Sage for landlords and MTD: Provestor vs Sage

If you're looking at Sage for Making Tax Digital as a landlord, the first thing worth knowing is that there isn't a Sage product built for landlords. Sage is well-known general accounting software, and it can file MTD, but property landlords get funnelled into Sage Sole Trader, a self-employment-first tool that had property support added late. The real question isn't whether Sage can comply. It's whether you want general accounting software you adapt to property, or an app built around property tax with accountants behind it. This page sets out the difference honestly, including where Sage is the better fit.

If you're still working out what MTD software has to do at all, start with the MTD software guide. If you've already shortlisted Sage, read on.

The short answer

Sage is general accounting software. It's double-entry, it's been around for decades, and its own marketing pitches you on being your own accountant. There's no standalone "Sage for landlords": you end up on Sage Sole Trader (once called Sage Individual), which was built for self-employment first, with property support added around early 2026. It can do MTD, and it's recognised for it. If you already run a business on Sage and want one ledger across everything, that familiarity is the point.

Provestor is narrower on purpose. It does property tax, and it does it in depth, with a property accountant available inside the same plan whenever you want one. If your priority is getting MTD right for your rentals rather than running general business accounts, that focus is the point.

So this isn't a case of better or worse. It's a case of general versus property-specific, and which one matches the job you're hiring software to do.

What Sage does well

It's worth being clear about Sage's strengths, because they're real.

It's an established, capable accounting system. Sage Sole Trader is an entry tier, with fuller plans above it, and the wider Sage family is used by accountants and small businesses across the country. There's a free self-employment tier, paid plans are inexpensive, and Sage is recognised for Making Tax Digital. If you already keep your books in Sage, run other income alongside your property, or you're comfortable with double-entry accounting, having one tool across the lot has obvious appeal.

If that description fits how you work, Sage is a sensible choice and you may not need to read much further.

Where the two part ways

The gap shows up the moment you look past general accounting and into property tax itself.

Sage is built to handle the books for any kind of small business, so property sits as one use case among many, bolted on more recently. Provestor puts everything into the part that decides a landlord's bill: the property-specific rules that catch landlords out, handled automatically rather than left to you to map onto a general ledger.

Four of those rules matter most:

• Joint ownership. Tell Provestor once who owns what share of a property and it splits the income and expenses for you, including where you've made a Form 17 election to change the split. You report your share, and only your share. With general accounting software, the usual route is to work out your percentage and apply it yourself.

• The mortgage interest restriction (Section 24). Provestor separates the interest from any capital repayment and puts the interest in the right box, so you claim the basic-rate tax reduction correctly instead of over-claiming.

• Letting agent statements. Drag and drop a statement and the figures are read for you, or connect a partner agent and the data imports automatically by API, with rent, fees and costs separated.

• Capital versus revenue. Record the full cost in your books for completeness, while only the revenue portion flows into your MTD figures. The line between a repair and an improvement is handled rather than guessed.

None of this shows up in a feature count for a general accounting tool. It shows up in whether your property numbers are right.

What happens when you have a tax question

Here's the difference that tends to matter most, and the one screenshots won't show you.

Sage gives you the tools to keep your records and send your quarterly updates. What it doesn't give you is an answer when you're unsure. Sage is built so you can be your own accountant, and where it can't help it signposts you to work with your accountant. So when one of those property questions lands (is this cost allowable? is this a repair or an improvement? have I handled the mortgage interest correctly?), the next step is to go and find an accountant: a new relationship, your portfolio explained from scratch, and a separate bill on top of the subscription.

With Provestor, the help is part of the product. Stay on the do-it-yourself plan and you keep full control, and the support there covers the app rather than tax advice. The moment you want a second pair of eyes, you move up a plan and a Provestor accountant checks your quarterly updates before you send them, and prepares and submits your final declaration. Move up again and they take on the record keeping and filing entirely. It's the same app, the same records and the same team. There's no one new to brief and nothing to re-explain.

That's the heart of it. The starting price isn't really the difference. Sage Sole Trader is cheap, with a free tier geared to self-employment rather than property, and Provestor's entry plan sits in the same ballpark as a typical entry tier. The difference is what you can reach when you get stuck: a help article, or a property accountant a plan away.

Built by tax specialists, not a tax feature

There's a reason the tax side runs deep. Provestor is built by a team with more than 20 years in property tax software and in practice as accountants, recognised with a Queen's Award for Innovation, Independent Firm of the Year at the British Accountancy Awards, and AccountingWeb's Accounting Excellence Pioneers award.

Sage is a general accounting product that landlords adapt to property. Provestor is a tax firm that built software. Both can file your updates. Only one was designed, from the ground up, around getting the property tax right, and has the people behind it to stand by that.

Sage and Provestor side by side

Which should you choose?

Choose Sage if you already run a business on Sage, you're comfortable with double-entry accounting software, and you want one ledger across your activities, with the property tax decisions handled by you or your own accountant.

Choose Provestor if your priority is property tax done right, you'd rather not adapt a general business tool to your rentals, and you want the option to hand the tax to a property accountant without leaving the app or starting a new relationship.

One honest note on fit. Provestor's MTD app is built for individual UK residential landlords on the cash basis, under the £150k threshold, with no VAT and no self-employment income, so it isn't a general accounting tool and the do-it-yourself plan's support covers the app rather than tax advice (that's what the higher plans are for). If you hold property through a limited company, that's covered by Provestor's separate company product rather than the individual MTD app. If you also run a self-employed business, that's exactly the ground Sage Sole Trader was built for, and you'd run something alongside Provestor for it.

Switching from Sage

You don't need years of history to move. Making Tax Digital starts fresh from the tax year you're in, so the practical step is to get your properties and ownership shares set up, connect your bank and any letting agents, and you're ready to record from there.

Common questions

Is Sage recognised for Making Tax Digital? Yes. Sage is on HMRC's list of recognised software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and it markets itself as MTD compatible. Property support for landlords was added more recently than its self-employment support, so check the current tier covers it. Provestor is on the same recognised list.

Is there a Sage product for landlords? There's no standalone "Sage for landlords". Landlords are pointed to Sage Sole Trader (formerly Sage Individual), a self-employment-first general accounting product, with property support added later. Provestor's MTD app is built for property landlords from the start.

Does Sage handle joint ownership? Sage doesn't advertise automatic splitting of property income between co-owners, so the usual route is to apply your ownership share yourself. Provestor splits income and expenses by ownership share automatically once you've set it, including Form 17 elections.

Can I get tax advice from Sage? Sage provides accounting software, not tax advice, and it signposts you to work with your accountant. For a property tax question you'd turn to an accountant. With Provestor, you can move up a plan and have a property accountant check your updates or handle them for you.

Do I have to be a big portfolio landlord to use Provestor? No. Provestor is built for UK residential landlords on the cash basis, from a single property upwards. Sage Sole Trader's free tier is geared to self-employment rather than property, so a landlord tends to need a paid tier in any case.