Desk Ledger - Digital Bookkeeping Software

Project Details

Desk Ledger - Digital Bookkeeping Software

Completed Nov 2025. Desk Ledger (previous name MTDify) is a self-hosted digital bookkeeping system designed for UK self-employed and small businesses.

Live Site GitHub Repo For Sale

Technologies Used

Claude Code Django Sqlite3 TailwindCSS

Overview

Key takeaways
  • Desk Ledger is a self-hosted bookkeeping system for UK self-employed people and small businesses.
  • It runs locally or on your own server, with no subscription.
  • It follows UK tax dates and also includes multi currency.
  • It is built for one user and one business.
  • It started as a personal tool to keep up with the change from paper to digital bookkeeping.
Name change

When Desk Ledger was first created it was called Manage Transactions Daily (MTD). The name was changed in July 2026.

This digital book keeping app started as a practical solution to a personal problem: I needed a straightforward way to keep my business records organised to keep up with the changes from paper to digital bookkeeping. What began as an early idea for a SaaS product quickly shifted once I realised two things - I didn’t want to maintain a cloud platform, and most people like me don’t need one.

The project naturally evolved into a Self-hosted bookkeeping software that can run locally or be deployed. It follows UK tax dates although since creating it I included multi currency

Keeping data on my own platform felt simpler, more private, and more manageable for the kinds of people I had in mind - self employed developers, sysadmins, devop professionals and anyone else who just wants clean digital records without the weight of full accounting software.

Digital Bookkeeping

A clear GitHub README  and a clean Django/Tailwind interface make the software easy to install and intuitive to use.

Desk Ledger now stands as:

Self-hostedLocal or your server
£0No subscription
1Self-contained system

Perfect for self employed professionals who are tired of overbuilt accounting platforms.
Designed to reduce overwhelm and provide simple digital record-keeping.

Self check

Is Desk Ledger right for you?

  1. I am self-employed or run a small business in the UK.
  2. I would rather keep my records on my own computer or server.
  3. I do not want to pay a monthly subscription for bookkeeping.
  • Probably not yetDesk Ledger is built for UK self-employment, one user and one business. Another tool may suit you better.
  • Worth a lookRead the technical details below to see if it fits how you work.
  • A good fitDesk Ledger was made for people like you.

Technical Details

Desk Ledger uses a web-based interface for the best user experience. The application runs entirely via local http or you can host it on your server your computer. Opening in a browser simply provides a modern, familiar interface that's easy to use.

It is built using a modern, secure Django architecture which includes:

What Desk Ledger is built with

Technology Stack

  • Django 5.2+
  • SQLite (default)
  • TailwindCSS Version 4
  • Adminita 0.2.0
  • HTML templates for speed and simplicity
  • Python virtual environment auto-setup
  • Docker option (coming soon)

Core Features

  • Income & expense tracking
  • Categories (fully editable)
  • Dashboards & summaries
  • Recurring monthly entries (e.g., rent, software, utilities)
  • Quarter calculations aligned with UK tax periods
  • CSV export
SQLite database

All data stored in a single db.sqlite3 file. One-user, one-business design (as per licence rules).

Licence terms

Desk Ledger is single-user, not multi-tenant, and cannot be hosted or converted into a SaaS — per Software Licence Agreement.

Guide

Run the Windows app in three steps

  1. Download the appDownload the file that ends in Windows-app.zip from the Desk Ledger releases page on GitHub.
  2. Unzip the whole folderKeep every file in the folder together.
  3. Double-click DeskLedger.exeDesk Ledger opens in its own window.
    Where is the full guide?

    The Desk Ledger download and setup guide covers your first login, backups and troubleshooting.

Results

Desk Ledger delivers a bookkeeping solution tailored to the realities of UK self-employment. It eliminates the subscription model, reduces complexity, and gives users full ownership of their business records.

Delivered

Outcomes Achieved

  • A fully functioning bookkeeping app packaged with Docker for self-hosting
  • Extensive documentation including installation, usage, troubleshooting and licensing
  • A legally safe, single-user, single-business, self-contained system
  • Clear licensing that prevents misuse, resale, or SaaS conversion(Based on the enforced clauses in the Software Licence Agreement)
Contribute

There is a file if you want to contribute to this project on GitHub CONTRIBUTING.MD as of October 2026 the list is below but check GitHub for updates.

  • CONTRIBUTING.md: it has an “Ideas to work on” list:
    • multi-business support
    • multi-user support
    • automatic Windows app builds with GitHub Actions
    • back up now and restore
    • CSV import
    • an installer and a signed app
    • tests for the accounts and business apps (both are empty)
    • screenshots for the README and the guide
    • Mac/Linux version could be created
Download and setup guide Desk Ledger on GitHub Get Desk Ledger
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