What records do I need to keep if I’m self-employed?

Rootlet

Wed, 04 Nov 2026

If you work for yourself in the UK, HMRC expects you to keep records of what your business earns and spends. You don't send them in with your tax return, but you need them to work out your profit or loss, and to show HMRC if it ever asks. This guide sets out which records to keep, what counts as proof, how long to hold on to everything and a simple monthly routine that stops the shoebox of receipts from coming back. It's general information, not tax advice: for questions about your own situation, speak to an accountant or contact HMRC.

The short answer

• Keep records of all sales and income, all business expenses, VAT records if you're registered for VAT, PAYE records if you employ people, and records of your personal income.
• Keep proof, such as receipts, bank statements, sales invoices and till rolls, so every figure can be traced back to a real transaction.
• Keep them for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the tax year they belong to.
• Paper or digital is fine. What matters is that your records are accurate and you can find them.

Who these rules apply to

The GOV.UK guidance on business records if you're self-employed covers sole traders and partners in a business partnership, who need records of business income and expenses for their Self Assessment tax return. If you're the nominated partner in a partnership, you also keep records for the partnership. Limited companies follow different rules, so this guide doesn't cover them.

HMRC asks for two things above all: your records must be accurate, and you must be able to identify your business transactions. A pile of paper nobody can match to your figures doesn't meet that second point.

A checklist of the records to keep

It helps to sort everything into a few groups. Almost every document your business produces fits into one of them.

1. Sales and income

Keep a record of every bit of money your business earns, not only what arrives in the bank. That includes:

• copies of the sales invoices you send, numbered in order
• statements from a card reader or online payment platform, showing takings and any fees taken off
• till rolls, or a simple takings book if customers pay you in cash
• bank slips for cash you pay in
• notes of any other business money coming in, such as a refund from a supplier

If you take cash, write down the date, what it was for and the amount the same day.

2. Business expenses

Keep a receipt or bill for every business cost. GOV.UK's guide to expenses if you're self-employed groups allowable costs into types like these, with examples of the receipts you'd expect to keep:

When something is used for both business and personal life, you can only claim the business part. GOV.UK gives the example of a £200 phone bill that includes £70 of business calls: you can claim £70. Keep the whole bill and note how you worked out the business share.

A useful receipt shows who you paid, the date, what you bought, the amount and how you paid. If a card slip shows only the total, write what it was for on it straight away.

One point to know: if you use the £1,000 tax-free trading allowance, you can't claim expenses as well.

3. Bank statements and other proof

GOV.UK lists types of proof including receipts for goods and stock, bank statements, chequebook stubs, sales invoices, till rolls and bank slips. Your bank statement is the backbone, because almost every transaction passes through it. On its own, though, a line saying "£48.60 to a stationery shop" doesn't show what you bought, which is why the receipt matters too.

4. VAT and PAYE records, if they apply

If you're registered for VAT, you need to keep VAT records as well. If you employ people, you need PAYE records. Both have their own detailed rules on GOV.UK, so check the pages that apply to you, and consider asking an accountant to help set them up.

5. Personal income and grants

Your tax return covers your income as a whole, not just the business. Keep records of other personal income too, such as wages from a job, interest or rental income. GOV.UK also asks you to keep records of any grants you claimed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Paper or digital?

Either works. GOV.UK's guide to keeping your pay and tax records says you can keep records on paper, digitally or as part of a software program. A clear photo or scan of a paper receipt and a PDF saved from an email are both practical ways to keep proof.

If you go digital, a few habits help:

• Photograph paper receipts promptly. Many are printed on shiny thermal paper that fades.
• Save emailed receipts as PDFs into a folder, rather than leaving them in your inbox.
• Use one folder per month inside a folder for each tax year (6 April to 5 April).
• Keep a back-up in a second place, and open a few old files now and then to check they still work.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax changes things for some sole traders and landlords. According to GOV.UK's page on when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, it applied from 6 April 2026 to those with qualifying income over £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year. The threshold drops to over £30,000 (2025 to 2026 tax year) for those starting from 6 April 2027, and over £20,000 (2026 to 2027 tax year) for those starting from 6 April 2028. If it applies to you, you'll need to keep digital records using compatible software, and still keep your original records or copies of them.

How long to keep your records

GOV.UK's page on how long to keep your records says you must keep them for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year. Writing it out makes it easy:

So a receipt you file in November 2026 needs keeping until at least the end of January 2033. Write the "keep until" date on each year's box or folder so you never have to work it out again.

There's a different rule for very late returns: if you send a tax return more than 4 years after the deadline, you keep the records for 15 months after you send it.

If records are lost, stolen or destroyed and you can't replace them, GOV.UK says you must do your best to provide figures, and tell HMRC whether you've used estimated figures (your best guess) or provisional figures (temporary ones you'll update later). For a single lost receipt, first ask the supplier for a copy or look for an order confirmation email.

A simple monthly routine

A short weekly slot to file receipts, plus this check soon after each month ends, keeps the whole year under control.

1. Gather the month's receipts, bills and invoices from your bag, car and inbox into that month's folder.
2. Download the full bank statement for the month and save it in the same folder.
3. Record every payment in and out in your spreadsheet or cash book, with a short description and a category.
4. Tick each entry off against the bank statement, and add anything only the bank shows, such as bank fees.
5. Check every expense has a receipt or other record, and write a note for any that are missing.
6. Note anything you're unsure about, such as whether a cost is allowable, to ask your accountant.
7. Back up your files.

Put the routine in your diary as a repeating appointment.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Keeping only bank statements. They show that money moved, not what it was for. Keep the receipts and invoices too.
• Forgetting cash. Cash takings and small cash purchases are easy to lose track of. Write them down the same day.
• Mixing business and personal spending. If a personal payment goes through the business account, record it as money taken out for yourself, not as an expense.
• Letting thermal receipts fade. Photograph them when you get them, not at the end of the year.
• Throwing records away too early. Work out the "keep until" date for each tax year and label it.
• Leaving it all until January. A short regular slot is far calmer than sorting twelve months of paperwork before the deadline.

If you'd like to go from a list of records to books you can rely on, our Bookkeeping for Beginners course walks you through it in 52 written lessons across 10 sections. You'll set up a filing system, build a spreadsheet cash book, sort expenses from personal costs, invoice and chase payments, and reconcile your bank, following a fictional dressmaker through her first year of trading. Every section has a practice pack of spreadsheets, templates and checklists, and no bookkeeping experience is needed to start.