Less admin as a sole trader: a checklist

The checklist

• One inbox for requests. Phone, WhatsApp and website all in one overview, so you never have to go looking.
• Set questions for every request. Address, problem, photo and timing in one go, with no chasing.
• Confirm appointments in one tap. And send the customer an automatic reminder.
• Work orders on your phone. Log time and materials straight after the job.
• Invoices from the work order. Nothing to retype, just check and approve.
• Payment link or card on the spot. Fewer unpaid invoices.
• Automatic reminders. For anyone who doesn't pay on time.
• Photograph receipts straight away. Instead of hunting for them at the end of the quarter.
• Ten minutes once a week. What's outstanding, what still needs doing?

Where most of the time goes

For many self-employed people, most of the time isn't spent on the bookkeeping itself but on everything before it: answering requests, calling back, retyping details. So that's also where the biggest gains are.

How to tackle it in four weeks

Changing everything at once rarely works. Take one step a week instead:

• Week 1: measure. For one week, write down how much time you spend on requests, calling back, scheduling, work orders, invoices and receipts. Then you know where to start.
• Week 2: one inbox. Have phone, WhatsApp and your website end up in one place, and set up the standard questions for a request.
• Week 3: from work order to invoice. Record time and materials on your phone, and create the invoice from that data instead of typing everything in again.
• Week 4: payments and reminders. Put a payment link on every invoice and let reminders go out by themselves.

What you're legally required to keep

Less admin doesn't mean keeping less. You keep the basic records of your administration for 7 years, and records relating to real estate, such as business premises, for 10 years. Storing them digitally is allowed, but your files must be usable during an inspection. Not sure whether you may throw away a paper receipt after photographing it? Check with your accountant or the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration.

Payment terms and reminders

An automatic reminder works best if you're clear about the payment term in advance. If you agree nothing with a business customer, a payment term of 30 days applies; an agreed term may, as a rule, be no longer than 60 days. For consumers there's no fixed statutory term: you agree it yourself, and it must be reasonable. If a consumer doesn't pay on time, you first send a free reminder giving them at least another 14 days, before you're allowed to charge collection costs.

Common mistakes

• Invoicing at the end of the month. The later the invoice, the later the money. Send it straight after the job.
• Coming up with a new price every time. A fixed price list for your most common work saves calculating and discussion.
• Keeping appointments in your head. What isn't in your calendar, you'll forget one day. Put call-back arrangements in it too.
• Keeping receipts in the van. Thermal paper fades; take a photo straight away.

How Corvo Apex helps

Office in the Solo version is built for one-person businesses: request, work order and invoice in one chain, with no retyping. See it in the demo.