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Help tech-resistant landlord clients adopt MTD software. Practical strategies for accountants to reduce resistance and create revenue opportunities.
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Landlord Guide Chapters
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is rapidly approaching, and while the regulatory requirements are clear, one of the biggest challenges facing accounting firms isn't about compliance—it's about people. Specifically, how do you help long-standing landlord clients who've been perfectly content with their spreadsheets and paper receipts for decades make the leap to digital bookkeeping software?
In Episode 2 of our MTD Masterclass series with John Toon, Chartered Accountant and Technology Advisor at Beether and Struthers, we explored practical strategies for reducing client resistance, timing conversations effectively, and turning this challenge into a revenue opportunity.
Listen to Episode 2 | Getting Tech-Resistant Clients MTD Ready available on YouTube → and Spotify →
The landlord client base includes everything from sophisticated portfolio managers to those still operating with remarkably analog systems.
John shares a striking example: "I know of a landlord client at the moment who's got a mixed set of residential and commercial properties, and he has quite a lot of properties and actually employs someone to help collect the rent. And that guy still has a little black book of people that he goes to see and sort of notes down the rent that they're due and what they've paid and stuff, which is incredible really."
This isn't an isolated case. Many landlords have systems that, while not sophisticated, work for them. They've used these approaches for years, and there's genuine resistance to change. The question isn't whether these clients need to change (MTD makes that unavoidable) but how can accountants frame the conversation to make that transition as smooth as possible?
Related: 6 Best MTD Software for Landlords
John recommends a balanced strategy that acknowledges both the compliance requirements and the genuine benefits technology offers.
Your clients come to you to stay compliant. That's why they hire you to prepare and file their tax returns.
As John puts it: "We know that our clients want to be compliant. That's why, quite often, they get us to prepare and file their tax returns on their behalf. That's why they'll ask for our advice and our support around technical issues and expect us to keep their books clean, so they can avoid HMRC's watchful eye."
With MTD for Income Tax, there will be specific requirements around quarterly upates and how they must be completed digitally. While the new MTD penalty regime will come into effect later, the compliance obligation is real and unavoidable.
But compliance alone isn't always compelling. The right software can also offer an opportunity for landlords to get more granular data on their property portfolio, revealing cash flow nuances that might otherwise remain hidden.
"If you talk to most landlord clients, whether they've got one property or a hundred properties, they've got a reasonable idea of how much money they're making overall," John explains. "But quite often, in my experience, when you start to drill down into the details, they don't necessarily know which property is making the most money."
This isn't just theoretical. Logan shares an example from Landlord Studio: "We had a customer join us, and he had about 10 or 12 properties. When he put all of his information into Landlord Studio and ran some reports, he suddenly realised that one of his properties was only making £5 a month."
Often, John says, "It's only at the end of the year when you line up all of the statements and suddenly realise, geez, I've been paying X amount for insurance or repairs and maintenance that I wasn't expecting to be quite so expensive."
With quarterly engagement, these kinds of surprises become manageable issues rather than year-end shocks. You and your clients have greater visibility, with insights that have immediate, tangible value beyond ticking compliance boxes.
One of John's most valuable pieces of advice is knowing when not to push too hard on technology benefits.
"I think we potentially sometimes oversell the opportunity that technology presents for businesses of all shapes and sizes," John cautions. We sometimes look at it as a magic fix, the answer to all our woes.
And technology can offer a range of benefits for landlords. You’ve got lease tracking, e-signature capabilities, tenant communications, and much more.
But, as John puts it, "The key crux is: what is it that a landlord client is looking for? And for me, number one, it's to stay compliant. But number two, it's to make sure that they've got a real good gauge of how their portfolio is performing."
Any software employed needs to meet those needs, and it needs to make it easy. And ultimately, it is only as powerful as how it’s used.
Some clients will be resistant to adopting new software—that's inevitable. But John cautions against making assumptions about who those clients will be or why they're resistant.
"I think the first thing is not to presuppose that just because you've got an older client, they're not going to be tech savvy," John warns. "You'd be quite surprised—irrespective of the demographic of a client, you'll get a range of people who are either totally into tech or not."
The key is understanding that their resistance often has legitimate roots. Many landlords haven't adopted specialised software, not because they're opposed to technology, but because the right tools simply weren't available or accessible to them.
"One of the reasons that quite often landlords in particular don't have a specific piece of technology to help them manage their portfolios is because that didn't really exist a good few years ago. Or if it did, it was incredibly expensive because it was designed for commercial landlords with really, really big portfolios."
When approaching these conversations, avoid leading with assumptions. Instead, acknowledge that their current system, whether it's spreadsheets, paper records, or even a little black book, has worked for them up until now. But, it won’t under MTD. The conversation isn't about convincing them their methods are wrong; it's about showing them why change is now necessary, how you'll support them through it, and the benefits of leaning into this change.
Rather than leading with software features or MTD requirements, John recommends starting with a simple question: What's keeping your clients awake at night?
"I often talk about, whenever we do technology work with any of our clients, is to try and figure out what the pain point is. Speak to them and say, Are you worried about being compliant for MTD? Fine, if that's a challenge, here's a low-cost easy solution."
Common landlord pain points include:
"Really, just ask the questions. What is their frustration? What takes their time? And then hopefully, you can go in and say, Look, technology can help to solve that problem, we can map that problem around a solution like Landlord Studio."
Related: Landlord Responsibilities and Legal Obligations: The Checklist
One concern clients often have is that learning new software will be overwhelming and time-consuming. Address this head-on by being realistic about the learning curve while emphasising the support available.
"There's always going to be a learning curve for either the accountant, bookkeeper, or the client themselves," John acknowledges. "But that's also part of the onboarding and the education training process of adopting a new piece of technology."
Most modern landlord software providers offer substantial support resources. As Logan notes: "A lot of the software providers in the industry are quite good at providing onboarding support and resources to help clients get set up. We do this for all your clients at Landlord Studio."
When discussing onboarding with clients, John suggests framing it practically: "We can help you get on board. And maybe the onboarding process and the training might take two or three hours, maybe a little bit longer. But we can just give you this ready to go out of the box, as it were, and really help you start to see some of that granular information."
If there's one message John emphasises, it's this: client education and support around MTD software adoption should absolutely be a revenue opportunity for your firm.
"If you don't turn it (MTD) into a revenue opportunity, it's a huge mistake," John states directly. "What do clients come to us for? Well, they come to us to remain compliant, and they come to us for advice and support. And so that for me just feels like it's naturally chargeable."
The key is structuring these services so they're manageable for your firm, clearly defined, while providing clear value to clients.
Clients understand they're getting value when:
Based on John's advice, here's how to approach tech-resistant clients systematically:
1. Identify real client concerns. Before mentioning software or MTD, understand what's actually bothering your client. Is it compliance a worry, or is it more about lack of visibility, or time consumption?
2. Connect the solution to their specific problem. Don't lead with features. Lead with pain points: "You mentioned you're concerned about X. Here's how this tool specifically addresses that."
3. Be realistic about the learning curve. Don't promise an effortless transition, but do emphasise the support available and the manageable time investment.
4. Offer packaged support. Create clear service packages for onboarding and ongoing support so clients know what they're getting and you can manage the workload.
5. Frame it as taking control. With quarterly submissions, they'll need this visibility regardless. Better to implement it on their terms with proper support than scramble at the last minute.
Getting tech-resistant landlord clients comfortable with digital tools isn't about convincing them to embrace technology for its own sake. It's about connecting MTD compliance requirements with genuine business benefits they care about: staying compliant, understanding their portfolio performance, and catching issues before they become expensive problems.
As John notes, technology shouldn't turn their world upside down. "I don't think we should be too disparaging of someone who wants to keep a little black book of tenants and information, because that works for them. But what we should be able to do is give them that extra little bit of information and say, hey, you know, that property that you're renting for £700 a month, but you lose a hundred pounds a month on it—what are you going to do about it?"
That's the conversation that moves clients from resistance to action: showing them something about their business they didn't know before, something that has real financial impact.
In Episode 3 of our MTD Masterclass, we'll dive into the operational details of quarterly submissions, who should handle them, how to structure workflows effectively, and what support systems need to be in place.
Ready to make client onboarding easier for your MTD transition? Landlord Studio is built specifically for landlord clients with MTD compliance in mind. Our platform includes built-in onboarding support and educational resources designed specifically for landlords, reducing the support burden on your firm.
Book a demo to see how Landlord Studio can support your practice through the MTD transition.
