Before Tax Optimiser can prepare your statutory accounts or your Corporation Tax return it needs the year’s figures. There are four ways to get them in, and whichever you pick, the figures land in the same place — the period’s trial balance — which then drives both the accounts filed at Companies House and the CT600 filed with HMRC. This article helps you choose, then walks through Simple Entry, the quickest route for a small company, from the first figure to filing.
Choose how to enter your figures
Open your accounting period and choose Trial Balance from the left menu. On a period with no figures yet you’ll see one card for each way in, each with a short explanation and a Learn more link back to this article.
| Option | Best for | What you need | What happens next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Entry | Small (micro-entity) companies with straightforward affairs and no bookkeeping software | Your year-end totals: sales, costs, what the company owns and owes | You type them into numbered boxes; the tax is worked out as you go |
| Import from a spreadsheet | Figures prepared by an accountant or another bookkeeping system | A trial balance export (Excel or CSV) | Each account is matched to a standard account; AI suggests the rest |
| Connect your bookkeeping software | Companies that keep their books in Xero or QuickBooks | Your Xero or QuickBooks login | The trial balance syncs for this and every later period |
| Manual Entry | Accountants, and anyone comfortable with debits and credits | A balance for each account | You type debits and credits against the full chart of accounts |
You aren’t locked in. The trial balance screen always offers the other routes (under Actions), and Simple Entry and Manual Entry are two views of the same figures.
Simple Entry at a glance
Simple Entry presents the micro-entity accounts as a short list of numbered boxes — the same codes Companies House and HMRC use (AC12 turnover, AC450 fixed assets and so on) — with a plain-English hint under each one. Below the figures it carries a corporation tax step and everything else a filing needs: company details, directors, director loans and a checklist through to filing. It’s the recommended option on the start screen for micro-entity periods.
It’s offered when the period’s Accounts Type is Micro-entity (FRS 105), the usual choice for a small company. For any other accounts type the card is greyed out and says why; change the Accounts Type on the period Overview if FRS 105 is right for you.
Click Use Simple Entry and the organisation is switched to manual entry (Simple Entry writes to the same trial balance Manual Entry does) and the Simple Entry screen opens. Later you can reach it from the Open Simple Entry button on the trial balance, or from the period Overview.
Enter your income and expenses
Each box has two chips: the current-year code (for example AC12) and, dashed, the prior-year code (AC13). Type the year’s totals in the Current year column. The Prior year column holds last year’s figures, which appear as comparatives in the accounts; leave it blank if this is the company’s first year.
- Turnover (AC12) — total sales.
- Other income (AC405) — bank interest, grants and anything else that isn’t sales.
- Cost of raw materials and consumables (AC410), Staff costs (AC415), Depreciation (AC420) and Other charges (AC425) — the four expense headings micro-entity accounts use. Other charges is everything else: rent, insurance, travel, accountancy and so on.
Profit before tax (AC435) and profit after tax (SE 1) are worked out for you as you type. In our example: turnover £90,000 less materials £20,000, staff £25,000, depreciation £3,000 and other charges £12,000 gives a profit before tax of £30,000.
A box that doesn’t hold a number turns red with Enter a number, and Save stays disabled until it’s corrected — nothing is ever silently saved as zero.
Enter the balance sheet
Next come what the company owns and owes at the year end: fixed assets (AC450) at their net book value, current assets (AC455) such as the bank balance and money owed by customers, and what it owes — creditors due within one year (AC58), after more than one year (AC64), provisions and accruals. Corporation tax payable (SE 2) is filled in by the corporation tax step, so you don’t type it for the current year.
Under Capital and reserves enter the share capital (SE 3), any dividends paid (SE 4) and the retained earnings brought forward (SE 5) — last year’s closing figure. The bar underneath turns green when total net assets (AC68) equal capital and reserves (AC490) — £27,442.50 each in the example: the balance sheet balances.
If it doesn’t balance, the bar says by how much. The usual culprits are a missing bank balance, retained earnings brought forward that don’t match last year’s accounts, or a loan entered in the wrong creditors box.
The corporation tax step
The accounts profit isn’t quite the taxable profit, so the corporation tax step asks for the handful of adjustments a small company usually needs:
- Disallowable expenses (SE 10) — costs in the accounts that aren’t allowable for tax, such as client entertaining or fines. They’re added back.
- Depreciation add-back (SE 11) — depreciation is never allowable, so it’s added back. It defaults to the depreciation in the accounts.
- Annual Investment Allowance (CT600 690) — tax relief on plant, machinery and equipment bought in the year, claimed in full. The hint shows the maximum for the period.
- Other capital allowances (SE 12) — any other allowances you’re claiming, entered as the amount of the claim.
Save, and the chargeable profits and the corporation tax chargeable (CT600 475) are calculated by the same engine that prepares the full computation and the CT600. In the example: £30,000 + £500 + £3,000 − £4,000 − £250 = £29,250 chargeable, and £5,557.50 tax at 19%.
The tax is written straight back into the accounts as Tax on profit (AC35) and Corporation tax payable (SE 2), which is why the balance sheet only balances once you’ve saved. If you need a different tax charge in the accounts you can overwrite the last box; Use the computed figure puts it back.
A blue note above the step lists anything the return still needs before it can be filed. A common one on a new organisation is Please select a tax office: set the Tax Office on the organisation’s settings page. It doesn’t stop you entering figures.
Company details and directors
The Company section holds what the two filings need: the company number (then Fetch details from Companies House to fill in the registered name, office and incorporation date and import the officers), the Companies House authentication code and presenter account, the corporation tax UTR and your HMRC online account. Passwords and codes are never shown again once saved — type a new one only to replace it. If an accountant files for you, their firm’s accounts are used and those fields don’t appear.
Under Directors and approval, add the directors in office during the year, choose who signs the balance sheet, and enter the date the accounts were approved and the average number of employees (including directors — a required note in micro-entity accounts). Each section saves on its own button.
Director loans and guarantees
Micro-entity accounts must disclose any money the company lent to a director (an overdrawn director’s loan account) and anything it guaranteed for one. Answer Yes to the question and add a row per loan: what was owed at the start of the year, advanced and repaid during it. The amount owed at the year end is worked out for you.
A loan still outstanding nine months after the year end also costs the company section 455 tax (33.75% of the loan, or 35.75% for loans made from 6 April 2026), which appears in the corporation tax step as CT600 480. If the director repaid it within those nine months, enter the amount and the date it was repaid under Repaid within 9 months of year end: the relief depends on the date, which goes on the CT600A. In the example £3,000 was lent, £1,000 repaid during the year and the remaining £2,000 repaid on 14 November 2025, so there is no s455 charge.
For the rules in full — and the CT600A boxes this feeds — see CT600A and loans to participators.
Finalise and file
The last section is a checklist in three groups — Accounts, Companies House and Corporation tax — with a link beside each outstanding item that jumps to the place to fix it, and a Next step line underneath. Preview the accounts opens the accounts exactly as they will be filed.
When the Accounts group is complete, Mark accounts as final freezes the figures so the accounts can be signed. Sign the accounts then unlocks (sign online or upload a signed copy), and File with Companies House and File the CT600 open the filing wizards once their groups are ticked off. Need to change a figure? Reopen the accounts makes them editable again.
Importing from a spreadsheet
If your figures already exist as a trial balance — exported from Sage, Xero, QuickFile, Mighty, or a spreadsheet from your accountant — choose Upload a file on the start screen. You pick the template that matches the export, each account is matched to a standard account (with AI suggestions for the tricky ones), and the import has to balance before it’s used. The whole process is covered in Import a trial balance from a spreadsheet.
Connecting Xero or QuickBooks
If the company keeps its books in Xero or QuickBooks, connect it once from the start screen and sign in to your account when asked. From then on each period’s trial balance is synced from the ledger — opening the Trial Balance on a new period pulls the balances in automatically, and Sync refreshes them after late adjustments. If a sync fails, the start screen explains why and offers Sync from Xero (or QuickBooks) to try again after reconnecting.
Manual Entry
Enter manually opens the full trial balance: every account in the chart of accounts, grouped as they appear in the accounts, with a debit or credit balance for each year. It gives you the most control — journals, presentation journals, working papers — and suits accountants or anyone happy with double entry. For a micro-entity it holds the same figures as Simple Entry: the Full trial balance button in Simple Entry opens it, and Open Simple Entry on its toolbar goes back.
Frequently asked questions
Can I switch from Simple Entry to the full trial balance later?
Yes. Simple Entry and Manual Entry are two views of the same trial balance, so nothing is lost either way. Use Full trial balance in Simple Entry, and Open Simple Entry on the trial balance to come back.
Why is Simple Entry greyed out for my period?
Simple Entry follows the micro-entity (FRS 105) accounts format. If the period’s Accounts Type is FRS 102 Section 1A, use one of the other options, or change the Accounts Type on the period Overview if micro-entity accounts are right for the company.
Do I need to know double-entry bookkeeping to use Simple Entry?
No. Every box takes a positive figure in plain terms — sales, costs, what the company owns and owes — and the screen does the arithmetic, including the tax. The bar under the balance sheet tells you when everything adds up.
Where do last year’s figures come from?
Type them into the Prior year column. If last year was prepared in Tax Optimiser and locked, you can pull them in from the trial balance with Pull in Prior Year Figures instead.
Why doesn’t my balance sheet balance until I save?
The corporation tax is only worked out when you save, and it then lands in both the profit and loss account (AC35) and the balance sheet (SE 2). Save once your figures are in, then check the bar.
A director repaid their loan after the year end. Do we still pay s455?
Not if it was repaid within nine months of the year end. Enter the amount repaid and the date under Repaid within 9 months of year end and the charge on that amount is relieved. Without the date the relief can’t be claimed.