Overview
MTDify started as a practical solution to a personal problem: I needed a straightforward way to keep my business records organised for the upcoming Making Tax Digital changes in April 2026. What began as an early idea for a SaaS product quickly shifted once I realised two things - I didn’t want to maintain a cloud platform, and most people like me don’t need one.
The project naturally evolved into an offline-first tool that runs entirely on the user’s own device, using SQLite to store everything locally. Keeping data offline felt simpler, more private, and more manageable for the kinds of people I had in mind - self employed freelancers, consultants, tradespeople, and anyone else who just wants clean digital records without the weight of full accounting software.
Digital Bookkeeping
MTDify aligns with the UK’s Making Tax Digital requirement for keeping digital business records, without connecting to HMRC, without storing user data, and without running a hosted service. Users stay fully in control.
Rich documentation, an optional free Starter Edition, and a clean Django/Tailwind interface make the software easy to install and intuitive to use.
(Information supported by: User Guide & Product Docs, Licensing Agreement, and MTDify introduction material.
The FREE BOOKKEEPING SOFTWARE edition called Starter can be found here.
Users can register to use the Demo version to get an idea of how the software works without installing anything.
MTDify now stands as:
- A offline-first micro-SaaS
- A self-contained bookkeeping system
- A no-cloud, no-login, no-subscription tool
Perfect for self employed people who are tired of overbuilt accounting platforms.
Designed to reduce overwhelm and provide simple digital record-keeping
Technical Details
MTDify Local Edition uses a web-based interface for the best user experience. The application runs entirely on your computer - nothing is sent to the internet. Opening in a browser simply provides a modern, familiar interface that's easy to use and works identically on any operating system.
MTDify is built using a modern, secure Django architecture with a local-first philosophy. It includes:
Technology Stack
- Django 5+
- SQLite (default)
- TailwindCSS (pre-compiled for Local Edition)
- HTML templates for speed and simplicity
- Python virtual environment auto-setup
- Clean run scripts for Windows, macOS, and Linux
- PyInstaller
Offline-First Implementation
All data stored in a single mtdify_local.sqlite3 file
No servers, no cloud, no external API dependencies
Private, offline-compatible
One-user, one-business design (as per licence rules)
(Licence terms: MTDify is single-user, not multi-tenant, and cannot be hosted or converted into a SaaS — per Software Licence Agreement)
Core Features
Income & expense tracking
Categories (fully editable)
Dashboards & summaries
Quarter calculations aligned with UK tax periods
CSV export
A default login is created on first run for easy setup
Detailed installation guides and troubleshooting docs
(Installation workflow and features described in User Guide)
Premium Features (Local Edition Paid Tier)
Recurring monthly entries (e.g., rent, software, utilities)
Receipt scanning & OCR using Tesseract (offline)
Optional installation service
(These premium features are outlined in the paid feature checklist)
Results
MTDify delivers an offline-first bookkeeping solution tailored to the realities of UK self-employment. It eliminates the subscription model, reduces complexity, and gives users full ownership of their business records.
Outcomes Achieved
- A fully functioning bookkeeping app packaged like a downloadable desktop tool
- A free Starter Edition to grow trust and provide real value
- A premium Local Edition with powerful upgrades (Auto backup + recurring entries)
- Extensive documentation including installation, usage, troubleshooting and licensing
- A dedicated marketing microsite (MTDify.uk) plus product distribution via Djangify
- A legally safe, single-user, single-business, self-contained system
- Clear licensing that prevents misuse, resale, or SaaS conversion
(Based on the enforced clauses in the Software Licence Agreement)
