Core web application
Onboarding, account management and the day-to-day workflows for self-employed individuals and landlords. Works on laptops, tablets and phones.
Custom Software DevelopmentFractional CMO
Ongoing
OngoingTaxNav: Building tax software approved by the UK government, with built-in AI guidance
A combined Custom Software Development and Fractional CMO engagement with TaxNav, delivered ahead of the April 2026 regulatory deadline and still ongoing.
✓
HMRC-recognisedMaking Tax Digital for Income Tax
✓
Spreadsheet-compatibleNo downloads, no migration
- HMRC-recognised
- Making Tax Digital for Income Tax software
- Hundreds
- of people submitting their returns through TaxNav
- Sep 2024
- Custom development began
- Q1 2025
- Fractional CMO support started
- Apr 2026
- Regulatory deadline, delivered ahead of it
IN THE CLIENT’S WORDS
“ Starting from ground zero is always an unknown. Choosing PQ Impact has proven to be one of the best decisions we made from the outset. Not only did they deliver on scope, but they also managed the complexities behind creating and delivering the product and marketing strategy that took us to a revenue-generating business.
Without their guidance and skills, we would have struggled to bring both product and marketing together in one resourced organisation. I would highly recommend them for any similar projects.“
01THE CHALLENGE
One partner for both sides of the work, in parallel, against a fixed regulatory deadline.
TaxNav needed to meet the April 2026 deadline for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, the HMRC rule requiring self-employed people and landlords to file through approved software. The market was being created by regulation rather than existing demand.
WORKSTREAM 01
Custom Software
Development
The product
WORKSTREAM 02
Fractional
CMO
The messaging
Pilot usersOne partner
01
Build the product
To an HMRC-recognised standard, ready for live tax submissions by pilot users and, from April 2026, the broader market.
02
Strengthen marketing
Analytics, automation, paid, content, email and landing pages to reach, convert and retain users.
03
Keep both aligned
Pilot feedback shaped the product, and the product shaped the messaging.
02
THE TWO WORKSTREAMS
Workstream 01
Custom Software Development
THE CHALLENGE
We designed and built TaxNav as a browser-based Making Tax Digital for Income Tax application, to a standard HMRC (UK Tax authority) would recognise and approve, on a timeline set by the April 2026 deadline.
It had to handle live tax submissions, meet the UK government's requirements for approved tax software, and work with the spreadsheets users already keep. It also needed AI guidance that users could trust, taking them through each submission accurately and never giving advice it couldn't back up.
What we built
A complete production application, across four connected areas.
HMRC integration and compliance
The compliance layer that makes TaxNav an HMRC-recognised channel for quarterly updates and final declarations.
Spreadsheet-native data pipeline
Users bring their existing spreadsheets, and TaxNav converts the data into a format HMRC accepts. Manual entry is also available.
Commercial and operational infrastructure
Billing, user management, customer and pilot communications, and the internal tooling to run the service day to day.
INSIDE THE PRODUCT
A closer look at TaxNav
1
FEATURE SPOTLIGHT
Spreadsheet import
Users keep the spreadsheet they already work in. An import worksheet sits inside their existing file, and the income and expense summaries flow straight into TaxNav, where they can still be edited before anything is submitted.
Works with Excel, Google Sheets and Apple Numbers
Transactions stay editable in TaxNav after import
2
FEATURE SPOTLIGHT
Quarterly updates and final declarations
All four quarterly updates go to HMRC with year-to-date income and expense summaries. At year end, the final declaration adds the adjustments, other income and relief claims that complete the return.
Cash or accrual accounting, standard or calendar periods.
The estimated tax bill updates as transactions are added.
3
FEATURE SPOTLIGHT
AI-guided submissions, from start to finish
Navi, TaxNav's built-in AI assistant, guides users through every quarterly and final submission step by step. Users share their information and Navi fills in the forms for them, adding regulatory detail only where it's relevant and checking for errors before anything is submitted.
Navi answers only from a verified knowledge base that we curate and control, and every conversation is encrypted and kept private.
It stays within what it can verify and says when it can't, so it won't make up answers or give misleading guidance.
Challenges and how we addressed them
01Meeting the HMRC standard for recognised MTD IT software.
HOW WE ADDRESSED IT
We built against the HMRC specification from day one, with a dedicated engineer testing against HMRC’s scenarios throughout, and worked through pre-production and recognition testing round by round.
02Translating a complex regulatory workflow into a product usable by people without an accounting background.
HOW WE ADDRESSED IT
We kept the interface close to users’ existing habits, with spreadsheets as the main data source and step-by-step guidance through each submission.
Workstream 02
Fractional CMO and Marketing Services
THE CHALLENGE
The market is being created by regulation rather than existing demand.
Most self-employed individuals, sole traders and landlords are not yet searching for MTD IT solutions, and established accounting brands are entering with larger budgets.
WELCOME EMAILWelcome to TaxNav
We are pleased to confirm that your account has been successfully created and is now active.
Useful Resources:
Setting up your account
Spreadsheet template
TRUST IS A CENTRAL FACTOR
Users are submitting tax data to HMRC.
The software had to be seen as credible and officially recognised before anyone would enter their financial information.
Our proof point: the product was already in pilot, with live users submitting to HMRC.
Goals
Goal 1
Strengthen TaxNav’s marketing capabilities with technical infrastructure, data analysis and measurable execution frameworks.
Goal 2
Drive awareness of both the MTD IT regulatory change and TaxNav as a solution.
Goal 3
Acquire and nurture early adopters through the pilot programme.
Goal 4
Grow TaxNav’s content presence and authority in the MTD IT space.
Goal 5
Scale TaxNav’s acquisition infrastructure across paid, organic and email channels.
Goal 6
Gather structured feedback from pilot users to inform product development.
Methodology
We operated as a fractional CMO function, working alongside TaxNav’s existing marketing team.
We complemented the team’s strategy and market knowledge with technical execution, data infrastructure and analytics-driven decisions.
Because we were also building the product, marketing could see what was shipping and what pilot users were experiencing, and campaign insight fed straight back into product decisions.
THE WORK RAN IN FOUR PHASES
1
Phase 1
Foundation and infrastructure
Analytics, marketing automation and the systems needed before any campaign could run.
2
Phase 2
Content and visibility
Research-driven content positioning TaxNav as a credible voice on MTD IT.
3
Phase 3
Acquisition and conversion
Paid campaigns, email nurture sequences and landing pages to turn awareness into sign-ups.
4
Phase 4
Feedback and optimisation
Structured pilot feedback used to improve both messaging and the user journey.
What we delivered
Working alongside TaxNav’s marketing team, we contributed across six areas.
Marketing automation and landing pages
Workflows that feed mailing campaign data back into targeting and segmentation, plus landing pages for specific audiences and journey stages.
Content strategy through PAA research
People Also Ask research into what users ask about MTD, quarterly submissions and HMRC compliance, turned into content for every stage of awareness.
Email campaigns and user journey design
Acquisition campaigns and an onboarding journey covering feature education and ongoing engagement, designed to build confidence.
Pilot user communication and feedback
Pilot feedback moved directly into both messaging and development priorities.
Paid advertising
Campaigns for self-employed professionals, freelancers, landlords and accountants, segmented by profession, income and awareness stage.
GA4 setup and monitoring, Mixpanel and server-side events
Event tracking for key conversions across the user journey, giving a clear framework for measuring and optimising campaigns.
WELCOME EMAILWelcome to TaxNav
We are pleased to confirm that your account has been successfully created and is now active.
Useful Resources:
Setting up your account
Spreadsheet template
Landing pagesEmail journeyResearch-driven content
01
Landing pages
TaxNav’s landing page explains Making Tax Digital and brings product exploration and sign-up into one clear entry point.
02
Email journey
A welcome email confirms account activation and directs new users to setup guidance, learning resources and support.
03
Research-driven content
A published TaxNav guide breaks getting started with Making Tax Digital into practical steps.
Challenges and how we addressed them
01The market does not yet exist.
HOW WE ADDRESSED IT
We built awareness-stage content from PAA research and ran educational campaigns that led with the regulatory change rather than the product.
02High trust threshold.
HOW WE ADDRESSED IT
We communicated pilot proof points and HMRC-recognised status, with a user journey that builds confidence step by step.
03Established competitors.
HOW WE ADDRESSED IT
We focused on TaxNav’s differentiators: no migration, spreadsheet-compatible, browser-based and direct data entry.
04Pre-deadline urgency versus user apathy.
HOW WE ADDRESSED IT
Content clarified the timeline and positioned early adoption as a practical advantage rather than just a compliance obligation.
05Alignment between marketing and product.
HOW WE ADDRESSED IT
With one partner in both development and marketing, the roadmap and messaging stayed aligned by default.
03THE INTEGRATED APPROACH
One engagement with a shared view of the product, the pilot users and the deadline.
From Q1 2025, development and marketing ran in parallel as a single engagement.
Sep 2024
Custom development began
Pilot
Product in pilot, with live users submitting to HMRC
Q1 2025
Fractional CMO support started, once the product was taking shape
Apr 2026
MTD IT requirements take effect
Today
Live, HMRC-recognised and in active use by hundreds of people
THAT STRUCTURE MATTERED IN CONCRETE WAYS
01
Pilot feedback from marketing went straight into the development backlog.
02
Marketing could speak credibly about the product because we were building it.
03
Release timing, communications and campaign cadence were decided together.
04PROGRESS AND ONGOING WORK
Live, HMRC-recognised and in active use.
Development
LiveUsed by hundreds of people submitting their returns. Development continues on stability, capacity and improvements as adoption grows.
Marketing
OngoingThe focus has shifted to active acquisition and conversion, with campaigns, content and automation adjusted as user data comes in.
Combined
One systemLive usage informs marketing priorities, and acquisition data informs what we build next: one system, operated the way it was built.
05
ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP
ABOUT THE CLIENT
TaxNav
HMRC-recognised software that simplifies Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Browser-based and spreadsheet-compatible, with no downloads or migration.
OUR ROLE
PQ Impact
We worked alongside TaxNav’s team as development partner and fractional CMO, supporting their growth from pilot to broader market adoption ahead of the April 2026 deadline.
