Registering as self-employed / sole proprietor

Work through the list in order. Hide the notes when you know what to do.

1. Decide the right legal form for your work

   Compare tax rate, liability and paperwork burden for your specific situation, ideally with an accountant. The difference between forms can be several times over in both tax and risk.

2. Check the income and activity limits for the simplified regime

   Not every profession or income level qualifies for a simplified regime — verify the exclusions for your specific line of work and region.

3. Register through the correct official channel

   In Russia this is the 'My Tax' app or Gosuslugi for a sole proprietor; elsewhere it's your country's business registry or tax authority site. The process changes — check the current instructions before applying.

4. Keep your registration number and certificate

   A digital and a printed copy — you'll need it to open a bank account, sign contracts, and whenever a client or bank asks for proof.

5. Open a separate bank account for business income

   Mixing personal and business money makes bookkeeping and any audit painfully hard to untangle — separate them from the very first payment.

6. Pick an invoicing tool now

   An app, a spreadsheet, or accounting software — decide before the first client, not after the tenth manually cobbled-together invoice.

7. Learn what a compliant invoice or receipt needs to include

   Usually your registration number, date, amount and a description — check the exact required fields for your country, since getting it wrong makes the document unusable for the client.

8. Set aside a fixed percentage of every payment for taxes

   Decide the number after checking your actual bracket — don't estimate. A separate 'tax' pocket saves a lot of stress when the bill comes due.

9. Put tax deadlines in a calendar with a buffer

   A reminder a week early, not on the deadline itself — a missed payment often comes with a penalty on top.

10. Check the sales/VAT tax threshold

    Past a certain revenue level you may need to register for and charge a sales or VAT tax — find the threshold before you cross it, not after.

11. Look into insurance and pension contributions

    Self-employment usually means health coverage — and sometimes pension contributions — are on you to opt into, not handled automatically by an employer.

12. Draft a simple client contract template

    Scope, payment terms, deadline, cancellation terms — written before the first dispute, not during one.

13. Build a weekly bookkeeping habit

    Every income and expense, logged right away — not reconstructed from memory at year end.

14. Keep digital copies of every business receipt

    Check what actually counts as a deductible expense under your regime — this is one of the points that varies most by country.

15. Decide your late-payment policy before it happens

    Payment terms, any late fee, what happens at 30/60/90 days overdue — thought through in advance, not improvised in frustration.

16. Find out if a separate trading name needs registration

    Working under your own name versus a brand name can carry different registration requirements depending on the country.

17. Check whether home office and equipment costs are deductible

    Some regimes let you deduct a share of equipment and workspace costs — find out what documentation is required to claim it.

18. Track billable hours from day one if not project-based

    Easier to track from the start than to reconstruct later for an invoice or a client dispute.

19. Consider a paid consultation with an accountant for the first quarter

    Even a single session — mistakes made at registration and in early taxes are expensive to unwind later.

20. Note the renewal or reporting cycle

    Annual or quarterly — so your self-employed or sole-proprietor status doesn't quietly lapse over a missed filing.