Is it even worth becoming a self-employed cleaner, or will you just end up with unnecessary additional costs? Will you have to deal with complicated paperwork, or can you simply do your own tax return? And how do you actually issue an invoice, and what costs can you expect as a self-employed cleaner? The following 5 tips will make it easier for you to start your own business.
Who benefits from a trade licence?
As a cleaner for private households, do you constantly switch between different clients? Have you ever had to turn down lucrative cleaning jobs as a domestic helper because your client preferred to hire you on invoice rather than register you for a mini-job? Or do you simply have so many jobs that you would exceed the mini-job limit of € 603 per month? Then self-employment as a cleaner might be worthwhile for you. With a trade licence, you can turn your hobby from a small source of extra income into a solid income base. As a self-employed person, you are then responsible for paying tax on your turnover as well as social security and professional liability insurance contributions. On the other hand, however, you are not bound by the minimum wage, can charge more because you also offer more, take on cleaning jobs at short notice and have more opportunities to stand out from the competition with an outstanding service.
What costs can be expected?
The administrative costs are manageable. The cost of a trade licence varies between € 15 and € 60. You should budget around € 300 to € 600 per year for public liability insurance. Tax advice costs around € 200 to € 400 – or you can do the simplified tax return yourself as a small business owner. And to purchase the essential cleaning equipment, the range is between € 100 – if you primarily want to offer household-related services – and € 500 – for professional office cleaning. Depending on how ambitious you want to be in marketing and positioning your services, a detailed and transparent profile on Putzperle.de may be sufficient, or you may want to design your own logo and website, which will cost around € 500. If you want to get started quickly, easily and on a small scale, a start-up capital of € 200 may be enough – provided you take the time to write your own tax return. However, if you are planning an ambitious start and want to secure as many orders as possible, you should expect to need around € 2,000-4,000 in start-up capital. Marketing and professional equipment in particular incur high costs.
How does the tax return work?
As a self-employed person, you are required to submit a tax return every year. However, this does not necessarily mean that you have to hire a tax advisor for this. If your annual turnover is less than € 25,000, you can benefit from the small business regulation. The small business regulation simplifies your tax return so that you can write it yourself with little prior knowledge. You must submit a so-called income surplus statement to the tax office annually. The following video explains how to fill out the form. Basically, you record your income and compare it with the various expenses you incur. The difference is your profit or income, which is taxable. However, the basic allowance is € 11,604 per year – you only have to pay income tax on amounts above this.
What about social security?
In addition to filing a tax return, as a self-employed person you are also responsible for your own social security contributions. If you run your business as a sideline, i.e. your main income is not exceeded (or the weekly time spent on the business does not exceed approx. 20 hours), you can continue to be covered by social insurance as an employee in your main job and will not be subject to additional contributions in your secondary job. However, if you are a cleaner in your main occupation or are not compulsorily insured through an employer, you will have to pay for health, accident, pension and unemployment insurance. Seek advice on this from the statutory health insurance companies. There are various concessions for new businesses in the first three years. In any case, you must expect that in the long term at least approximately one third of your profits will go to social security institutions.
How do you write an invoice?
As a self-employed person, you must invoice every service. If you fall under the small business regulation, you do not have to or are not allowed to show VAT on your invoices. The gross amount you invoice is then also the net amount that you will be paid. Refer to this small business regulation by noting next to the invoice amount: ‘In accordance with § 19 UStG, no VAT is charged.’ The invoices you issue must contain your address and tax number, be numbered consecutively, and include the exact date of issue and date of execution. On the following page, you will find examples of what a correct invoice should look like.
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