Business Plan · May 2026
The accounting app built exclusively for UK sole trader tradespeople — voice-first, mobile-only, and the only tool that makes compliance cheaper than ignoring it.
Section 01
£arnd is a mobile-first accounting and tax compliance application built exclusively for UK sole trader tradespeople. It is the only product on the market that combines voice invoicing, doorstep card collection, automated tax ringfencing, and full Making Tax Digital (MTD) compliance in a single tool designed for people who work on building sites — not behind desks.
The UK has 3.2 million sole traders, of whom approximately 748,000 work in construction — the single largest self-employed sector. 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 dropping to £30,000 in 2027 and £20,000 in 2028. This creates a legislated, time-sensitive demand for compliant software affecting over 4.2 million sole traders before the end of the decade.
Existing accounting software — Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent — is built for accountants and desk workers. None is built for tradespeople. When true all-in costs are calculated (software + accountant fees + add-ons for CIS, receipt capture, mileage and card collection), these tools cost tradespeople between £1,514 and £2,234 per year. £arnd's Pro+Tax plan delivers the same compliance outcome — plus unique features no competitor offers — for £660 per year all-in, while recovering an estimated £1,621 in additional tax savings that generic tools miss.
The business model is subscription SaaS with three tiers (£15, £40, £55 per month), supplemented by franchise and partner plans for multi-unit operators. A built-in referral scheme — free months for each referral, escalating to 10% revenue share at earnr status (5+ referrals) — creates organic, word-of-mouth growth at no paid acquisition cost, exploiting the fact that tradespeople work alongside and recommend each other daily.
A working prototype has been completed. An app developer has been identified to build the production application. Initial development investment is budgeted at £10,000, with the full business operational funding requirement to be confirmed on receipt of developer quotes. The business is seeking a current account facility and initial working capital to support development, launch, and the first six months of operation.
Section 02
A plasterer finishing a job at 5pm has no interest in opening a laptop to raise an invoice. An electrician doesn't know which HMRC expense categories apply to cable and PPE. A plumber who gets paid in cash has no system for setting aside January's tax bill. Existing accounting software was not built for any of them.
Xero, Sage, QuickBooks and FreeAgent are built for accountants, bookkeepers and office workers. Their interfaces use financial language tradespeople don't know, require desktop computers tradespeople don't use, and take 3–5 minutes to raise a single invoice. The result: tradespeople avoid the software, records go unkept, and HMRC compliance fails.
The advertised software price is never the real cost. A tradesperson using Xero (£37/mo) still needs an accountant for Self Assessment (£250/yr), quarterly MTD submissions (£400/yr), bookkeeping prep (£600/yr), a CIS module (£120/yr add-on), and a mileage app. The real annual cost is £2,234. The market has been obscuring this for years.
The average tradesperson fails to claim mileage, home office, tools, PPE, phone, and van costs consistently. The estimated annual difference between a well-managed sole trader expense claim and a typical one is £2,000–£5,000 in unclaimed deductions — representing £400–£1,000 in unnecessary tax paid each year.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax became mandatory on 6 April 2026. Over 864,000 sole traders must now file quarterly digital updates to HMRC using approved software. The threshold falls to £30,000 in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028. Spreadsheets and paper records no longer suffice. The market is being forced to change.
£arnd is built on a single principle: make every accounting task so fast and automatic that a tradesperson does it without thinking — on the doorstep, in the van, or in 30 seconds at the end of a job. Everything else follows from that.
Speak an invoice into existence. "Invoice Dave Smith, £480, bathroom refit." Done in 30 seconds, hands-free, on the doorstep. No comparable product exists. No competitor has filed for this capability.
Tap-to-pay card collection at the point of job completion. Eliminates the late payment cycle. The average tradesperson is owed £6,210 at any one time from slow or non-paying customers.
Automatically ringfences the correct tax percentage from every payment received. The January tax shock — familiar to every sole trader — becomes impossible. No competitor offers this; Crunch shows an estimate but does not move money.
Quarterly MTD ITSA submissions and annual Self Assessment filing handled in-app on the Pro+Tax plan. No separate accountant required for compliance. One subscription covers it all.
Construction Industry Scheme deduction tracking built into the platform at no extra cost. Crunch charges £258/yr for this as an add-on. Xero requires a separate module. £arnd includes it.
Every screen, every label, every prompt is written for a tradesperson. Expense categories match what tradespeople actually buy. Mileage logs from GPS automatically. The app works on a building site.
Section 03
Three converging forces make 2026 the right moment: a large, underserved market; a legislative forcing event that mandates new software for millions of people; and a global accounting software market growing at over 13% annually.
Making Tax Digital is not optional. It is a phased legislative mandate that requires sole traders to use HMRC-approved software to file quarterly income and expense updates. The timeline creates three distinct waves of demand:
| Phase | Date | Income threshold | Sole traders affected | Cumulative total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 — Live now | April 2026 | £50,000+ | 864,000 | 864,000 |
| Phase 2 | April 2027 | £30,000+ | ~870,000 additional | ~1.73m |
| Phase 3 | April 2028 | £20,000+ | ~990,000 additional | ~2.72m |
| Ultimate scope | Post 2028 | All self-employed | ~1.5m additional | ~4.2m |
The strategic window: Phase 1 went live 6 April 2026. Over 864,000 sole traders urgently need compliant software today. The construction sector alone accounts for over 200,000 of these. £arnd is positioned to capture this demand before the market consolidates around incumbent tools that are not built for trades.
The UK franchise sector comprises 1,009 franchise systems and over 50,000 franchise units, contributing £19.1bn annually to the UK economy. Franchisees are self-employed sole traders with an additional reporting obligation to their franchisor. £arnd's Franchise plan (£75/month) provides a monthly automated summary report to the franchisor, solving a pain point no other accounting tool addresses. A single franchisor partnership can unlock hundreds of subscriber relationships simultaneously.
The global accounting software market was valued at approximately $21bn in 2025 and is projected to reach $35–42bn by 2030 at a CAGR of 8–13%. Cloud-based tools represent 68% of revenue and are growing fastest. The SME and sole trader segment is the most rapidly expanding, at a CAGR of 10.85% through 2031. £arnd is positioned in the highest-growth segment of a structurally growing market.
Section 04
£arnd operates on a tiered SaaS subscription model with no setup fees, no hidden charges, and no separate accountant required. The referral and earnr scheme creates a self-funding acquisition engine built into the product itself.
All Pro+Tax features plus an automated monthly financial summary report sent to the subscriber's nominated franchisor email. Includes turnover, expense ratio, VAT status, and target vs actual performance data. Where a franchisor holds a network agreement with £arnd, franchisees pay a reduced rate of £65/month.
For sole traders managing work across multiple business identities or operating in partnership. Base Pro+Tax features with multi-entity reporting. Priced at £55/month base plus £20 per additional named partner registered on the account.
£arnd's most distinctive commercial mechanism is the referral scheme, which turns existing subscribers into an acquisition channel at zero direct cost:
Why this works for trades: Tradespeople work alongside other tradespeople every day. A plumber on a development site knows electricians, plasterers, and builders. The recommendation happens naturally — £arnd simply rewards it. Customer acquisition cost trends toward zero as the subscriber base grows.
Section 05
The accounting software market is large and served by well-funded incumbents. None of them, however, have built their product for the person standing on a building site at 5pm wondering how to raise an invoice without opening a laptop. That gap is £arnd's entire reason to exist.
The table below shows the real cost of each major tool for a sole trader tradesperson (CIS subcontractor, ~£45k income, 8,000 business miles, VAT-registered). True cost includes software, accountant fees required on top, and essential add-ons. Net benefit subtracts the true cost from the estimated annual tax savings the tool enables.
| 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 (Sole Trader Pro + CIS) | £702 | ~£765 | +£63 | Mostly |
| £arnd (Pro + Tax) | £660 | ~£1,621 | +£961 | Never |
Crunch is the only competitor that includes an accountant in its subscription fee, making it the most legitimate comparison point for £arnd Pro+Tax. However:
No competitor offers voice-activated invoice creation. As the first mover, £arnd builds brand association with this capability before others can respond. The UX investment and HMRC API integration makes this difficult to replicate quickly.
Incumbents cannot rebuild their products for a single vertical without cannibalising their existing user base and confusing their accountant-partner channels. £arnd's focus is also its defensibility.
As the subscriber base grows, the earnr scheme creates an increasingly powerful, self-funding acquisition network. Each new subscriber is a potential acquisition channel for further subscribers, compounding over time.
The first 12–18 months of MTD ITSA are when the majority of affected sole traders choose their compliant software. A strong early market position creates switching costs as users build transaction history inside the platform.
Section 06
The following projections are based on conservative subscriber growth assumptions, a mixed tier distribution, and the operational cost structure of a lean SaaS business. All figures are working estimates and will be refined on receipt of developer pricing.
Note on development costs: An app developer has been identified and is currently providing a quote. Initial app development is budgeted at £10,000 as a working figure. Final startup costs will be updated when the developer quote is confirmed. This business plan should be read with that caveat in mind — the development cost is the single largest variable in the financial model.
| Assumption | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New subscribers per month (base) | 30 | 60 | 100 |
| Word-of-mouth multiplier (earnr effect) | +3% | +5% | +8% |
| Total subscribers by year end | ~420 | ~1,200 | ~2,800 |
| Customer mix: Core / Pro / Pro+Tax | 40% / 35% / 25% | 35% / 35% / 30% | 30% / 35% / 35% |
| Blended average monthly revenue per user | ~£33 | ~£36 | ~£39 |
| Item | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Recurring Revenue (end of year) | £13,860 | £43,200 | £109,200 |
| Annual Revenue | ~£83,160 | ~£259,200 | ~£655,200 |
| Referral commission cost (~8% of revenue) | ~£6,650 | ~£20,740 | ~£52,420 |
| Net revenue after referral costs | ~£76,510 | ~£238,460 | ~£602,780 |
| Cloud infrastructure (AWS/Cloudflare) | £3,600 | £6,000 | £10,800 |
| HMRC API / MTD integration | £2,400 | £3,600 | £4,800 |
| Customer support | £8,400 | £18,000 | £36,000 |
| Marketing and acquisition | £12,000 | £18,000 | £24,000 |
| Legal, compliance, accounting | £4,800 | £6,000 | £7,200 |
| Miscellaneous / contingency | £3,600 | £4,800 | £6,000 |
| Total operating costs | £34,800 | £56,400 | £88,800 |
| Operating profit / (loss) | +£41,710 | +£182,060 | +£513,980 |
| Item | Budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| App development (iOS + Android) | £10,000 | Working figure — awaiting developer quote |
| HMRC MTD API registration and integration | £2,500 | One-off registration plus development |
| Branding, design, and domain | £1,500 | Logo, brand assets, earnd.uk |
| Legal — T&Cs, NDA, company formation | £1,500 | Solicitor review of existing draft documentation |
| Initial marketing — launch campaign | £3,000 | Social, trades forums, Google Ads |
| Working capital — first 3 months operations | £5,000 | Pre-revenue operational runway |
| Total initial investment | £23,500 | Subject to developer quote confirmation |
| Funded by | TBC | Personal investment + business account facility |
Breakeven point: Based on the projections above, the business reaches monthly operating breakeven at approximately 220–250 subscribers (blended average revenue ~£35/user). At 30 new subscribers per month, this represents approximately month 8–9 of trading. The full startup investment of ~£23,500 is projected to be recovered within the first year of trading.
Section 07
The target customer — a sole trader tradesperson — is not reached through LinkedIn or broadsheet advertising. They're reached through the van, the site, the WhatsApp group, and the mate who sorted out the same problem last month. The go-to-market strategy is built around those channels.
Phase 1 — Months 1–3
Seed the network
Launch with a closed beta of 20–30 tradespeople known to the founder. Gather real usage data, fix friction points, and generate the first testimonials. Establish social presence on Instagram, TikTok (trades-heavy demographics), and Facebook tradespeople groups. Target: 50 paying subscribers by end of month 3.
Phase 2 — Months 4–6
MTD urgency marketing
Run targeted Google Ads and Facebook/Instagram campaigns aimed at sole traders searching for MTD software, CIS accounting tools, and sole trader tax returns. Position against Xero and QuickBooks on true cost. Activate the referral scheme — reward early adopters for bringing their trades contacts in. Target: 200 paying subscribers by end of month 6.
Phase 3 — Months 7–12
Franchise and partner channel
Approach 5–10 franchise networks operating in the trades and home services sectors (cleaning, gardening, property maintenance, pest control). A single franchisor partnership agreement can generate 50–200 new subscribers in a single arrangement. Begin building trade body and association relationships (FMB, NICEIC, Gas Safe) for co-marketing opportunities. Target: 400+ paying subscribers by end of year 1.
Phase 4 — Year 2+
Scale the earnr network
By year 2, the earnr referral scheme becomes the primary acquisition channel. A subscriber base of 400+ each with the incentive to refer 5 colleagues creates exponential growth potential without proportional marketing spend. Explore accountant partner programme — offering accountants a white-label or co-branded version to recommend to their sole trader clients.
Year 1 marketing budget of £12,000 targeting 150 paid-channel subscribers gives a CAC of approximately £80 per subscriber. At a blended ARPU of £33/month, payback period is under 3 months. Industry benchmark CAC for B2C SaaS is £100–£300, giving £arnd significant headroom.
Each earnr referral costs £arnd 10% of the referred subscriber's fee for 24 months — approximately £48–£132 per subscriber depending on their plan. However, the referrer also becomes more deeply embedded in the product, reducing churn. Referral CAC is self-liquidating from month 1.
Section 08
£arnd is currently a founder-led business at the pre-revenue prototype stage. The founding insight is grounded in direct experience of the problem the product solves. The team will scale with the business.
[Founder name] — [Background to be completed]. The concept for £arnd emerged from direct experience of the gap between what accounting software offers and what tradespeople actually need. The founder has developed the product concept, built the working prototype, established the legal documentation framework (T&Cs, NDA, HMRC agent authorisation process), and identified the initial development partner.
[Developer / agency name — TBC] — A developer has been identified and approached. Quote pending. The developer will build the production iOS and Android applications from the existing prototype to an agreed specification, on a fixed-price contract protected by a signed NDA.
Part-time customer support and onboarding specialist. Trades background preferred. Responsible for subscriber retention, support ticket handling, and gathering product feedback from the field.
Qualified accountant or tax adviser to oversee the Self Assessment and MTD filing process on behalf of Pro+Tax subscribers, and to ensure ongoing HMRC compliance of the platform itself.
Business development resource to pursue franchise network agreements and trade body partnerships. Commission-based initially, moving to a salary as revenue allows.
Section 09
A candid assessment of the risks facing £arnd, rated by severity, alongside the mitigations already in place or planned.
Development costs exceed the £10,000 working budget, or the timeline slips, pushing back revenue generation.
Mitigation
Fixed-price contract with developer. NDA in place. Prototype already complete, reducing specification ambiguity. Working capital runway covers 3 months pre-revenue. Developer quote to be confirmed before significant spend.
HMRC modifies the MTD ITSA API specification, requiring rework of the compliance integration.
Mitigation
HMRC publishes API changes with advance notice. Developer contract to include API maintenance provisions. MTD ITSA is now live — the API is stable for the Phase 1 cohort. Phased threshold changes give advance warning for each expansion.
Xero, QuickBooks or Sage launches a trades-specific product or acquires a competitor to occupy £arnd's positioning.
Mitigation
Incumbents face structural barriers to rebuilding for a single vertical. Voice invoicing and the earnr network create first-mover switching costs. Early market share and brand recognition in the trades community are the primary defence. Speed to market is critical.
Subscribers cancel after the free trial or after their first tax return, reducing LTV below CAC.
Mitigation
MTD quarterly submissions create a 4× per year engagement obligation that keeps the app active. The tax pot builds financial dependency. The referral scheme creates social obligation to remain. Year 1 target churn rate <5% monthly.
If the doorstep card collect or tax pot features are deemed to require FCA authorisation, additional compliance cost and delay results.
Mitigation
Card payment is processed via a regulated third-party payment provider (not £arnd directly). The tax pot is a ringfencing tool, not a deposit-taking or investment function. Legal review of both features is included in startup budget. FCA registration as an Appointed Representative is available as a fallback if required.
Tradespeople are slow to change habits; subscriber growth in year 1 is lower than projected.
Mitigation
MTD compliance is mandatory — the demand is legislated, not discretionary. The comparison tool and true-cost calculator (already built and deployed) demonstrate value within seconds. Free trial removes adoption friction. The earnr scheme rewards early adopters for acceleration.
Section 10
£arnd is seeking a business current account facility and initial working capital to take the product from prototype to market. This is a pre-revenue business with a clear, near-term path to positive cash flow.
Total initial funding requirement: £23,500 — subject to revision when the developer quote is confirmed. If the development quote comes in below £10,000, the surplus will extend the working capital runway. If it exceeds £10,000, the funding requirement will be revised accordingly and this document updated.
| Milestone | Target date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Developer quote confirmed | June 2026 | Pending current conversations |
| App build commences | July 2026 | Subject to funding in place |
| Beta launch — 30 subscribers | September 2026 | Closed beta with known tradespeople |
| Public launch | October 2026 | Full MTD marketing campaign live |
| Monthly breakeven (~220 subscribers) | June–July 2027 | Conservative estimate at 30/mo new subscribers |
| Full startup cost recovery | December 2027 | Based on Year 1 projections |
Said. Sorted. Earnd. — £arnd exists because 748,000 construction tradespeople and 3.2 million sole traders deserve accounting software that works the way they do. The market is large, the timing is legislated, the product is differentiated, and the numbers work. We are ready to build.