First steps after setting up your company
The registration papers are the beginning, not the end. What comes in the first weeks, in the order that matters.
You have the papers. The company exists. And then comes a strange silence, where nobody tells you what to do next.
Most early mistakes are not mistakes of substance. They are things postponed because nobody said they were urgent.
Separate the money from day one
The company account belongs to the company. This is not bureaucratic ceremony; it is the only way you will be able to say, a year from now, what the business earned and what you spent. Mixing the two is the single most common problem we find with new clients.
Decide early how documents will flow
Every invoice you receive and every invoice you issue has to end up somewhere, in a repeatable way. It does not matter whether that is a cloud folder or an envelope; it matters that it is the same one every time.
A simple system you actually follow beats a good system you abandon in month two.
Ask before the first big decision
The first serious contract, the first large purchase, the first person you work with. These are the moments where a fifteen-minute conversation can change your costs for the whole year. After signing, the options narrow.
Do not be intimidated by what you do not know
You do not need to learn accounting. You need to know who to ask, and to ask early. The list of things a first-time founder cannot possibly know is long, and that is normal.
The mistakes we see most
- Documents piled up and handed over at year end.
- Personal spending paid from the company account, “we’ll sort it later”.
- Contracts signed without asking anything first.
- Putting off the first conversation with the accountant until there is a problem.
None of these is dramatic on its own. Together they turn the first year end into a painful exercise that could have been a formality.
