How it works

1. Choose the scheme and tax year

Pick EMI, CSOP, SAYE, SIP or other (non tax advantaged) arrangements, and the tax year the return is for. The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April; the return is due by the following 6 July.

2. Load your data

There are three ways in:

• A list of option events (EMI). One row per exercise, lapse, cancellation, release, adjustment or replacement, the way an option register or cap table export holds it. We put each row on the right HMRC sheet. Grants are left out, because they are notified to HMRC separately and do not go on the annual return.
• One HMRC sheet at a time (any scheme). A CSV with the columns of one of HMRC's sheets, with or without headings.
• A finished return (.ods). We check the sheet names, the question rows and every data row, and can rebuild a clean copy.

We match your columns by their headings. If a value is the same for everyone, such as your PAYE reference or whether your shares are listed, you type it once instead.

3. Check, free

Every row is checked against the rules in HMRC's technical note for its sheet:

• dates written as yyyy-mm-dd, and inside the tax year you chose;
• money and values to 4 decimal places and share numbers to 2, rounded the way HMRC asks;
• NI numbers as 2 letters, 6 numbers and 1 letter, including HMRC's TN reference for people without one;
• PAYE references as 3 numbers, a slash and the rest;
• yes or no answers, and the follow-on questions they trigger, such as the disqualifying event number from 1 to 8 or the HMRC valuation reference;
• text lengths, required answers, and words such as N/A that HMRC rejects.

Safe fixes are made for you and listed. Anything that needs your judgement is listed as an error or warning, with what to do. You can download the list.

4. Build HMRC's file

With a licence key, we fill in HMRC's own template. Only the rows below each sheet's question row change; sheet names, questions and every other part of the file stay exactly as HMRC published them. Rows with errors are left out until you fix them. You can also download one CSV file per sheet, named exactly as HMRC requires.

Then upload the file in the ERS online service. HMRC also offers a checking service inside your ERS account, which you can use as a second check.

What stays private

Employee names, NI numbers and share details are held only in the memory of your browser tab. They are not sent to our server, to analytics or to anyone else, and they are not saved in your browser. Closing the tab, or pressing "Clear my data", removes them. When you build files, the page checks your licence key with our server; that request contains the key and nothing else. See our privacy notice.