Ways to save money as a (starting) enterpreneur

The real estate prices are sky high, including the rent for physical offices. To save on your work space is one of the easiest ways to save money. Work from home and use a virtual office or rent a shared office instead. Another disadvantage of physical office is that most rent contract run for years. So you will be stuck with high expenses for a long period.

Companies in many countries can have an extended first financial year. Such year can run for a period up to 24 months. The ratio behind an extended financial year is that it does not make sense to have a first financial year of for example 2 months when you incorporate a company at the beginning of November. Why is an extended financial year saving on expenses? Because you can skip the costs for preparing an annual report and corporate income tax return. Both can be costly!

Fee offers can differ a lot in pricing. You can imagine that a firm that is very busy will not offer you very attractive rates. So always ask several quotes before you make your final decision.

There are bookkeepers that work as sole proprietor. At the other side of the spectrum there are large firms like EY. The hourly rate of the sole proprietor can be up to 20x lower than from the big four company. At the same time the big four company can offer very specialised knowledge that only a large firm can bring. Find the right balance by assessing how complicated your assignment will be. If it is a standard job it is better to avoid the big four firms.

If a job is not properly executed, it can bring you a lot of additional costs. You can limit the risk of poor quality services by checking the reputation of a company. Ask friends and colleagues for referrals and check the reviews on Google and Trustpilot. It can even save you from being scammed.

Agree on fixed fees with your services provider such as accountant and tax advisor. Be careful in case fee proposals offer partly fixed fees in combination with services that are offered on the basis of time spent. For many corporate services providers this is their way to make money.