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Great piece. I realize now that I'm more or less clueless about one of the things mentioned there: > An understanding of tax laws in your country How does one

by selmnoo 13y ago

Great piece. I realize now that I'm more or less clueless about one of the things mentioned there: > An understanding of tax laws in your country How does one learn this? Is there a book you guys would recommend? I think in addition to tax code, learning a bit of legal stuff is probably necessary too. And for that, grellas's guide is probably handy: http://www.grellas.com/faq_business_startup.html http://www.grellas.com/faq_business_startup.html. Learning about accounting would be a good idea too, I'm also clueless there though - any recommendations for learning that?

jakobe 13y ago
In my experience you don't need to know much about tax laws to run a small business. Find a cheap accountant* , and he'll tell you everything you need to know about taxes in two hours. * When you are just starting out, it makes a difference if you pay someone 300€ a year to do your taxes, or if you have to pay 1000€. Stay away from the big companies. They will charge you for every phone call. Ask other small business owners for references.
- moron4hire 13y ago
  Hiring an accountant was a godsend. I had just moved to a new city and did not know we had a business property tax here, or that the city itself had their own business licensing requirements (even for work-from-home freelancers). Not only did my accountant quickly get all of that taken care of, they also found more deductions in my taxes than I was paying them. It paid me money to hire an accountant. Technically, yes, one could navigate all of the forms on their own and get even more tax savings, but that is only the case if you don't value your time. Since I charge my clients by the hour, and filing taxes often takes several hours for us in the United States, having an accountant also meant I could work without worry and make money instead of having to take a day off from working or stress myself out on my regular days off. Hire an accountant. Do it right away, you give them a retainer and they'll have a price sheet of services they offer. They'll ask you what your goals are, just tell them you are interested in making sure you are in full compliance with the law, but don't know what you're doing. They deal with customers like us all the time. They have it streamlined and know exactly what to do.
Chris_Newton 13y ago
How does one learn this? I suggest an obvious but effective policy: when you need professional advice, speak to a professional. The first time you need a certain kind of legal document — terms, privacy policy, employment contract, whatever it might be — speak with a lawyer. When you set up your company, find a decent accountant who can get the proper structure in place. They can tell you the basics about what records you need to keep and when you’ll need to do things. After you’ve done something the first once or twice, you usually have a reasonable understanding of what the essentials are, and you can probably do more of the work yourself to save time/money. The professionals can then become more advisors and reviewers than the people doing routine paperwork. I also strongly agree with 'jakobe about finding professionals who are used to working with small companies, preferably by personal recommendation. It’s much more than just pricing: the whole way they work is often very different to how bigger accountancy and legal firms who are used to working with bigger companies work. As a final tip, in most places there are organisations that support small businesses that you/your company can join. These usually have a modest cost, but IME membership can easily pay for itself many times over. Some useful services they might offer that save you time and/or money include providing templates for common types of legal document (which you can use as a starting point if you’re drafting yourself), providing legal and/or tax helplines (which you can phone when you just need five minutes speaking with someone who knows what they’re talking about), and producing general guidance on things like contracts, tax, and insurance, with a focus on issues affecting small businesses. You might also find you can get more attractive pricing on things like business supplies and insurance through such organisations, as they have much more bargaining power collectively than any single small business has on its own.

by selmnoo 13y ago

jakobe 13y ago

In my experience you don't need to know much about tax laws to run a small business. Find a cheap accountant* , and he'll tell you everything you need to know about taxes in two hours. * When you are just starting out, it makes a difference if you pay someone 300€ a year to do your taxes, or if you have to pay 1000€. Stay away from the big companies. They will charge you for every phone call. Ask other small business owners for references.

moron4hire 13y ago
Hiring an accountant was a godsend. I had just moved to a new city and did not know we had a business property tax here, or that the city itself had their own business licensing requirements (even for work-from-home freelancers). Not only did my accountant quickly get all of that taken care of, they also found more deductions in my taxes than I was paying them. It paid me money to hire an accountant. Technically, yes, one could navigate all of the forms on their own and get even more tax savings, but that is only the case if you don't value your time. Since I charge my clients by the hour, and filing taxes often takes several hours for us in the United States, having an accountant also meant I could work without worry and make money instead of having to take a day off from working or stress myself out on my regular days off. Hire an accountant. Do it right away, you give them a retainer and they'll have a price sheet of services they offer. They'll ask you what your goals are, just tell them you are interested in making sure you are in full compliance with the law, but don't know what you're doing. They deal with customers like us all the time. They have it streamlined and know exactly what to do.

Chris_Newton 13y ago

How does one learn this? I suggest an obvious but effective policy: when you need professional advice, speak to a professional. The first time you need a certain kind of legal document — terms, privacy policy, employment contract, whatever it might be — speak with a lawyer. When you set up your company, find a decent accountant who can get the proper structure in place. They can tell you the basics about what records you need to keep and when you’ll need to do things. After you’ve done something the first once or twice, you usually have a reasonable understanding of what the essentials are, and you can probably do more of the work yourself to save time/money. The professionals can then become more advisors and reviewers than the people doing routine paperwork. I also strongly agree with 'jakobe about finding professionals who are used to working with small companies, preferably by personal recommendation. It’s much more than just pricing: the whole way they work is often very different to how bigger accountancy and legal firms who are used to working with bigger companies work. As a final tip, in most places there are organisations that support small businesses that you/your company can join. These usually have a modest cost, but IME membership can easily pay for itself many times over. Some useful services they might offer that save you time and/or money include providing templates for common types of legal document (which you can use as a starting point if you’re drafting yourself), providing legal and/or tax helplines (which you can phone when you just need five minutes speaking with someone who knows what they’re talking about), and producing general guidance on things like contracts, tax, and insurance, with a focus on issues affecting small businesses. You might also find you can get more attractive pricing on things like business supplies and insurance through such organisations, as they have much more bargaining power collectively than any single small business has on its own.