Built for how real work actually happens.

The problem

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax kicked in April 2026. Every UK sole trader earning over £50,000 from self-employment is now legally required to keep digital records and file quarterly updates to HMRC.

For a desk-based consultant or a freelance designer, this is an inconvenience. For a plumber on a ladder, an electrician in a loft, or a builder at the back of a job, it's a problem the existing tools weren't designed to solve.

FreeAgent, Xero, QuickBooks — they all assume you'll log into a portal, click through menus, and type things. That's a desk workflow. UK tradespeople don't have desks. They have vans, phones, and about fifteen seconds between jobs.

What we built

Holdfort is an invoicing and tax tool that lives entirely inside WhatsApp. You send a voice note after a job — "Mrs Davies, boiler install, Worcester Bosch twelve hundred" — and fifteen seconds later you get back a branded PDF invoice with your logo, VAT number, and bank details, ready to forward to the customer.

The same WhatsApp chat handles quotes, multi-month project tracking, receipt capture from photos, mileage at HMRC rates, and MTD-ready quarterly tax summaries. No app to install. No portal to log into. No password to forget.

Why WhatsApp

Every UK tradesperson we researched already had it, already used it with customers, already trusted it. Asking them to learn a new app was the problem. Building something on top of the app they already use was the answer.

We chose WhatsApp specifically because it works with one hand, in gloves, with mud on the phone screen. If you can send a voice note to your mate on a Saturday, you can run your paperwork through Holdfort.

What we won't do

• We won't replace your accountant. At year-end Holdfort gives them a clean CSV export instead of a shoebox of receipts. That's it. Tax advice, strategic planning, limited-company decisions — those stay with your accountant.
• We won't keep your voice notes. Every recording is transcribed, turned into an invoice, and deleted. We don't listen to them, don't train AI on them, don't sell them anywhere. Your words, gone once the job's done.
• We won't send an invoice your customer sees before you do. You review every PDF. Wrong? Reply with a correction. Holdfort updates. Your customer only sees it when you hit forward.

Where we're based

Holdfort is operated in the United Kingdom as a sole-trader business. Your data stays in the UK. We're registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under reference ZC121084.

For anything — questions, bugs, feature requests, or just to say hi — reach us at hello@holdfort.uk or on WhatsApp via any CTA on this site.