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Keeping your bookkeeping up to date without drowning

Bookkeeping scares off almost every freelancer. Kept up a little regularly, it takes a few minutes a week. Left aside, it becomes a year-end nightmare. Here's how to stay on the right side of it.

The trap of leaving it all to year-end

Bookkeeping scares off almost every freelancer, so we put it off. The problem is it doesn't disappear: it piles up. Kept up a little each week, it takes a few minutes. Left for year-end, it becomes a mountain of receipts and fuzzy figures at the worst possible moment.

Set money aside as you go

With every invoice you collect, immediately set aside the share that will go to taxes and AVS, in a separate account. That money isn't yours, even if it's sitting in your account. Putting it aside the moment it arrives spares you the nasty surprise of having to pull it out all at once, often just when you've already spent it.

Keep your receipts as they come

The invoices you send, the ones you receive, your business expenses: file them as they arrive, not six months later. A simple folder, fed regularly, is plenty at the start. You don't need a complicated system, just a system you actually keep up.

What you keep, what you delegate

VUED gives you the healthy basics: your quotes, your invoices, tracking your turnover and what's been paid. For the tax return, the balance sheet or VAT, a fiduciary remains a real ally, especially as the business grows. Knowing what you keep in hand and what you hand over spares you both mistakes and burnout.

Accounting and tax obligations depend on your situation and your canton. For the details, rely on your fiduciary or your cantonal administration.