64410Easy As 123: balanceClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKThe project is to take the work we've been doing since 2018 -- creating a full financial data processing system with Client Relationship Management \[CRM\] called kEAper that we will sell on licence to anyone working with self-employed clients -- and to develop the client-facing web & mobile app called **balance**. The project will allow us to finish a free trial version to test the THP tool on self-employed people accessed through networks and partner organisations that we have been cultivating. The specific need is the lack of financial management skills & confidence amongst self-employed workers (including gig workers/side hustlers) often leading to business failure. As the COVID-19 pandemic has proved harshly yet again, the self-employed are an extremely vulnerable sector with often very little safety net, treated as an irritating after-thought by a distrustful HMRC, and they struggle with their financial management -- so many of them may not survive this crisis or even restore their income levels. HMRC's digital tax plans will make things even harder. Uniquely, we started from HMRC's published proposals (which we believe gives a competitive advantage and helps to future-proof) which are to expand Making Tax Digital quarterly tax reporting to all, decrease the VAT threshold, access bank accounts in order to calculate tax 'in-house', and expand self-assessment to everyone. Our approach, compared with existing accounting softwares and banking apps that some in this sector use (85% still use Excel or paper), is to encourage users to: * see the whole picture from their portfolio of activities; * set aside for tax & rainy days (or crises such as now); * focus on vital but understandable analytics; and * build their financial management skills through elearning. We believe the self-employed can be helped towards financial resilience and independence, but that they sometimes need a helping hand, not just from our time-saving technology but from human advisors. That's why we are developing a new role that we call Business Data Interpreter (or BDI). These could be existing Bookkeepers, IFAs, & Business Coaches, or new people entering the sector looking for flexible remote working. BDIs can use kEAper to help with analytics as well as preparing Tax Returns, and so on, and communicate with and assess clients through **balance**. Our ambition is to make **balance** the toolkit to fulfil the needs of the enormous potential market of 4.8 million (& rising) self-employed plus private landlords, SMEs, and anyone with Pensions/Savings/Investments. We have in fact pivoted and started by developing a more entry-level tool called the MoneyMixr, that allows users to visualise & play with estimated figures and make vital decisions. The Take-Home Tool is now called balancr - we will develop this as part of Stage 2. The Extension for Impact funding will allow us to increase our speed to market and develop more tools alongside MoneyMixr, specifically the BDI Basic Course (and start to draft the accredited Professional Course for BDIs), and kEAper (our CRM/data processing & storage system for sale on licence to BDIs).