AI accounting software in the UK: MTD, Companies House and the practical checks

The UK context

UK businesses report under FRS 102 or IFRS, file accounts at Companies House, submit VAT under Making Tax Digital with digital links between records and return, and increasingly face payroll and pension reporting deadlines that leave no slack in the close calendar.

What Making Tax Digital actually requires

Digital records and a digital link from those records to the VAT return. That rules out re-keying a figure into a spreadsheet by hand. Any tool in the chain must preserve the transaction-level detail behind each box on the return.

What to check before buying

• Does it read statements from UK high street and challenger banks in PDF as well as CSV?
• Does it keep VAT-relevant detail on the transaction, including reverse charge cases?
• Can it produce a trial balance your accountant can take into the statutory accounts?
• Does it handle GBP alongside EUR and USD without converting your records away from the original currency?
• Is the audit trail exportable for your accountant or auditor?

Where the time is won

1. Bank reconciliation across multiple accounts each month.
2. Supplier invoice capture and duplicate detection.
3. Quarterly VAT preparation with the underlying transactions attached.
4. Cash flow forecasting for overdraft and covenant headroom.
5. Ratio reporting for lenders and investors.

What stays with your accountant

Statutory accounts, corporation tax computations, R and D claims and any disclosure judgement. The tool supplies clean, evidenced data; the filings remain professional work.

NanoFora keeps every figure in its original currency with evidence attached, and reports margins, gearing and interest cover from the posted ledger. See the bookkeeping for small business guide and the cash flow forecast calculator.