Terms of use

Last updated 2 October 2026

These terms apply when you use VanBooks, on the website at vanbooks.uk or in the iPhone, iPad or Android app. VanBooks is run by Jonathan Charter, a sole trader trading as VanBooks (“we”, “us”). Questions: hello@vanbooks.uk. By creating an account you agree to these terms.

What VanBooks is

VanBooks is bookkeeping software for UK sole traders. It helps you record jobs, invoices, payments, costs, receipts and mileage, estimates the tax to put aside, and can send your figures to HMRC for Making Tax Digital when you choose to. It's a tool for keeping records. It isn't an accountant, and it doesn't give tax, legal or financial advice.

Your account

• You must be 18 or over and use VanBooks for your own business.
• Keep access to your email (and your phone, if you use two-step sign-in) secure. You're responsible for what happens in your account.
• Tell us straight away at hello@vanbooks.uk if you think someone else has got into it.

Price, free month and paying

• New accounts get the first month free. After that, VanBooks costs £9 a month, unless we've told you a different price when you subscribed.
• You pay through whichever you subscribed with: Stripe on our website, Apple in the iPhone and iPad app, or Google Play in the Android app. Their own terms also apply to the payment, and refunds for Apple and Google subscriptions are handled by them.
• The subscription renews each month until you cancel.
• If we change the price, we'll tell you by email at least 30 days before it applies, so you can cancel first.

Cancelling

• Cancel at any time: on the website from Billing and subscription, or in your Apple ID or Google Play settings if you subscribed there. You keep access until the end of the month you've paid for.
• You can delete your account at any time, which deletes your records straight away. Download them first from the Tax page if you need them. Deleting the account doesn't cancel an Apple or Google subscription; cancel that too.
• We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms or isn't paid, and will tell you by email first unless the law or safety stops us.

Your records

• Your records belong to you. We use them only to provide VanBooks, as our privacy notice explains.
• Check what VanBooks records. It reads your dictated notes and receipt photos to fill in details for you, and you should check these before saving. You're responsible for your records being correct and complete, and for keeping them as long as HMRC requires (usually at least 5 years after the 31 January filing deadline).
• Tax figures in VanBooks are estimates to help you plan. Your actual tax is what HMRC works out.

Sending to HMRC

• If you connect VanBooks to HMRC, we send your quarterly updates and your tax return (final declaration) only when you tell us to, after you've seen the figures. You confirm the figures are correct before anything is sent.
• You're responsible for what you send to HMRC and for meeting HMRC's deadlines. VanBooks keeps a record of each submission and HMRC's reference.
• VanBooks sends your self-employment figures. If you have other income (for example a job, pension, savings or property), you need to give HMRC those details another way before your tax return.
• You can disconnect VanBooks from HMRC at any time in Settings. HMRC's permission ends after 18 months, when you're asked to connect again.

Using VanBooks fairly

Don't use VanBooks for anything unlawful, to send misleading invoices or false information to HMRC, to try to get into other people's accounts or our systems, or in a way that disrupts the service for others.

Keeping VanBooks running

We work to keep VanBooks available and your data safe, but we can't promise it will never be interrupted, for example for maintenance or because of problems with HMRC's systems or our providers. Don't leave HMRC submissions until the last minute. We may improve or change features; if we remove something important, we'll tell you first.

Our responsibility to you

• Nothing in these terms limits our responsibility for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law doesn't allow us to limit.
• VanBooks is for business use. We aren't responsible for business losses such as lost profit or lost opportunities, or for tax, penalties or interest that result from information you entered, approved or sent.
• Otherwise, our total responsibility to you for any claim is limited to what you paid us in the 12 months before it.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms, for example when the law or VanBooks changes. We'll tell you by email about any important change at least 30 days before it applies. If you don't agree, you can cancel before then.

The law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales can decide any dispute. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also use your local courts.