5 Strategies To Avoid The Most Common Admin Pitfalls Of New Entrepreneurs

When you’re launching your business, there are a million exciting things to tackle – developing a marketing strategy, winning over your first clients, assembling an amazing team. 

Admin, however, is often missing from entrepreneurs’ priority to-do list. To their detriment. 

Lagging in the admin department can lead to complicated, and costly, consequences. Here are five strategies to avoid the most common pitfalls of new entrepreneurs. 

Go Through The Business Registration Checklist

To begin with, it’s crucial to conform to all the administrative formalities of launching your business. These will vary significantly depending on where you live and what niche you’re in.

Launching an online video editing company in the UK, for example, comes with a completely different set of administrative to-dos than starting a bookkeeping business in the US.

Plus, many countries offer different ways to register your business, which come with different tax statuses and legal frameworks. 

It’s essential to dig in and research exactly what applies to the business you want to launch. If that becomes too complicated, consider consulting a professional who’ll be able to walk you through the process. It pays off in the long term, giving you clarity and legal security. 

Brush Up Your Bookkeeping Knowledge 

Next up, you need to polish your bookkeeping skills. 

Logging business expenses, managing invoices, and keeping track of incoming and outgoing amounts on different accounts can be a dry business. However, it’s crucial for the success of your company. 

Make sure you set up a comprehensive bookkeeping system especially when you integrate it with online banking and transactions, with regular workflows that allow you to stay on top of all your expenses and revenues. By incorporating bookkeeping into your weekly and monthly business routines, you’ll be able to stay on the ball. 

Get An Accounting Expert 

Bookkeeping is one dimension of handling the financial admin of your business. Accounting is another. While bookkeeping is concerned with recording and categorizing incoming and outgoing money flows, accounting focuses on analyzing them, and painting a larger picture of the state of your business. 

For that, getting an expert can quickly pay off. 

Not only will a professional accountant be able to give you an independent, unbiased report on your business performance. They will also be able to pinpoint areas in which you can improve your productivity, save expenses, or leverage write-offs and other tax incentives. 

Conversely, they can also point out cases of non-compliance, or where you are operating in a legal gray area – and how to fix it. 

Plan Ahead For Tax Season 

Nothing in life is certain but death and taxes, as the saying goes. Still, preparing for tax season is not something many entrepreneurs incorporate into their admin workflows until it is imminent. 

To avoid this, keep your taxes at the back of your mind throughout the business year.

It’s crucial to understand your filing status, which determines what tax rates you’ll have to pay, what your standard deduction is, and whether you’re eligible for any credits. 

Staying on top of bookkeeping and accounting will also make it easier to calculate approximately the tax amount that then will be due. Setting aside enough funds for this purpose ensures that you’re well-braced. 

As a new entrepreneur, it’s well worth checking the tax forms that apply to your business (and your personal situation) straight away. That way, you’ll know exactly what information you’ll have to supply when tax season rolls around, and you’ll be able to track it conscientiously throughout the year. As with accounting and payroll, though, it is often worth getting an expert on board. 

Get The Right Tools 

Finally, you should consider investing in a dedicated tool for all your business admin workflows. 

At the beginning, managing your accounts, invoices, and taxes through various spreadsheets probably seems sufficient. However, as your business grows, such a system makes it tricky to scale up your operations. 

Bookkeeping and accounting software is designed to facilitate this scaling process. It allows you to set up personalized workflows, categorize expenses, handle invoices, calculate taxes, and juggle all your accounts. Plus, as your business flourishes, you can add users to help you manage everything. 

Take the time when you launch your business to check out different tools and compare their different functionalities and rates. That way, you’ll be well-prepared for the future. 

Conclusion 

Admin is hardly any entrepreneurs’ favorite part of launching their business. However, by following the strategies above, you’ll be able to avoid common pitfalls, set up the necessary workflows, and help your business prosper.