SortedBooks automatically logs your supplier invoices into Xero — the moment you forward an email. No apps. No typing. No Sunday nights on the laptop.
You've worked a full week. You deserve a proper weekend. Instead, here you are — staring at a pile of invoices, squinting at a Screwfix receipt that's been baking in your van since Tuesday.
It's 9pm. The football's on. Your family are on the sofa. And you're at the kitchen table typing VAT numbers into a spreadsheet. Nobody got into the trades for this. It needs to stop.
You know the drill. Receipts shoved in the glovebox. Invoices fading in the sun on the passenger seat. By the time you remember to claim that Toolstation order, it's August and the ink's completely gone. That's your money walking out the door.
Your accountant is brilliant at tax advice. So why are you paying them £50+ an hour to manually punch invoice figures into Xero? That's not strategy — that's glorified data entry. There's a better use for that budget.
You've tried the receipt scanner apps. They're fine for a café owner. But they fall apart the moment CIS deductions or reverse-charge VAT comes up. The trades are different. Your bookkeeping tool should know that.
If you can forward an email, you can run SortedBooks. There's nothing to install, nothing to figure out. Here's the whole process.
Screwfix sends you a PDF invoice. Toolstation. B&Q. Travis Perkins. Whoever it is — you just forward that email/photo of receipt to your dedicated gmail acccount address. Takes three seconds. No app, no login, no faff.
Works from your phone in the vanOur AI opens the invoice PDF or photo receipt attached, reads every line item, checks the VAT codes, handles any CIS deductions, and does all the maths correctly. It knows the difference between a standard-rated item and a zero-rated one. It understands UK construction tax rules. No guessing.
UK VAT & CIS handled automaticallyWithin minutes, a fully completed bill draft is sitting in your Xero account — line items, totals, VAT, and all. Your accountant (or you) just reviews it and clicks approve. The typing is done. The receipt is captured. The VAT is claimed.
Ready to approve in under a minuteUK VAT rules are a minefield — especially in construction. SortedBooks understands reverse-charge VAT, CIS deductions, and the difference between labour and materials. It's built for the UK trades, not adapted from an American app.
Free up your accountant to do the work that actually saves you money — tax planning, year-end, advice. Not manually entering your Screwfix receipts at £50 an hour. Your SortedBooks subscription will pay for itself in the first month.
You use Gmail. You use Xero. That's literally all this requires. No dashboard to log into, no scanner to fumble with, no new password to forget. Forward the email. Job done.
Every invoice you forward is captured, stored, and matched in Xero. That B&Q receipt from March? It's there. The VAT you could have claimed on those tools? You'll get it. A tidy set of books means a better tax return, every year.
We do the technical setup for you. You'll be live within 24 hours of signing up. Most of our customers are forwarding their first invoice the same evening we onboard them. No IT knowledge needed.
Here's what some of the lads using SortedBooks every day have to say about it.
I used to spend Sunday evenings going through a week's worth of Screwfix and Toolstation invoices. Now I just forward the email from my phone and it's done. Honestly the best money I've spent on the business all year.
My accountant actually rang me to ask what I'd done differently. Told her about SortedBooks and she said the books were the tidiest they'd been in three years. CIS deductions coming through spot on every time — no corrections needed.
I was sceptical at first — didn't think some AI thing would understand the way we do our invoicing. But the setup took about 20 minutes and it's been perfect ever since. Running three vans now and every invoice goes straight into Xero without me touching it.
Used to lose track of loads of receipts. Found out I'd missed claiming VAT on hundreds of pounds of materials last year because the paperwork went walkabout. Since starting with SortedBooks I haven't missed a single one. My accountant says I'm getting a better tax return this year because of it.
Pick the plan that fits your workload. All plans include the full setup done for you, and a 7-day free trial — no card required to start.
+ VAT · billed monthly
Perfect for sole traders and one-man bands with a steady flow of supplier invoices.
+ VAT · billed monthly
The full package for tradespeople in construction. Handles CIS, reverse-charge VAT, and unlimited invoices.
+ VAT · billed monthly
For small contractors running multiple vans or sub-contractors who need everyone's invoices sorted in one place.
All plans include a 7-day free trial. No credit card needed to start. Cancel any time — no questions asked. Need something bigger? Drop us an email and we'll sort something out.
No waffle. Here are the questions we get most.
Absolutely not. If you can send an email on your phone, you're set. There's no software to install, no new system to log into, and no training required. We handle the technical side completely. You handle the tools. We handle the paperwork.
Yes — and this is exactly why we built it specifically for UK tradespeople. SortedBooks correctly handles standard-rate VAT, zero-rated materials, reverse-charge VAT for construction, and CIS deductions. Off-the-shelf scanning apps often get these wrong. We don't. If you're ever unsure, every draft in Xero is clearly labelled for your accountant to review.
Most major trade suppliers — Screwfix, Toolstation, B&Q, Travis Perkins, CEF, and others — send emailed PDFs as standard. For paper receipts or tricky suppliers, we can walk you through a simple workaround during your demo. Most customers find that 80% of their invoices are already being sent by email without them realising it.
Yes. SortedBooks uses bank-grade encryption and connects to Xero through the official Xero API — the same secure connection your accountant uses. We never store your banking details or card numbers. Your data is held on UK-based servers, and you can revoke access at any time from within Xero.
Most customers are fully live within 24 hours of their demo. We do all the technical setup for you — connecting Gmail, configuring the AI, and linking to your Xero account. You don't need to do anything except forward us a couple of test invoices to make sure it's working perfectly. Then you're off.
Book a free 20-minute demo. We'll show you exactly how it works, set it up live, and answer any questions. No hard sell. Just a bloke showing you how to get your evenings back.
Prefer to just drop us a message first? Email us at support@sortedbooks.co.uk