Are you starting a New Small Business? Make Sure You’ve Completed Everything on This Checklist

The commencement of a new business venture involves a lot of enthusiasm and time. For many, it is a dream come true to develop your brand, build a product or service, write a business plan, and construct a corporate culture.

However, for such visions to become true, there is a lot that requires to be done. Businesses should have a solid structure to help them to thrive and not just survive. That means that business structures, taxes, legal requirements, and employment status need to be decided beforehand.

Here 123Financials – An accounting firm in London  sharing a quick checklist to make sure you’ve covered all your bases.

1. Select a Business Structure

The number of significant factors is determined by the type of company structure you select:

• Tax payments.
• Reporting requirements.
• Your liability related to your business.
• Even the ability to fundraise.

2. Legal structure

Before making a decision, it is essential to evaluate all forms of organizations.

The most popular available types of legal structure in the UK are:

• Sole trader
• Partnership
• Limited Liability Company 

Each type of structure is aimed at particular types of businesses, but having more than one match is expected.

Before making a decision, make sure to consider all your choices. And feel any changes that you might want to make in the future, as some organizations have limitations that may prevent businesses from transitioning to a new organization.

3. Funding options

For your venture, start-up capital may come from various means. Numerous factors, namely creditworthiness, the amount required and the options available, depending on the best way to obtain financing for your company.

• Business Loans: A commercial loan via a bank is a great starting point if a business needs financial support or assistance, but these are somewhat difficult to obtain. Some banks may require a personal guarantee or charge on business assets. 
• Grants for Business: Company grants are similar to loans; they don’t have to be repaid, though. Usually, business grants are very competitive and come with restrictions that the company must fulfil to be accepted. Look for those that are incredibly relevant to your situation when looking to obtain a small business grant.

• Crowdfunding: Additionally, to collect less amount of money from different investors or shareholders, you can consider running an equity crowdfunding campaign. In this modern era, crowdfunding has provided financial support to many businesses, and there are thousands of reputable crowdfunding platforms available for different kinds of organizations.

4. Register your business with suitable government entities

It will rely on what you do, and what kinds of needs you have, whether you need to register your company with some government department. It’s an important aspect to know, though, as you might miss out on the significant advantages offered with registration.

5. Set up a business bank account

For business banking purposes, you can select a bank and open an account.

If all transactions go through defined accounts, it will be much easier to control your company’s income and expenses. And business bank accounts typically come with advantages that are not present in regular personal accounts.

Here are a variety of things to look for when deciding banks and account types:

• Interest rates
• Transaction fees
• Accessible lines of credit
• Personal Asset Security

These inputs are likely to differ depending on the form of account savings, merchant services, etc.), so make sure the pro’s and con’s of each account type and bank are evaluated clearly.

You can also consider setting up bank accounts with challenger banks like Revolut, Monzo, etc. 

6. Fix a tax year

The taxable income is calculated based on its tax year, typically a portion of the year it begins operating. It’s the time for accounting purposes for which you pay taxes.

For individuals, the choices are a calendar year (1 January to 31 December of any given year) or a fiscal year (i.e. 6 April-5 April).

Companies can choose their financial year. It is usually the end of the month in which the company was incorporated.  

When you’re in doubt, Do not carry it alone

Just because you take your thoughts and convert them into reality does not mean that you have to work it all out on your own. To make your work as a small business owner smoother, you should take a small business accountant’s advice.

You’ll have to tap into the expertise and knowledge of others who are seasoned in the small business world of the digital age to position yourself for success.