How to record self-employed income in the UK

Keep a record of what your business earns, who paid you and the documents that explain each payment. Save the payment evidence as well as the invoice, so you can follow a job from the work you billed to the money you received.

What HMRC expects#

HMRC expects records of your sales and income, business expenses and, when registered, VAT. Keep invoices and bank evidence together so you can identify each business transaction. Because cash basis and traditional accounting use different timing rules, preserve both the invoice and payment dates; see HMRC — What records to keep.

A simple record for each payment#

Start with the document you already have: an invoice you sent, a customer's remittance advice or a platform's payout statement. Beside it, keep:

• the customer or payer and a useful reference;
• the invoice date and payment date, when they differ;
• the amount and currency;
• any tax shown and any fee held back;
• the bank entry or other evidence of payment.

This is a working checklist: its purpose is to make a payment understandable later. For a contractor with several jobs, a reference such as the site or project name is more useful than a folder called “income”.

Keep the payment and its costs connected#

When a customer pays through a platform, look at the breakdown before treating the deposit as the whole story. Keep the earnings, fee and payout distinguishable. Our platform statement guide walks through that check.

How long to keep the records#

Keep self-employment records for at least five years after the relevant tax year’s 31 January submission deadline. HMRC gives additional rules for late returns and enquiries. See HMRC's record guidance and our country retention guide for the details.

Bring it together in Bilbx#

Add an invoice, payout statement or remittance advice to Money in as a photo, PDF or forwarded email. Bilbx reads who paid, how much and when, and keeps the document with the record. Money in is free. Group your income and receipts into a project for each job, then use Tax Lab to view your income and claimed expenses together.

Explore Bilbx for the UK and the published tax rules.