Self Assessment essentials for accountants

This article explains how Self Assessment works in FreeAgent for your sole trader, unincorporated landlord and limited company director clients. It also explains how to file a client’s Self Assessment tax return and make corrections if you need to.

If Self Assessment has been enabled for your practice, you can use FreeAgent to file a client’s Self Assessment return to HMRC if they are a sole trader, limited company director or unincorporated landlord.

If your client is a partner, secretary, shareholder or employee, you won't be able to use FreeAgent to file their Self Assessment return to HMRC, but you can refer to the information that FreeAgent generates when you come to file their tax return outside of FreeAgent.

Please note that FreeAgent's Self Assessment functionality won't be available if your client has a universal account type.

You might find the following articles useful for dealing with Self Assessment in FreeAgent:

• Self Assessment in FreeAgent
• Self Assessment: the difference between accounting periods and basis periods
• The Tax Adjustments page of the Self Assessment tax return
• How payments on account work in FreeAgent
• How to print your Self Assessment tax return

How Self Assessment works for sole trader clients

You can complete the following pages of the Self Assessment tax return for sole trader clients in FreeAgent:

1. The Main Return page
2. The Employment page(s)
3. The Self-employment page
4. The UK property page (SA105)
5. The Tax Adjustments page

Please note that some pages aren’t supported.

You might find the following articles useful for dealing with Self Assessment for sole traders in FreeAgent:

• A guide to Self Assessment in FreeAgent for sole traders
• The Main Return page of the Self Assessment tax return for sole traders
• The short version of the Self-employment page of the Self Assessment tax return for sole traders
• The long version of the Self-employment page of the Self Assessment tax return for sole traders
• The Employment page of the Self Assessment tax return for sole traders
• The UK property page for sole traders and limited company directors

How Self Assessment works for unincorporated landlord clients

You can complete the following pages of the Self Assessment tax return for unincorporated landlord clients in FreeAgent:

1. The Main Return page
2. The Employment page(s)
3. The Self-employment page
4. The UK Property page
5. The Tax Adjustments page

Please note that some pages aren't supported.

You might find the following articles useful for dealing with Self Assessment for unincorporated landlords in FreeAgent:

• A guide to Self Assessment in FreeAgent for unincorporated landlords
• The Employment page of the Self Assessment tax return for unincorporated landlords
• The short version of the Self-employment page for unincorporated landlords
• The long version of the Self-employment page for unincorporated landlords
• The UK property page for unincorporated landlords
• How FreeAgent apportions income and expenses for landlords

How Self Assessment works for limited company director clients

You can complete the following pages of the Self Assessment tax return for limited company director clients in FreeAgent:

1. The Main Return page
2. The Employment page(s)
3. The Self-employment page
4. The UK property page
5. The Tax Adjustments page

Please note that some pages aren’t supported.

You might find the following articles useful for dealing with Self Assessment for limited company directors in FreeAgent:

• A guide to Self Assessment in FreeAgent for limited company directors
• The Main Return page of the Self Assessment tax return for limited company directors
• The Employment page of the Self Assessment tax return for limited company directors
• The short version of the Self-employment page of the Self Assessment tax return for limited company directors
• The long version of the Self-employment page of the Self Assessment tax return for limited company directors
• The UK property page for sole traders and limited company directors
• How FreeAgent populates the Self Assessment tax return for limited company directors

How to file Self Assessment in FreeAgent

Before you can file your client’s Self Assessment tax return, you’ll need to make sure that all of their bank transactions have been explained for the tax year that you’re filing for.

If you’ve been running payroll for your client, you’ll need to have filed or marked as filed month 12 payroll for the tax year in question.

You might find the following articles useful for filing Self Assessment in FreeAgent:

• How to file the Self Assessment tax return for sole traders
• How to file the Self Assessment tax return for limited company directors
• Self Assessment error message: authentication failure
• Limited company Self Assessment error message: a problem with the data in your return
• Sole trader Self Assessment error message: a problem with the data in your return
• Self Assessment error message: problems with your submission

How to make corrections to a client’s Self Assessment tax return

If you find that there are errors on a client's Self Assessment return after you’ve filed it to HMRC through FreeAgent, you can unlock the return to make the corrections and submit an amended return if it’s within HMRC’s deadline for making corrections.

Find out how to correct a locked Self Assessment tax return in FreeAgent.