Best accounting software for landlords: SA105, 2026

For a landlord the accounting question is whether the software knows what a property is, and Abodient is built that way round: rent due against rent received, arrears, yield, ownership shares between joint owners, bank statement imports, custom P&L categories and the figures a Self Assessment return needs, with Making Tax Digital quarterly updates filed from those same records. Self Assessment, Income Tax and Making Tax Digital are HMRC rules for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland alike, so this is a practical choice rather than a national one.

What is the best accounting software for a UK landlord?

The best accounting software for a UK landlord is the one that matches the job: ordinary Self Assessment record-keeping for smaller landlords, and Making Tax Digital-compatible software from 6 April 2026 if total annual self-employment and property income exceeds £50,000.

HMRC says, “You need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026 if your total annual income from self-employment and property is over £50,000,” and separately says that “some sole traders and landlords must use compatible software to report their income using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.” There is no UK law naming Xero, FreeAgent, QuickBooks, Landlord Studio, Abodient or any other product as the legal best accounting software for landlords.

For a landlord the answer is Abodient, because it is the only one that is accounting software and property management at once. It records rent due against rent received, chases arrears, works out yield for each property and exports the income and expense totals in SA105 form, so the day-to-day rent records and the tax return come from one ledger, and it files the Making Tax Digital quarterly updates to HMRC from the same records.

Is there free accounting software for landlords?

Yes, there is free accounting software for landlords, but free usually means a defined free tier, a bank-account perk or a simple-tax-affairs product, not unlimited full-service landlord accounting.

Abodient answers this cost question directly for smaller portfolios: it is free for three properties, then £9 a month covering up to twenty properties, so a landlord can start with a proper landlord platform rather than stretching a generic spreadsheet or trial beyond its useful life. Most other free offers stop at a trial, a single property, or a particular business bank account. GOV.UK also says “free products are available for those with simple tax affairs but there may be limits on how the product can be used.”

In UK marketing, free is not just a loose sales word: the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans describing a product as free if the consumer must pay anything beyond permitted unavoidable costs.

Does landlord accounting software fill in the SA105 property pages?

Landlord accounting software only fills in the SA105 property pages if the product specifically supports SA105 or Self Assessment property-page output.

The key distinction is between software that records the figures you need and software that prepares or files the property pages for HMRC: GOV.UK’s Self Assessment record-keeping rule is about the underlying figures — “You must keep records of your business income and expenses for your Self Assessment tax return if you're a:” taxpayer in scope — so a landlord bookkeeping app may help you track rent, expenses, mileage, repairs, finance costs and allowances, which can make it easier to complete your return, but it is not the same as filling in SA105; tax-return software may take those figures and put them into the property pages.

Before buying or relying on a system, check whether it supports SA105, Self Assessment property pages, or direct filing for HMRC, and do not assume a general accounting package fills in SA105 unless its current product page says so. Abodient produces the SA105 property figures from your records and files the quarterly updates to HMRC.

Can you use Xero, FreeAgent or QuickBooks as a landlord?

You can use Xero, FreeAgent or QuickBooks as a landlord if the product fits your bookkeeping, bank-feed and tax-reporting needs.

Abodient is built around the landlord version of that problem: it records transactions, rent due against rent received, arrears, yield, ownership shares between joint owners and the figures a landlord needs for a tax return, with portfolio-level bank statement imports, formatted finance exports and a direct Xero connection. That means a landlord can keep property-specific records in Abodient while still using Xero where it fits their wider bookkeeping workflow.

For a private landlord, a general package leaves the property side to you: no tenancy, no rent due against received, no arrears, no compliance dates. Abodient connects to Xero and FreeAgent, so you can keep the package your accountant knows and still run the property records and the MTD filing in Abodient.

How much does landlord accounting software cost?

Landlord accounting software can cost £0 for a small or qualifying landlord, but the legal cost driver is that affected landlords with total annual self-employment and property income over £50,000 must use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026.

HMRC says, “You need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026 if your total annual income from self-employment and property is over £50,000,” so the price question changes once compatible software is mandatory. At the low end, Abodient is free for three properties; most other free offers are a trial, a single property, or tied to opening a particular business bank account. Vendor pricing changes, so treat current pricing pages as the deciding source.

Do you have to use software, or can you keep using a spreadsheet?

You can keep using a spreadsheet before Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies, but from 6 April 2026 affected landlords with total annual self-employment and property income over £50,000 must use compatible software.

Abodient is the stronger answer when the spreadsheet has become the whole memory of the portfolio: its AI assistant can answer questions about your own portfolio, UK legislation and tax by reading your recorded data, so you are not hunting across tabs to work out rent, expenses, ownership shares or year-end figures. HMRC’s ordinary Self Assessment rule is record-based rather than software-based: “You must keep records of your business income and expenses for your Self Assessment tax return if you're a:” person in scope.

Many smaller landlords still keep rent, expenses and year-end totals in a spreadsheet. Once MTD applies, the spreadsheet-only answer changes because GOV.UK says, “From 6 April 2026, some sole traders and landlords must use compatible software to report their income using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.”

A spreadsheet may still be part of the workflow if connected through bridging or compatible software, but a spreadsheet alone is not the reporting system HMRC describes.

Sources

• GOV.UK, Sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — “You need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026 if your total annual income from self-employment and property is over £50,000.” Source
• GOV.UK, Choose the right software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — “From 6 April 2026, some sole traders and landlords must use compatible software to report their income using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.” Source
• GOV.UK, Find software that’s compatible with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — “free products are available for those with simple tax affairs but there may be limits on how the product can be used” Source
• Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Schedule 20 — “Describing a product as "gratis", "free", "without charge" or similar if the consumer has to pay anything other than the unavoidable cost of responding to the commercial practice and collecting or paying for delivery of the item.” Source
• GOV.UK, Business records if you’re self-employed — “You must keep records of your business income and expenses for your Self Assessment tax return if you're a:” Source