UK Tax and Finance App Earnr Earns New Funding

Earnr, a tax and finance app aimed at people who are self-employed, announced on Monday (Dec. 13) that it has secured $859,670 (£650,000) in funding.

The London-based startup, which targets workers running tax-eligible “side hustles” in the U.K., said that its app will automate the tax administration challenges that come with running a side business, according to a report in UK Tech.

“Many of us on the Earnr team started our side hustles during the U.K.’s many lockdowns, and although doing this is getting easier than ever, finance and tax admin is always where complexity and the risk of expensive mistakes lurk,” Enzo Ottens, co-founder and CEO of Earnr, told the website.

The company offers financial tools and services that include digital bookkeeping, accounting, automated tax returns and access to financial and tax professionals. It charges a £99 fee for anyone whose side business earns more than £3,000. Anyone earning less than that can submit a return for free.

“We know firsthand that when you set out with a new solo venture, the last thing you want is the distraction and buzzkill of financial admin bogging you down, even though it’s essential to avoid costly mistakes,” Ottens said. “So we’ve built a service that does it all for you, and automatically, with a minimum of hands-on input.”

Read more: COVID-era SMB Boom Spurs Neat Company Expansion Into Bookkeeping and Invoicing

The COVID pandemic has led to a “boom of new business starts with a new generation who are mobile-savvy,” Neat Company CEO Garrett Baird told PYMNTS in an interview in September.

Many of these companies – 65% – rely on homegrown spreadsheets for bookkeeping and tax preparation. The Neat Company’s research found that most of these owners saw no benefit to bookkeeping outside of prepping for tax filing. But when those functions become streamlined and automated, small business operators get access to new levels of business intelligence and visibility.

“My wife owns a marketing consultancy,” Baird said. “She billed customers with a Word document attached to an email and then waited for payment to arrive sometime. She became one of the first users.”