Frequently Asked Questions

No download needed. Debbie is a Progressive Web App (PWA), which means it runs entirely in your phone's browser. On iPhone, open the site in Safari and tap "Add to Home Screen". On Android, open it in Chrome and tap "Add to Home Screen" from the menu. It will appear on your phone exactly like any other app.

Most tradespeople are up and running within 10 to 15 minutes. You create an account, add your business details (name, address, contact info), set your VAT status and pick your trade. From there, Debbie walks you through adding your first customer and sending your first quote. There is no complicated onboarding and no need to import historical data to get started.

Partly. With no signal you can still snap a receipt. Debbie keeps the photo and asks you to check it once you are back online. Everything else needs a signal, so Debbie never shows you figures that are out of date.

Yes, that is exactly what Debbie is built for. Pull up a customer, add your labour and any parts from your saved price list, set your payment terms and hit send. Debbie generates a professional PDF quote and emails it directly to your customer, all from your phone, before you have even started your engine.

When your customer gives you the go-ahead, mark the quote as accepted in Debbie. The app turns it into a live job automatically, carrying all the details across so you never have to re-enter them. Once the work is done and you have completed the job, Debbie generates the invoice for you in one tap and you can send it there and then.

Yes. Add your business name, address, phone, email and logo in Settings and Debbie puts them on every quote and invoice automatically. Your documents look professional and consistent without you having to do anything extra each time.

Yes. If you need to correct or refund part of an invoice, raise a credit note against it in Debbie rather than editing or deleting the original. This keeps a clean paper trail for HMRC and it automatically reduces what that invoice counts towards your income.

Debbie has six job types designed to cover the range of work UK tradespeople take on. Quick jobs are for small one-visit call-outs billed by the hour. Standard jobs are for typical day jobs. Big jobs are for larger multi-day projects. Staged jobs are for long builds where you invoice in phases. CIS jobs are for subcontractors who have tax deducted at source. Warranty jobs are for follow-up visits covered under an existing guarantee, with no charge to the customer.

Yes. On any job you can log the materials you have used, including what they cost you and what you charged the customer. Debbie calculates your gross profit margin for each job so you can see at a glance whether the job made money. If you bought parts from a supplier, you can add the cost and compare it against your sell price.

Yes. Every job in Debbie has a notes area and a photo gallery. Take photos before, during and after the work so you have a clear record of what you found and what you left behind. These stay attached to the job and the customer history, so you always have evidence if a dispute comes up later.

Most people do not need Making Tax Digital yet. If that is you, nothing changes. Keep using Debbie for your records and tax estimate, then download your Tax Return Pack to file it yourself or have someone file it for you. Making Tax Digital only starts once your money in from self employment and property, added together before costs, goes over a limit. HMRC calls this your qualifying income. The limit is £50,000 from April 2026, £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. HMRC looks at your tax return from two years before. If it does apply to you, Debbie now connects to HMRC and sends your quarterly updates (a short summary every three months) and your end of year return for you, only after you check the figures and tap to confirm.

Yes. Debbie now connects to HMRC and sends your Making Tax Digital quarterly updates and end of year return straight to HMRC, from 6 April 2026. When a quarter closes, Debbie pulls together your income and expenses and shows you the exact figures. You confirm them and Debbie sends them. No spreadsheets and no separate filing software.

HMRC requires sole traders in the MTD scheme to send four updates per tax year, once every three months. Each update reports your total income and your total expenses broken down into the expense categories HMRC uses on the tax return, such as materials, subcontractors, vehicle costs and so on. Debbie categorises your expenses throughout the year so the quarterly update is ready to review and send.

Yes. Debbie has a dedicated CIS job type for when you are working as a subcontractor and the contractor deducts tax before paying you. Your CIS invoices are tracked separately from your standard invoices so your MTD reports stay accurate. Debbie records the gross amount, the CIS deduction and the net amount you actually receive.

Once the year is over you check your total income and costs for the year. You also add anything your quarterly updates did not cover, such as a big purchase like a van or a loss. HMRC calls this the Annual Submission. Debbie pulls your figures together for you and sends them to HMRC once you confirm them.

Most sole traders use the standard 6 April to 5 April tax year but if your accounting period is different, Debbie supports HMRC's Periods of Account and Late Accounting Date Rule so your quarterly updates and Annual Submission still line up correctly. This is a fairly rare situation, most tradespeople will never need to think about it.

Yes. Debbie lets you amend a quarterly update you have already submitted, HMRC calls this an intent to amend. You correct the figures in the app and Debbie sends the updated version to HMRC. There is no need to ring them up or wait for the next quarter to fix it.

Yes. Once your quarterly updates and end of year figures are in, Debbie fetches HMRC's own tax calculation and shows it to you. When you confirm it, Debbie tells HMRC your return is complete. HMRC calls this last step the Final Declaration. It is the step that settles your tax for the year.

If your business makes a loss in a tax year, sideways loss relief lets you offset that loss against other taxable income in the same year, such as a PAYE job, instead of only carrying it forward against future profits. Debbie calculates the figures, applies HMRC's cap for non-active trades where it applies and prepares the claim ready for HMRC. If you are not sure which option suits your situation, it is worth a quick word with a tax adviser.

Yes, in certain circumstances. Carrying a loss back lets you set it against a profit from an earlier tax year and potentially get a refund on tax already paid. Debbie shows you when this option is available for your situation and prepares the claim ready for HMRC.

Yes. Debbie lets you record Individuals Tax Liability Adjustments such as Gift Aid donations or pension contributions and factors them into your tax position before you submit your Final Declaration. These can reduce the tax you owe, so it is worth adding them if they apply to you.

Yes. Debbie adds VAT to your quotes and invoices, reads the VAT on your receipts and works out your VAT return figures for you to check (standard scheme, cash accounting). Sending the return to HMRC isn't switched on yet. For now you send it with your usual Making Tax Digital software or whoever files for you.

Making Tax Digital (MTD) is HMRC's move away from a single yearly tax return towards keeping digital records all year round and sending HMRC a short update every three months. For sole traders it is called MTD for Income Tax or MTD ITSA. The idea is that smaller, more frequent updates are less error-prone than one big return done in a rush every January and Debbie is built to handle the whole process for you.

A sole trader is someone who runs their own business as an individual rather than through a separate legal company. You keep all the profit after tax but you are also personally responsible for any debts the business runs up, unlike a limited company where the company itself is a separate legal entity. Most tradespeople start out as sole traders because it is simpler to set up and run, with less paperwork than a limited company.

No, you do not have to have one. Plenty of sole traders keep their own records and file their own tax return. Debbie is built for exactly that, sorting your costs and doing the sums for you. If someone else files for you, Debbie makes them a Tax Return Pack with all your figures in one tap.

You can claim any cost that is wholly and exclusively for your business. Common examples for tradespeople include materials, tools, van costs or mileage, phone and insurance and subcontractor payments. Some costs like clothing only count if they are genuine protective workwear rather than everyday clothes. Debbie sorts your costs into the categories HMRC uses on the tax return as you go so nothing gets missed.

The trading allowance lets you earn up to £1,000 from self-employment or casual work in a tax year without needing to tell HMRC or pay tax on it. It is one allowance in total rather than £1,000 per job or platform and if you use it you cannot also claim expenses for that income in the same year. Once your turnover goes above £1,000 you need to register for Self Assessment. Most established tradespeople earn well above this and claim their actual expenses instead.

A UTR (Unique Taxpayer Reference) is the 10-digit number HMRC uses to identify you for Self Assessment. You get one automatically when you register as self-employed with HMRC and it usually arrives by post within a few weeks. You will need it to file your tax return and to connect Debbie to HMRC for Making Tax Digital.

If you are in MTD, your old single annual tax return is replaced by four quarterly updates plus your end of year figures and a final declaration, all of which Debbie sends straight to HMRC for you once you confirm the figures. If you are not yet mandated into MTD, you still file the traditional Self Assessment return once a year, online by 31 January following the end of the tax year. Debbie tracks your income and expenses either way so the figures are ready whichever route applies to you.

Most self-employed people pay one kind of National Insurance on their profits, which HMRC calls Class 4. It is 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% on profits above that. The old flat weekly payment, called Class 2, no longer has to be paid. If your profits are £7,105 or more your State Pension record is kept up to date automatically. Below that you can choose to pay a small voluntary amount to keep your State Pension record on track.

Payments on account are payments made in advance towards your tax bill. You usually make them if your last Self Assessment bill was £1,000 or more, unless most of your tax was already taken through your wages. There are two, due by 31 January and 31 July, each worth half of your last year's bill. If you expect to earn less this year than last, you can ask HMRC to reduce them rather than overpaying.

You must register for VAT once your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period, not just a calendar year. You can also choose to register voluntarily below that if it suits your business. Debbie's VAT Return feature is ready for when you cross the threshold or choose to register early.

CIS, the Construction Industry Scheme, applies to subcontractors and contractors working in construction. A contractor deducts tax from a subcontractor's payment before paying them, usually 20% if you are registered with HMRC or 30% if you are not and passes it to HMRC on your behalf. Debbie has a dedicated CIS job type that tracks the gross amount, the deduction and the net payment separately so your records stay accurate.

Marriage Allowance lets a lower-earning spouse or civil partner transfer part of their unused Personal Allowance to a partner who pays basic rate tax, worth up to £252 a year. It is available to sole traders in exactly the same way as anyone else and depends on your household income rather than how you earn it. It is claimed directly through HMRC rather than through Debbie but it is worth checking if you or your partner earn under £12,570.

Filing late can mean a fine from HMRC, so Debbie reminds you well before the date. Interest is also charged on any tax paid late. If you had a genuine reason for being late you can appeal. If you think you will struggle to pay, talking to HMRC early helps.

Making Tax Digital uses points, like VAT does. Each late quarterly update or late end of year return gets one point. Once you reach four points you get a £200 fine, with another £200 for each late one after that. Points expire after 24 months of staying below four. For the 2026 to 2027 tax year only, HMRC will not give points for late quarterly updates. A late end of year return still gets a point. Debbie reminds you well before each date.

You need to keep records of all your business income and expenses, including invoices, receipts, bank statements and mileage logs, for at least five years after the Self Assessment deadline for that tax year. Under Making Tax Digital these records need to be kept digitally rather than in a shoebox of paper. Debbie stores everything in one place automatically as you work, invoices, receipts, mileage and expenses, so you are covered without extra effort.

Yes. If you use your own vehicle for business journeys, you can claim HMRC's flat mileage rate instead of tracking every fuel receipt. For the 2026/27 tax year the rates are 55p a mile for cars and vans for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p a mile after that (the car and van rate rose from 45p to 55p from 6 April 2026, the first rise in 15 years), 24p a mile for motorcycles, mopeds and scooters, with no mileage cap on that rate. The 10,000 miles are per business. All the cars and vans one business uses share one band. A vehicle used in two of your businesses counts toward each business's own band. Bicycles and e-bikes are not covered by the flat rate for the self-employed, so you claim their real costs instead, split by business use from your logged miles. If your bike costs for the year are small, the £1,000 trading allowance may be the bigger deduction. You claim one or the other, never both. Debbie uses the bigger one. Debbie covers cars, vans, motorcycles, scooters, e-bikes and push bikes and works out your deductible amount automatically as you log each trip. If you prefer, you can claim your actual vehicle running costs instead but you cannot mix both methods for the same vehicle. Once you use the mileage rate for a vehicle you keep using it for as long as that vehicle is used for work. You cannot switch a vehicle to the mileage rate after claiming capital allowances on it. The rate already covers fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs, MOT, road tax and the cost of the vehicle itself, so there is nothing extra to claim for those. Parking, tolls and congestion charges are not covered, so you claim those on top.

Yes, through Marriage Allowance. A spouse or civil partner who earns under £12,570 can transfer £1,260 of their Personal Allowance to you, which is worth up to £252 a year off your tax. You claim it with HMRC rather than in Debbie. Once it is in place, turn it on in Debbie's Settings under Cut My Tax Bill and your tax estimate includes it.

Yes. Payments on account are based on last year's bill, so if this year's profits are falling you can ask HMRC to reduce them rather than paying too much in advance. You do it online through your HMRC account or on form SA303. Do not cut them too far: if you reduce them below what you turn out to owe, HMRC charges interest on the shortfall.

Often, yes. If your profit for the year is under the small profits threshold of £7,105, the year does not count towards your State Pension on its own. Paying voluntary Class 2 National Insurance, £3.65 a week for 2026/27, makes the year count. It is a small amount for a full year of State Pension record, so many part time drivers and traders choose to pay it. You pay it through your Self Assessment.

Yes. A Gift Aid donation you make before you file can be treated as if you made it in the previous tax year. That is useful when last year was a higher rate year and this one is not, because the relief is worth more against the higher rate. The carry back has to be claimed on the return before you send it, so decide first.

Debbie flags an invoice as overdue for you automatically the moment it passes its due date, no need to check manually. Sending the actual chase is one tap: pick a tone, polite, firm, final or letter before action and Debbie emails your customer straight away. It is not on a timer in the background, you choose when to send but it takes seconds rather than writing a chasing email from scratch. You can also see at a glance which customers are slow payers.

Yes. Log any business expense in Debbie and put it in the right HMRC category: tools, materials, fuel, phone, insurance and so on. Debbie keeps a running total so you always know your outgoings and your expenses flow into your quarterly MTD updates and your self-assessment summary automatically.

Yes. Add your van or other business vehicles and log trips with the date, purpose and miles driven. Debbie applies the correct HMRC mileage rate for the tax year automatically (currently 55p for the first 10,000 business miles, 25p after, one band per business shared by all its cars and vans) and tracks your total deductible amount. You can also log actual running costs such as fuel, insurance, servicing and MOT if you prefer to claim on actual costs rather than the mileage method.

Yes. Most sole traders use the cash basis, so when you buy a van, a set of power tools or other equipment for the business, the full cost counts in the tax year you paid for it. Debbie records it that way and keeps a running summary by tax year so the figure is ready when you file. A car is the one exception. A car cannot go through as a cost in the year you bought it, so Debbie claims it through capital allowances instead. If you claim the flat mileage rate on a vehicle, that rate already covers the cost of buying it, so there is nothing extra to claim for the vehicle itself.

Yes. If you do admin, quoting or bookkeeping from a home office, Debbie lets you log a home office deduction using HMRC's simplified flat rate based on the hours you work from home each month. It works this out automatically and adds it to your allowable expenses, no need to weigh up your own gas and electricity bills.

Yes. If a customer pays you in cash, log it in Debbie as cash income and it is treated exactly the same as any other income for your records and your MTD updates. This matters because HMRC expects all income to be declared whether it came through a bank or in your hand and keeping it in Debbie from the start avoids it getting missed at year end.

Yes, this is one of Debbie's flagship features. Take a photo of a receipt and Debbie's AI reads it, pulls out the supplier, amount, date and likely category and lets you confirm it in a couple of taps. You can attach it straight to a job so the material cost and the receipt live in one place, no more shoebox of paper receipts.

Yes. Upload a CSV export from your bank and Debbie matches transactions against your existing invoices and expenses, flags anything new that needs categorising and lets you approve them in bulk. It is much faster than entering every payment and expense by hand.

Right now the fastest route in is a CSV upload from your bank, which works with every UK bank and needs no setup on your end. A live, always-on bank feed is planned for a future premium tier. CSV import already covers most of what a live feed would give you day to day.

Yes. Debbie is software you use to run the business, so the subscription is an allowable business cost. On the tax return it goes in box 23, phone and office costs, which is Debbie's Admin and Office category. When Debbie sees its own charge on your bank statement it books it there for you.

Yes. Costs you paid in the seven years before you started trading count as if you paid them on your first day, as long as they were for the business. A dashcam, a phone mount or a first set of tyres bought before your first shift all count. Add them in Debbie as costs so they are not missed.

Yes, if the course keeps your existing skills up to date or refreshes knowledge you already use in the business. HMRC widened the rule in April 2024. A driver's CPC or a first aid refresher counts. A course that trains you for a completely new trade is a different matter, so check before you claim it.

Bank charges on a business account, interest on a business overdraft, trade body memberships and professional subscriptions are the ones people forget most. Debbie's bank import catches most of them when it sorts your statement. If one slips through, tap the row and give it the right category.

Protective clothing and safety boots are allowable, so hi vis, steel toe caps, overalls and gloves all count. Ordinary clothes are not, even with your logo on them, because you could wear them anywhere. If you are not sure, ask whether the item protects you from the work. If it does, claim it.

No, so claim them on top. The mileage rate covers the vehicle itself: fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs, MOT, road tax and the cost of buying it. Parking, tolls, congestion charges and ULEZ charges are separate costs of the journey, so they go in as expenses in their own right. Keep the receipt or the payment on your statement. Parking fines and penalty charges never count.

Debbie costs £10 a month for one business (Solo), £17 for two (Duo) or £25 for three (Triple). Pay yearly on any of them and you save the equivalent of 3 months. Your first month is free, no card needed. Add a card only if you decide to stay. No contract, cancel any time.

£10 a month. Outside the UK, Stripe sells it to you and works out any tax your country charges. Your bank converts it to your currency at its usual rate.

Debbie locks your most sensitive details, like your NI number and bank details, before they are stored. The whole database is also encrypted at rest. Neon, our database, keeps a rolling 7 day history so we can put things back to any point in the last week. You can download all your data at any time from Settings.

Yes. There is no contract and no cancellation fee. If you decide Debbie is not for you, cancel from your account settings and you will not be charged again. Cancelling never deletes anything: you keep read-only access to everything and can export your data any time and resubscribing picks up exactly where you left off. Your data is only removed if you choose to delete your account, which has its own 30-day change-of-mind window.

Your first month is free, no card needed, with full access to Debbie, no features held back. Add a card only if you decide to stay. You can cancel any time within your free month without paying a penny. For a limited time, adding a card on a monthly plan before your free month ends gets you a second month free too.

Yes. Share your referral link and when the person you refer signs up and pays for their first month, you get £10 off your next bill. There is no limit, refer as many people as you like.

Yes. Once you have been a paying customer for a full year, Debbie automatically applies £10 off your next bill as a thank you. It repeats every year you stay subscribed, no need to ask or apply for it.

Yes. If work goes quiet or you only need fewer business slots, you can downgrade from Triple or Duo to a smaller plan or cancel outright, from your account settings at any time. If you pay monthly you can also pause your plan for up to 3 months once in any 12 months. Nothing is charged while paused. There is no lock-in contract, so you are never stuck paying for more than you need.

Yes. Debbie supports Solo, Duo and Triple plans so you can manage one, two or three separate businesses from the same account, each with its own customers, jobs, invoices and tax records kept completely separate. This suits tradespeople who run a side business alongside their main trade or who have a trade business and a rental property.

Solo covers one business for £10 a month, Duo covers two for £17 a month and Triple covers three for £25 a month, with a saving built in for every extra business slot compared to paying for Solo multiple times. Each business slot works fully independently inside the app, so switching between them is quick and your records never get mixed up. Pay yearly on any plan and you save the equivalent of 3 months.

UK sole traders doing their own tax: delivery and gig drivers, content creators, online and market sellers, landlords and tradespeople. For landlords, Debbie works out your SA105 property figures, Section 24 mortgage interest relief and Rent a Room relief and tracks tenancies, rent and void periods. A property counts as one of your business slots in the same way a trade does, so a landlord who is also a tradesperson can run both from one Duo or Triple account.

Yes, for its customers, quotes, jobs and invoices. Company tax isn't in Debbie yet: no Corporation Tax, company accounts or company VAT returns. Going limited? Your sole trader business stays open for its final year and the company can carry on in Debbie.

Yes. Debbie generates a profit and loss report from your actual invoices and expenses, so you can see at a glance how a job, a month or a whole tax year has performed. It updates automatically as you add jobs and expenses rather than needing you to build a spreadsheet.

Yes. Debbie makes a Tax Return Pack as a PDF or CSV covering your income, expenses and job records for a chosen period. You can email it straight from the app, so there is no exporting by hand or pile of receipts to pass on.

Yes. You can export your data from Debbie at any time, so you are never locked in. This is useful if you want your own backup, if someone who helps with your tax wants the raw figures or if you simply want a copy for your own records.

More than you might think. Debbie is a proper name that also works as a nod to what the app actually does: your Digital Expense & Bookkeeping Business Intelligence Engine. In plain English, she keeps your receipts, expenses and invoices in order, gives you a clear read on your customers, jobs, unpaid invoices and cash flow at a glance and quietly runs the daily admin in the background so you are always ready for Making Tax Digital. Friendly enough to talk to, clever enough to trust with your tax.