One of the many problems faced by an autonomous in Spain is the large amount of bureaucracy with which he has to fulfill in the normal development of his activity and on which he must always be up to date.
The Spanish self-employed are, among Europeans, the ones that more amount of “paperwork” have to face on a day-to-day basis. This concern is for 47.5% of these professionals “more important than their own business”, according to a report prepared by Infoempleo and Adecco; And of course, having this concern is not the most convenient when you should focus on developing your activity exclusively to get ahead.
According to the Hiscox ADN del Emprendedor 2017 study, Spain is the second country in which more time is dedicated to bureaucracy, only behind France. This makes the Spanish entrepreneur one of the worst unemployed in relation to the time taken to solve bureaucratic procedures.
To help the self-employed person in the management and keeping of the necessary documentation on a day-to-day basis and in the quarterly and annual special periods, we will give some advice that can make your task a little easier:
- Hire a tax advisor.
Having a tax advisor who informs the self-employed worker of all the obligations that he must meet regularly in his business to avoid taking a huge fright at the end of the year is something fundamental, unless you know all the imperatives yourself of the law and finance. - Have a good agenda.
Deadlines. The damn deadlines. It is very important to have controlled the times in which the documents, invoices and other papers that the Treasury asks us to deliver. For this, a good agenda is essential. And in this case a double agenda. The typical agenda where you can point by hand any important appointment or action to remember, and another electronic (the same smartphone) that automatically notifies us in advance of these deadlines. - Internalize the ticket claim.
When you buy something you should always ask for the ticket or invoice. It must be action-reaction. Then you will see if it works for you or not, but don’t forget it. - Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today.
It will be much easier to organize the documentation that you are going to have to present in your statements to the Treasury if, day by day, you organize all the tickets, invoices and forecasts that you have. So spend a few minutes a day and organize the activity you have done in the last hours to avoid forgetting later. - Obtain the digital certificate.
Having the digital certificate or the Tax Agency’s Pin Code can save you a considerable amount of time on some occasion. Do not leave it for later and get it now. - Do not be afraid of technology.
There are still freelancers who use paper and pen as a unique element in the management of their accounts. We do not ask you to forget the analog work mode, but we do advise you to use technology to help you organize your work and your obligations to the Treasury. An accounting and billing program can be very useful and avoid further scares.