How To Keep On Top of Self-Employment Admin

ad // Admin is a part of life and not a very exciting part at that. Even for the most organized person, admin can build up and seem daunting. Not to mention the prospect of actually sitting down and doing it is enough to make you want to cry with boredom. And when you’re self employed, I’m sorry to tell you, that admin pile only gets bigger.

Now I’m not going to pretend that I know what it’s like to have an immense pile of admin for a business that you run by yourself and are self-employed for. I’m a very small fish in a very big self-employment pond and my little blog doesn’t gather up THAT MUCH admin that it’s unbearable to even think about.

But regardless of how big or small your business is, it’s important to stay on top of your admin to help you stay organized, access documents when needed and not miss any important deadlines that come with being self-employed.

Having some basic systems in place to help the admin side of your business is a great option and these systems come in all different forms and sizes, based on the size of the business itself. For example, I’m sure Zoe Sugg needs a lot more help with admin than I do!

So here are some super simple tips to help you stay on top of admin when you’re self-employed:

Have a box specifically for your business receipts

Keep this box in one place (preferably in your office or work space) and keep all receipts that might be needed for admin reasons for your business. Most notably for your tax return at the end of the tax year.

Have a digital backup of these receipts in a Google Drive

Keeping backups of documents for business admin is a great idea so it saves you the panic if you think you’ve lost the original. You can do this for almost anything but in the case of the receipts, snap a quick photo and upload it into a private Google Drive folder.

Keep all your admin in one place

You don’t want all your different admin scattered around your house, so try your best to keep it in one place. A small filing cabinet would do the trick or if that’s not needed, use one specific drawer in your desk.

Hire an accountant if needed

If you’re really struggling with the money aspect of your business then you might want to consider small business accounting. Professional help on the finance system of your business to allow you to focus on what’s most important! You can gauge for yourself how much assistance you may need whether that’s basic accounting or hiring a fractional CFO to set a financial plan for your business. Check out CFOShare for a list of services your business can benefit from.

Use a colour coding system 

I do love colour coding! Whatever system you’re using for your business admin, adding a colour code in there is not going to help the organization of that system.

Hire an admin assistant for extra help

If you really struggle with admin, you could hire an admin assistant if you’re in the position to do so to help you with the daily or weekly running of your business which will take a little stress off your plate.

Note important dates in every calendar

Most of us have different calendars for different things but for anything that’s SUPER important that you can’t miss in regards to your business admin (meetings or tax returns for example), make sure you’re writing these everywhere you’ll see them.

Admin is really boring. We all know that. But it’s important and is vital to the smooth running of a small business. Organization is typically the main factor in keeping on top of admin tasks in your business; not procrastinating on them and definitely asking for extra help when you need it!

How do you manage the admin side of your business?