Accounting that does itself.

Many don't. A typical self-employed driving instructor has one income stream (lessons) and a predictable set of expenses: car, fuel, insurance, phone. Orbit keeps those records for you and totals your income and expenses into your quarterly Making Tax Digital figures, which covers most of the record-keeping instructors historically paid an accountant £300-£600 a year to do. Orbit is built on HMRC's Making Tax Digital for Income Tax API and is completing HMRC's software recognition process; live submissions open once HMRC approves it. Instructors with more complex affairs (property income, limited companies, big capital purchases) may still want an accountant for year-end advice, and Orbit's records give them everything they need.

The car. Your tuition vehicle is your biggest expense and the trickiest part of instructor accounting: dual controls, insurance, maintenance, and the choice between claiming actual vehicle costs or HMRC's flat mileage rate. Orbit is built around this - it tracks business mileage against each lesson and logs actual vehicle costs, so your claim uses real numbers rather than guesses.

For a self-employed driving instructor, yes. General bookkeeping software makes you import bank feeds and categorise everything yourself. In Orbit, lesson income is recorded the moment a pupil pays - because the same app took the payment - and expense categories are pre-built for instructor businesses. You get the accounting without doing the bookkeeping.

Yes. Orbit shows a live estimated tax liability alongside your income and profit, updated as lessons are paid and expenses logged. No more January surprise - you know your position all year round, and can put the right amount aside each month.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is built in, not bolted on. Orbit is built on HMRC's Making Tax Digital for Income Tax API: it totals your quarterly updates and year-end figures from your records, ready for you to review and send from the app. We are completing HMRC's software recognition process, and live submissions open once HMRC approves Orbit. Until then, you or your accountant need software on HMRC's compatible list to send the updates. MTD has applied since April 2026 for qualifying income over £50,000.

Orbit is free for driving instructors: the full diary, booking and payments platform and the accounting and tax tools are all included, with no subscription and no card needed. A typical instructor accountant charges £300-£600 a year for bookkeeping and a tax return alone - without running your diary, taking your payments or chasing your pupils' balances.