Your trade clients' shoebox, solved.

What you get when a client signs up

You keep the client relationship. Holdfort keeps them organised between visits. Everything flows to you in the format you already use.

• Year-end CSV export — every invoice, every receipt, every mileage claim, categorised the way HMRC wants it. No shoebox. No guessing what "B&Q purchase" was for.
• Quarterly MTD summaries — from April 2026, sole-trader clients over the threshold need quarterly digital submissions. Holdfort produces those in the clicks you need, when you need them.
• VAT already calculated — every invoice that leaves Holdfort has the VAT line priced correctly. No reconciling rounding differences at year-end.
• Mileage at HMRC rates — 45p/25p per mile tracked automatically when your client says "site visit to Luton". Straight onto the expense line.
• Client export on demand — need last February's invoices for a spot-check? Reply EXPORT in WhatsApp and you get a ZIP. No portal login, no "where's the spreadsheet?".
• Your branding on the PDFs — optional white-label: clients see "Produced in partnership with [your practice]" on every invoice. Free advertising every time an invoice is forwarded.

Why we won't replace you

Holdfort is a data-capture tool, not an accountant. We handle the bit your trade clients hate — the paperwork between visits — so you can focus on advisory, planning, and the complex year-end judgment calls no AI should touch.

• No tax advice, no returns filed. That's you. Holdfort produces clean books; you produce the CT600, SA100, and the strategic calls.
• You stay the client's accountant. Holdfort doesn't upsell them tax services. We point trade clients back to their accountant for anything beyond capture.
• Fewer hours sorting, more hours advising. When the shoebox is gone, your per-client time shifts from data entry to work they'll actually pay more for.

What the CSV export actually contains

So you know what you're getting before you bring your first trade client onto Holdfort. This is the schema of the year-end export your client generates with "EXPORT" on WhatsApp:

• Invoices sheet. Date issued, invoice number, customer name, customer address, line-item breakdown (labour, parts, callout, VAT), VAT rate applied, net, VAT amount, gross, payment status (paid / outstanding / partial), date paid.
• Receipts sheet. Date, supplier name, gross, VAT, net, category (materials / tools / van / workwear / training / other), photo reference, job reference if applicable.
• Mileage sheet. Date, start postcode, end postcode, miles, rate applied (45p or 25p HMRC rate), customer or project it related to.
• Projects sheet. Multi-month jobs with budget, stage invoices, variations, running total, final settlement, and all linked CIS deductions.
• CIS sheet (if applicable). Contractor name, UTR, gross invoiced, CIS rate, CIS deducted, net received, tax month. Straight into the CIS300 reclaim.

Everything is UTF-8 CSV, comma-delimited, ISO-8601 dates. Imports cleanly into FreeAgent, Xero, QuickBooks and Sage without transformation. If you use a bespoke tool, the column order is stable — point your importer at column letters and it works across all your Holdfort-using clients.

A typical workflow with an accountant-referred client

Here's how it plays out week-by-week once a plumber or builder you refer signs up. Nothing you need to do beyond the initial nudge.

• Week 1 (first-invoice moment). Your client voice-notes their first job, gets a branded PDF. You get nothing — they don't need you for this.
• Week 12 (first VAT quarter). If they're VAT-registered, you receive a quarterly CSV export request. They reply "EXPORT" on WhatsApp, forward the ZIP to you. You file the MTD return from your software as usual, but from cleaner data than before.
• Month 6 (mid-year review). Optional — some accountants book a 30-min call with trade clients to catch issues early. Your client shares screenshots of the Holdfort summary ("£42k billed year-to-date, £8.2k in claimable expenses"). You advise on any course-correction.
• Year-end. Client replies "EXPORT YEAR-END" on WhatsApp. ZIP lands in your inbox with the five sheets above. You file the SA100 (sole trader) or CT600 (Ltd). Tax efficiently, because the data is clean. Your client pays your invoice on time, because they're not chasing their own.

For a practice handling 40 sole-trader trade clients, that's roughly 200 hours a year you're not spending on data entry. Re-routed into advisory, planning, or new-client acquisition at a proper hourly rate, that's serious margin.

White-label and co-branded options

For accountants who want Holdfort to feel like part of their practice, three levels of co-branding are available:

• Footer byline (free). Every invoice your client generates reads "Produced in partnership with [your practice name]" in the footer. Free advertising every time a customer receives an invoice.
• Dual-branded PDFs (partner tier). Your practice logo appears alongside your client's logo at the top of each invoice. Clients keep ownership of their brand; you get visible association with professional tooling.
• Full white-label (5+ client partner tier). The Holdfort brand becomes invisible to your client's customers — invoices appear to be generated by your practice's own system. Suited to larger accounting firms with in-house software budgets who don't want to build their own.

All three are free at sign-up volumes of 5+ referred clients. No per-seat charge — you pay nothing; your clients pay their £29.99 as normal.