How to set up your letting agent
If you use a letting agent to manage your properties, you need to set them up as an account in Provestor. This allows you to maintain the detailed transaction records that Making Tax Digital requires.
Why you need to set up your letting agent
Making Tax Digital requires you to keep digital records of individual income and expenses, not just summary totals. When a letting agent manages your properties, the monthly net payment they transfer to your bank account doesn't contain enough detail for MTD.
Your agent statement shows the individual transactions:
- Rent received from tenants
- Letting agent management fees deducted
- Property expenses paid by the agent on your behalf
- The resulting net payment
For MTD compliance, you need to record each of these transactions separately. The net payment to your bank is just the final result after your agent has collected income and paid expenses on your behalf.
How setting up an agent account works
When you set up your letting agent as an account in Provestor, you're creating a separate record-keeping space for transactions that flow through your agent.
Think of it like this: your letting agent operates as an intermediary account. Rent comes in, fees and expenses go out, and the remainder gets transferred to you. By setting up the agent as an account, you can record all these movements and maintain a complete audit trail that meets HMRC's requirements.
You'll then record transactions from your agent's monthly statements, rather than trying to work backwards from the net payment in your bank account.
Adding a letting agent
In Settings, choose Accounts.
Choose Add account and choose Letting agent as the account type, and enter a name.
Save the account. Your letting agent is now ready to use for record keeping.
Managing multiple letting agents
If you work with multiple letting agents, set up a separate account for each one. This keeps their transactions and statements organised separately.
Each agent account operates independently:
- Upload statements for each agent separately
- Track fees and transactions by agent
When you review your quarterly position, Provestor consolidates income and expenses across all your agents automatically.
Next steps
Once your letting agent is set up, you can start recording transactions from their monthly statements.
See Recording from agent statements for detailed guidance on processing agent statements and maintaining your records.