are cumulative from 6 April, so a correction appears in the next update. Fixing something after the fourth update means resending it or adjusting a category total, which is fiddly from a spreadsheet.
- The tax return. Not every bridging product can submit the tax return. If yours cannot, you need a second product for that, and the two must work together.
Is there free bridging software?
Yes, some products have free versions, and the GOV.UK guidance notes that free products for simple tax affairs may have usage limits, such as a cap on transactions. HMRC does not provide software itself. When comparing, check the same points as for any MTD product: that it covers every income source you have, sends quarterly updates, lets you report your other income and submit your tax return (or works alongside a product that does), and fits your accounting period. Our free MTD software comparison sets out what each option covers and what it costs.
Spreadsheet plus bridging, or an app?
A quick way to decide:
- Stay with a spreadsheet and bridging if your sheet is already accurate, you are comfortable maintaining it, and your accountant works from it.
- Move to software that creates the records if you are rebuilding your records anyway, if most of your transactions go through one bank account, or if you would rather not maintain links and formulas.
Moving does not mean starting again. Most record-keeping products import a CSV or Excel file, so the work already in your spreadsheet comes with you. If you are switching part way through a year, our guide to switching MTD software mid-year covers what to check.
How VoxaMTD fits
VoxaMTD is MTD software that creates the digital records itself, for UK sole traders and landlords. You can import your existing spreadsheet as a CSV or Excel file, or connect your bank with open banking, so each line carries a date, an amount and a category. It sends quarterly updates for self-employment and UK property income using the standard update periods (6th to 5th), and sending quarterly updates is free. See how quarterly updates work in VoxaMTD, or compare it with other products on our free MTD software page.
Sources
- Choose the right software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (GOV.UK), read on 2 November 2026.
- Create digital records (GOV.UK), read on 2 November 2026.
- Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for the first time (GOV.UK), read on 2 November 2026.
- Send quarterly updates (GOV.UK), read on 2 November 2026.
This guide is general information, not tax advice.