Business Plan · June 2026
The accounting and tax compliance platform built for UK sole traders and growing businesses — from a £9 invoicing tool to a full limited company accounts service, all from your phone.
Section 01
£arnd is a mobile-first accounting and tax compliance platform spanning nine subscription tiers — from a £9/month invoicing tool for new sole traders to a £250+/month full service for incorporated limited companies. Every tier is designed for people who run businesses from a phone, not a desktop.
The UK has 3.2 million sole traders and a further 2+ million small limited companies. As of 6 April 2026, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD ITSA) became legally mandatory for sole traders earning over £50,000, with the threshold falling to £30,000 in 2027 and £20,000 in 2028. This legislative forcing event affects over 4.2 million businesses before the end of the decade and mandates the use of HMRC-approved software.
Existing tools — Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent — are built for accountants and office workers. None are built for the tradesperson on a building site, the franchisee reporting to a head office, or the small Ltd company director who does not want to pay a full-service accountant for tasks software can handle. When true all-in costs are calculated, these tools cost sole trader tradespeople between £1,514 and £2,234 per year. £arnd's equivalent Plus tier costs £588 per year all-in, while recovering an estimated £1,621 in additional tax savings through trade-specific expense prompting.
The business model is subscription SaaS with a referral and earnr scheme that creates self-funding, word-of-mouth acquisition. A prototype is complete. An app developer has been identified and is providing a quote. Initial development is budgeted at £10,000 as a working figure, with total startup investment estimated at £23,500. The business projects monthly breakeven at approximately 220–250 subscribers, achievable within 8–9 months of launch, with Year 1 revenue of approximately £83,000 rising to £655,000 by Year 3.
Section 02
A plasterer finishing a job at 5pm has no interest in opening a laptop to raise an invoice. A franchisee doesn't want to pay £80/hour for an accountant to prepare a monthly report their head office needs. A small Ltd company director shouldn't need to spend thousands annually on compliance that software can handle. None of the existing tools were built with any of these people in mind.
Xero, Sage and QuickBooks use accountant language, require desktop computers, and take 3–5 minutes to raise a single invoice. Tradespeople abandon them within weeks. Records go unkept. Compliance fails.
Advertised prices never tell the full story. A sole trader on Xero Grow still needs an accountant for Self Assessment, MTD quarterly submissions, and bookkeeping prep — pushing the real annual cost past £2,200.
Most tradespeople fail to claim mileage, home office, tools, and phone costs consistently. The difference between a well-managed claim and a typical one is £2,000–£5,000 in unclaimed deductions annually.
Making Tax Digital is mandatory from April 2026. Spreadsheets no longer qualify. Over 864,000 sole traders need compliant software today — rising to 4.2 million by 2028. The market is being forced to change by legislation.
One platform, nine tiers. £arnd meets every customer exactly where they are — from the new sole trader who just needs to invoice, to the franchisee reporting to head office, to the Ltd company director who wants full accounts handled without a traditional accountancy firm.
Say it out loud. Invoice created in 30 seconds, hands-free, on the doorstep. No competitor offers this.
Automatically ringfences tax from every payment. January's tax bill is already saved. No other tool does this automatically.
Quarterly MTD submissions and annual tax return handled in-app. No separate accountant required for Plus tier and above.
Tap-to-pay card collection at the point of job completion. Eliminates the late payment cycle from the Pro tier upwards.
AI-powered quote generation on the Pro tier. Reduces the time between enquiry and accepted job.
Corporation tax, Companies House confirmations, and incorporated company reporting available on Ltd tiers — without a traditional accountant.
Section 03
£arnd addresses three distinct but overlapping markets: sole trader tradespeople, franchisees, and small limited companies. The MTD legislation creates a legislated entry point across all three.
| Phase | Date | Threshold | Affected | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 — Active now | April 2026 | £50,000+ | 864,000 | 864,000 |
| Phase 2 | April 2027 | £30,000+ | ~870,000 more | ~1.73m |
| Phase 3 | April 2028 | £20,000+ | ~990,000 more | ~2.72m |
| Ultimate scope | Post 2028 | All self-employed | ~1.5m more | ~4.2m |
The UK franchise sector comprises 1,009 franchise systems and over 50,000 franchise units, contributing £19.1bn annually to the economy. £arnd's Sole Franchise (£75/mo) and Ltd Franchise (£150/mo) plans provide automated monthly reporting to franchise head offices — solving a pain point no other accounting tool addresses. A single franchisor agreement can unlock hundreds of subscriber relationships simultaneously.
There are over 2 million small limited companies in the UK. Many pay £1,500–£4,000 per year for traditional accountancy services for straightforward compliance work — corporation tax filing, Companies House confirmations, and annual accounts. £arnd's Ltd tiers (£150–£250+/month) offer this service at a fraction of the cost, with the same mobile-first, no-jargon experience as the sole trader tiers.
Section 04
Nine tiers across two product families — sole trader and limited company — covering every stage of a business's growth. A customer can start on Core at £9/month and grow with £arnd all the way to a fully incorporated Ltd company without ever changing platform.
The referral scheme applies to all sole trader tiers and creates a self-funding acquisition engine:
The Core tier as a growth engine: At £9/month with "powered by £arnd" on every invoice, Core acts as both a revenue line and a permanent marketing channel. Every invoice sent by a Core subscriber is seen by the recipient — a potential future subscriber. This creates passive brand awareness at scale with zero additional marketing spend.
Section 05
The market is served by well-funded incumbents. None have built for tradespeople. None offer voice invoicing. None have a referral income scheme. And none serve the full journey from sole trader invoicing to limited company accounts on a single platform.
Based on a CIS subcontractor earning ~£45k, driving 8,000 miles, VAT-registered, working partly from home. True cost includes software, accountant fees required on top, and essential add-ons.
| Provider | True annual cost | Tax savings enabled | Net annual benefit | Desktop needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xero (Grow + accountant) | £2,234 | ~£800 | −£1,434 | Yes — primary |
| QuickBooks (Simple Start + acct) | £1,718 | ~£820 | −£898 | Mostly |
| Sage (Standard + accountant) | £1,898 | ~£810 | −£1,088 | Yes — primary |
| FreeAgent (paid + accountant) | £1,598 | ~£830 | −£768 | Yes — primary |
| Crunch (ST Pro + CIS add-on) | £702 | ~£765 | +£63 | Mostly |
| £arnd Plus (£49/mo all-in) | £588 | ~£1,621 | +£1,033 | Never |
Updated comparison: With the revised Plus tier at £49/month (£588/year all-in including MTD and Self Assessment), £arnd is now £114/year cheaper than Crunch — even before accounting for Crunch's £258/year CIS add-on for construction workers. A tradesperson with CIS work pays £702/year for Crunch versus £588/year for £arnd Plus. The net annual benefit gap is now £970 in £arnd's favour.
30-second voice invoice creation on the doorstep. No competitor has filed for or launched this capability. First-mover advantage is significant.
Automatic tax set-aside from every payment. Crunch shows an estimate. £arnd moves the money. No other tool does this.
10% of referred subscribers' fees for 2 years. No competitor pays its users to recommend the product. This is an acquisition engine with no equivalent.
The lowest-cost entry point in the market for a sole trader invoicing tool with a built-in referral scheme. "Powered by £arnd" on every invoice creates passive marketing.
No competitor covers sole trader invoicing through to Ltd company accounts on one platform. £arnd grows with the customer.
Automated monthly franchise head office reports. No accounting tool in the market offers this. A single franchisor deal unlocks hundreds of subscribers.
Section 06
Conservative projections based on the updated nine-tier pricing structure. The wider tier spread — from £9/month Core to £250+/month Ltd Pro — means the blended average revenue per user grows naturally as the subscriber base matures and upgrading customers move up the ladder.
Development cost note: An app developer has been identified. Initial development is budgeted at £10,000 as a working figure pending the developer quote. This is the single most variable figure in these projections. The business plan will be updated when the quote is confirmed.
| Assumption | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New subscribers/month (base) | 30 | 60 | 100 |
| Earnr word-of-mouth multiplier | +3% | +5% | +8% |
| Total subscribers at year end | ~420 | ~1,200 | ~2,800 |
| Tier mix (Core / Plus / Pro / Pro+ / Ltd) | 35% / 30% / 20% / 10% / 5% | 30% / 28% / 22% / 12% / 8% | 25% / 25% / 25% / 15% / 10% |
| Blended avg monthly revenue per user | ~£36 | ~£42 | ~£52 |
| Item | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual gross revenue | ~£90,720 | ~£302,400 | ~£873,600 |
| Referral / earnr commission (~8%) | ~£7,260 | ~£24,190 | ~£69,890 |
| Net revenue after commission | ~£83,460 | ~£278,210 | ~£803,710 |
| Cloud infrastructure | £3,600 | £6,000 | £12,000 |
| HMRC API / MTD integration | £2,400 | £3,600 | £4,800 |
| Customer support / tax filing staff | £8,400 | £24,000 | £48,000 |
| Marketing and acquisition | £12,000 | £18,000 | £24,000 |
| Legal, compliance, accounting | £4,800 | £7,200 | £9,600 |
| Miscellaneous / contingency | £3,600 | £4,800 | £6,000 |
| Total operating costs | £34,800 | £63,600 | £104,400 |
| Operating profit / (loss) | +£48,660 | +£214,610 | +£699,310 |
| Item | Budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| App development (iOS + Android) | £10,000 | Working figure — developer quote pending |
| HMRC MTD API registration and integration | £2,500 | One-off registration plus build |
| Branding, design, and domain | £1,500 | Logo, brand assets, earnd.uk |
| Legal — T&Cs, NDA, company formation | £1,500 | Solicitor review of existing documentation |
| Launch marketing campaign | £3,000 | Social, trades forums, Google Ads |
| Working capital — first 3 months | £5,000 | Pre-revenue operational runway |
| Total initial investment | £23,500 | Subject to developer quote |
Breakeven: Monthly operating breakeven at approximately 220–250 subscribers (blended ~£36/user). At 30 new subscribers/month, breakeven falls at approximately month 8–9 of trading. The full £23,500 startup investment is projected to be recovered within Year 1.
Section 07
The Core tier at £9/month is the entry point for a deliberate funnel strategy. Acquire at low friction, demonstrate value, upgrade naturally. Every "powered by £arnd" invoice is passive advertising to the recipient.
Phase 1 — Months 1–3
Seed with Core
Launch the Core tier first at £9/month to minimise adoption friction. Target 50 paying subscribers through personal network, trades forums, and social media (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook trades groups). Every invoice sent by a Core subscriber carries "powered by £arnd" — creating passive brand awareness with zero additional spend. Target: 50 subscribers by month 3.
Phase 2 — Months 4–6
MTD urgency + earnr launch
Run targeted campaigns aimed at sole traders searching for MTD compliant software, CIS accounting, and sole trader tax returns. Position the Plus tier (£49/mo) against Xero and QuickBooks on true annual cost. Activate the earnr scheme — reward early adopters for bringing trades contacts in. Target: 200 paying subscribers by end of month 6.
Phase 3 — Months 7–12
Franchise channel
Approach 5–10 franchise networks in trades and home services. A single franchisor network agreement can generate 50–200 subscribers from one deal. Begin trade body relationships (FMB, NICEIC, Gas Safe). Target: 400+ paying subscribers by end of year 1.
Phase 4 — Year 2+
Ltd tier launch + earnr scale
Roll out Ltd Essential, Ltd Plus, and Ltd Pro to the existing subscriber base and their networks. Sole traders who incorporate naturally upgrade to Ltd tiers — zero acquisition cost. The earnr network by year 2 (400+ subscribers each incentivised to refer) becomes the primary acquisition channel. Explore accountant partner programme.
Section 08
£arnd is currently founder-led at the pre-revenue prototype stage. The founding insight is grounded in direct experience of the gap between what accounting software offers and what working people actually need.
[Founder name] — [Background to be completed]. The concept for £arnd was developed from direct observation of the problem. The founder has built the working prototype, established the legal documentation framework (T&Cs, NDA, HMRC agent authorisation), designed the nine-tier product structure, and identified the development partner.
[Developer / agency — TBC] — Developer identified, quote pending. Will build the production iOS and Android apps from the existing prototype on a fixed-price contract protected by a signed NDA. Initial budget: £10,000.
Part-time support and onboarding. Trades background preferred. Handles subscriber retention, support, and field feedback.
Qualified accountant or tax adviser overseeing Self Assessment and MTD filing for Plus tier and above subscribers, and platform HMRC compliance.
Business development for franchise network agreements and trade body partnerships. Commission-based initially.
Section 09
A candid assessment of the principal risks to the business, rated by severity.
Development exceeds the £10,000 working budget or the timeline slips, delaying revenue generation.
Mitigation
Fixed-price contract with developer. NDA in place. Prototype complete, reducing specification ambiguity. Working capital covers 3 months pre-revenue. Development quote confirmed before significant spend committed.
HMRC modifies the MTD ITSA API specification, requiring rework of the compliance integration.
Mitigation
HMRC publishes API changes with advance notice. Developer contract includes API maintenance provisions. MTD ITSA is now live — the Phase 1 API is stable. Phased threshold changes give advance warning for each expansion wave.
Xero, QuickBooks or Sage launches a trades-specific product or voice invoicing capability.
Mitigation
Incumbents face structural barriers to rebuilding for a single vertical without alienating accountant-partner channels. Voice invoicing, the earnr network, and the nine-tier ladder create first-mover switching costs. Speed to market is critical.
Errors in Self Assessment or corporation tax returns filed on behalf of subscribers create liability exposure.
Mitigation
Professional indemnity insurance in place before launching Plus and Ltd tiers. Qualified accountant or tax adviser hired to oversee all filings. T&Cs clearly define subscriber responsibility for accuracy of information provided. Phased tier rollout allows quality processes to be established before scaling.
Doorstep card collection (LivePay) or tax pot features require FCA authorisation, adding compliance cost and delay.
Mitigation
Card payment processed via regulated third-party provider — not £arnd directly. Tax pot is a ringfencing tool, not deposit-taking. Legal review of both features included in startup budget. FCA Appointed Representative status available as fallback.
Tradespeople are slow to change habits; growth is lower than projected in year 1.
Mitigation
MTD compliance is mandated — demand is legislated, not discretionary. The Core tier at £9/month removes price resistance entirely. The earnr scheme rewards early adopters for acceleration. "Powered by £arnd" invoices create passive brand awareness without marketing spend.
Section 10
£arnd is seeking a business current account facility and initial working capital to take the product from working prototype to market. This is a pre-revenue business with a documented path to positive cash flow within 8–9 months of launch.
Total initial funding requirement: £23,500 — subject to revision when the developer quote is confirmed. This figure will be updated in a subsequent version of this document.
| Milestone | Target date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Developer quote confirmed | June 2026 | In progress |
| Business account opened | June / July 2026 | This application |
| App build commences | July 2026 | Subject to funding |
| Beta launch — 30 subscribers | September 2026 | Closed beta, known tradespeople |
| Public launch — Core + Plus tiers | October 2026 | Full MTD campaign |
| Pro and Partner tiers live | January 2027 | Post-beta validation |
| Monthly operating breakeven | June–July 2027 | ~220 subscribers |
| Ltd tier launch | Q3 2027 | Following sole trader validation |
| Full startup cost recovery | December 2027 | Based on Year 1 projections |
Said. Sorted. Earnd. — £arnd exists because millions of UK sole traders, franchisees, and small business owners deserve accounting software that works the way they do. The market is large, the timing is legislated, the product ladder is complete, and the numbers work. We are ready to build.