HMRC has introduced Ready Steady File, a newsletter designed to keep participants in the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax beta on track. Edition one is live on gov.uk and aims to centralise updates that can otherwise be scattered across guidance notes and software release logs.

HMRC says the bulletin will share the latest news, resources and key milestones as the beta progresses. For businesses and their advisers, that means early visibility of what is changing, what is coming next, and when testers may be invited to try new features. In our view, that clarity reduces the risk of last‑minute admin and helps teams plan workloads.

For sole traders, the beta is a practical way to test digital record‑keeping with a safety net. Think of Amira, a mobile baker who currently tracks sales and costs in a spreadsheet: she connects a bank feed in compatible software, sets simple categories for income and purchases, and runs a practice update to check the totals reconcile. The goal is consistency over time, not perfection on day one.

Landlords can clean up their data flows too. Gareth, who owns two rental flats, maps recurring rent, repairs and insurance to the same categories each month and attaches invoices in‑app. That produces a running view of property income and spend through the year, reducing the year‑end scramble and giving him cleaner summaries if a lender or letting agent asks for them.

Accountants and bookkeepers should treat the beta as process R&D. Start with a small client cohort, test onboarding scripts, and document a standard month‑end routine that junior staff can follow. Build a simple review checklist-bank feed health, uncategorised items and notes on manual adjustments-so partners get a clean file and clients receive predictable updates.

Costs can be contained if you pilot with intention. Most compatible packages offer trials; pick one and measure two things: time saved chasing paperwork and the error rate on categorisation. If you claw back even an hour a month per client, the software fee usually covers itself while giving clients clearer visibility of their numbers.

Expect a few rough edges during testing. Bank feeds can disconnect, edge‑case transactions may not map cleanly, and multi‑income taxpayers might need extra notes to keep contexts separate. This is where Ready Steady File earns its keep-flagging known issues, pointing to resources and signposting when fixes or improvements are planned, according to HMRC’s Edition 1.

What matters next is the cadence of updates and the practical milestones HMRC highlights in Ready Steady File. Our advice is straightforward: pick one client or one property file, move records into compatible software, and treat the next update as a dry run. The objective is to build a repeatable digital habit before the full programme expands.