I don’t know about you but between tax returns, filing, rates and taxes, light and water, telephone bills, internet bills, staff payments, school fees, traffic fines and RICA, there always seems to be some admin that urgently needs to get done, or that is overdue.

As a business owner, I get paid for the work I deliver to clients, not for the time it takes me to do business and personal admin, so admin usually gets pushed to the back of the queue on my to do list and piles up until some dire consequence looming in the near future pushes it back up to the top of the list and I make time for it. However, this is not how it should be.

Having all your administration, planning and record keeping in order is actually fundamental to your success as an entrepreneur. You cannot be successful when you have outstanding tax returns or annual returns looming over your head. In addition, cash really is king when you own your own business and unless you manage your cash flow carefully, you could find yourself in difficulty. That’s why you need to have your budget and spending records up to date so you know where the money is going.

Here are some tips on how to keep up to date on your administration when time is money:

• Have a carefully laid out budget recording all your expenses down to small details like bank charges (which can be quite considerable today).

• File all your invoices, bills, bank statements and slips each month so that you have everything you need to account for where your money is going and to record your businesses income and expenditure.

• Put aside a day a month which you dedicate to sending out monthly invoices, filing your monthly records, paying bills, submitting tax returns and updating your company’s financial records.

If you do this monthly, and keep up to date, you will not find the tasks insurmountable or get into any trouble with your cash flow or with SARS. While for most of us administration or financial management might not be our core skill set, it is something that each entrepreneur needs to develop in order to be successful.
 

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