If you sometimes “skip” your own administration and have the feeling that it can all be done faster and more clearly, then you are probably right.
As entrepreneurs, we all know those days when we rummage through our mailboxes and secretly see some administration lying around. “Well, that will come later”, we think. Depending on, for example, the frequency of your tax return or payments, you do not have to do it every week or even every month (that also depends on the size and type of company). When we are working on it, we discover that there was a bit more administration than expected. How do you go about this and how do you keep it organized for yourself? We have listed a few tips for you. An Administration software (translation do Dutch: salarispakket) could help you make the whole workflow more efficient.
- Check monthly
It’s not one of our favorite activities, administration (translation to Dutch: loonadministratie). Nevertheless, it has to be done and it is useful to regularly check how everything is going. For example, you can prevent reminders or find out that one of your customers still has to pay. Do you not yet have a well-organized administration? Then make a good one once and keep it up regularly. Updating administration is less time-consuming than sifting through everything every time.
- Date everything
Sounds like a piece of cake, but sometimes you can no longer see the forest for the trees. Receipts, separate invoices, products that you have purchased yourself, etc. Everything mixed together. Date documents and if it is already there, make sure you organize them properly. That immediately bridges the gap to the next tip.
- Use folders for all steps
The administration of a company is more than just invoices and salary. That is why it is useful to have a separate folder for each part so that you can easily switch during administration instead of endlessly scrolling back and forth in one folder.
- Sort by year
Actually in line with tip 3, but make sure you have a new set of binders and folders every year. This makes it easier to “close” a year and start a new one. Then if you ever need something from 2014 again, grab the folder instead of browsing one folder and going through all the billing data until you reach 2014.
- Keep private and work separate
The slogan “keep private and work separate” applies to several entrepreneurs when it comes to time and attention, but your administration also benefits from this. Nothing is as annoying as money flows that intertwine and endlessly recalculate what you had bought privately and for your own company. Settling amounts takes far too long!
Hopefully these five tips help you make the administration processes more effective.
