Self-Employed ‘backbone’ of UK Economy, yet 1 in Ten Only Review Financial Health of Business Once a Year

• Research from YouGov, commissioned by FreeAgent previously found that just 38% self employed check overall financial position of their business once a week

Ed Molyneux, CEO, co-founder of FreeAgent said of IPSE’s National Freelancers Day (09/06/16):

“Self-employment is the backbone of the economy and there are millions of freelancers and micro-business owners who run successful, thriving businesses across the UK. But although they are all incredibly passionate about the work that they do, one of the big areas where many of them underperform is their finances.”

“Research that we carried out with YouGov last year found that just 38% of self employed workers and micro-business owners check the overall financial position of their business at least every week. And, worryingly, one in ten people we surveyed said they only check this information once every year, which could unnecessarily be putting their businesses at risk.”

“If you don’t regularly check your financial information – or have access to all of the details that you need – you won’t know how your business is doing at any given time.  And if you only look at this information every three to six months, you run the risk of not being able to identify or deal with potential cash flow problems until it’s too late.”

“We know that most self-employed people are great at putting in long hours, working hard and running great businesses, but they need to be better at staying on top of their finances. This National Freelancers Day, I would urge all UK freelancers to regularly check their business’s financial position and regularly update their books, in order to give their businesses the best chance of future success.”