Accounting Software for Retail in the United Kingdom
For independent shops, multi-branch retailers, and online stores selling to UK customers — with 20% VAT, Flat Rate and Margin schemes, MTD digital records, and HMRC-compliant payroll.
UK retail accounting is now a digital-records exercise whether the shop owner likes it or not. Since April 2022, every VAT-registered business must keep digital records of every sale, every purchase, and every VAT calculation, and submit the VAT return through Making Tax Digital (MTD)-compatible software. The old workflow of typing nine figures into the HMRC portal once a quarter is gone. HelloBooks is MTD-recognised and built for the actual mix retailers run: standard-rated 20% sales on most goods, zero-rated on most food, books, and children’s clothing, reduced rate 5% on domestic fuel and certain energy-saving installations, exempt on financial services, and the special schemes (Flat Rate, Margin, Retail) that most independent shops elect into. The EPOS feed, the stock count, the cash-up sheet, and the supplier invoice all post into the same ledger and the same VAT return.
Why HelloBooks for retail in United Kingdom
Built around the obligations and workflows that independent shops, multi-branch retailers, and online uk sellers actually face — not retrofitted from a generic small-business template.
MTD for VAT — digital records, no portal typing
HMRC-recognised MTD bridge. Every sale and every purchase keeps the audit trail HMRC expects, and the quarterly VAT return submits direct from the ledger.
Flat Rate, Margin, and Retail schemes supported
Flat Rate Scheme (small businesses under £150,000) with the limited-cost trader test; Margin Scheme for second-hand goods, antiques, and works of art; Retail Schemes (Apportionment 1 & 2, Point of Sale) for mixed-rate VAT shops.
EPOS sales feed and till reconciliation
Square, Shopify POS, Lightspeed, and Vend feeds post the day's sales by tax rate. The cash-up sheet ties to the bank deposit and the card-processor settlement.
PAYE / RTI payroll for shop teams
Real Time Information submissions to HMRC on each pay run, NIC and PAYE deducted at source, statutory sick and maternity pay, auto-enrolment pension contributions to NEST or similar.
What HelloBooks does for independent shops, multi-branch retailers, and online uk sellers
MTD-recognised VAT return submission
Direct submission to HMRC from HelloBooks. Quarterly box 1 to 9 figures calculated from the live ledger, the digital records meet the MTD record-keeping requirements, and the submission receipt is stored against the return.
Multi-rate VAT on EPOS sales
A grocery basket with a sandwich at 20% (heated), a packet of biscuits at 0%, and a bottle of wine at 20% rings up correctly. Retail Apportionment Scheme handles mixed-rate baskets where item-level VAT isn't practical.
Stock control and gross margin
SKU-level stock, supplier invoicing in landed cost, cost-of-goods on every sale, and gross-margin reporting at the category and SKU level. Cycle counts and end-of-period stock adjustments post to COGS.
Payroll with auto-enrolment
PAYE / NIC at source, RTI submission per pay event, statutory pay (SMP/SSP/SPP), and qualifying-earnings calculation for auto-enrolment into NEST, Smart Pension, or The People's Pension. P60 and P11D supported at year-end.
Card processor and bank reconciliation
Stripe, SumUp, Worldpay, Barclaycard, and Adyen settlements imported. Daily gross sales, processor fee, refund, and chargeback reconcile to the bank credit on T+1 or T+2.
Multi-branch reporting
Each branch is a cost centre with its own P&L, gross margin, and stock position. The group VAT return aggregates at the VAT-registration level; the branch-level numbers stay available for operational reporting.
Questions independent shops, multi-branch retailers, and online uk sellers ask
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