I’ve decided that I will stick with the first accountant that I found online. I had an appointment with him a few weeks ago and he spent an hour to inform me. I have no clue if what I’m doing is the right thing to do but I did look into other accountants and they all seem to miss that extra bit of service that I’m in need of. Another thing is that he’s close-by so I won’t have to waste money on stamps [and paper] and can go over there whenever I have to. If my gut feeling will tell me a different story over time then I will look for another one but for now I think I’ll be fine.

Tomorrow I’ll have an appointment with him to finally get things going as in setting up my own business. I’m excited but also kinda scared. I don’t know… I seem to have mixed feelings but I’m sure things will work out just fine. I guess it’s because I’m not used to the system here and I know my way around the system in the Lowlands. But I reckon there are plenty of people that I’ve met so far who are willing to help me if I have questions. It can’t be that hard, can it? I just wish there was a book available about freelancing and what to expect and not to expect. I had a good one in the Lowlands, they would update and publish the book each year and it covered all sorts of problems you could run into. I miss that kind of information over here, but perhaps I just don’t know where to look.

Today I filled in three different forms and will fill in the gaps with my accountant tomorrow. I have to bring all sorts of official papers to prove my identity and the fact that I do actually live here. I had to write a cheque tonight, something that is ancient to me. I do miss the Dutch payment options, they’re so much more sophisticated than the ones over here although things are changing. Cheques were banned from the Dutch system around 2000 probably earlier, in favour of direct bank transfer and electronic payment. And I guess I haven’t used them for at least 10 years.

My cheque writing skills are therefore a bit rusty and I need to look up an example online to see how I’m supposed to write one. I hope they will change to electronic banking over here, it’s so much easier and it will save a lot of paper thus trees. I don’t understand that for each cheque that I write and send to the ‘payee’ I will have to use a separate envelop and a stamp to send it to the person that I need to pay. This person has to take it to his/her bank to have the money transferred into their bank account. It just doesn’t make sense to me but I’ll stop nagging. I hope I did well on writing that cheque, I guess my accountant will notify me since it includes his fee too *hehe*.

I asked MvdM. to be my secretary, since a company director needs to have a secretary. It’s all just formalities really but it’s nice in a way and since I’m not sure if I will need his signature tomorrow I asked him to be on stand-by. We might have to meet up tomorrow evening if that is the case. I need the papers send out asap because next week I’ll have another important appointment and I’ll need to bring a letter from my accountant and proof that I’ve actually set up the Ltd. So much to arrange but so positive and fun to do.

Tomorrow is going to be another small step on my way to independence and I’m so looking forward to it! Keep your fingers crossed for me I could use a bit of luck this week and even more next week!