Self-employment and entrepreneurship

Self-employed people and entrepreneurs need to keep track of incoming and outgoing payments to be able to swiftly identify periods in which their expenses exceed their income. It is also important to choose the right legal form for a business, as different legal forms come with different rights and obligations for an entrepreneur. The most important legal forms include the sole proprietorship (Einzelunternehmen), different types of partnerships, such as the general partnership (Offene Gesellschaft – OG) and the limited partnership (Kommanditgesellschaft – KG) as well as different types of corporations, such as the limited liability company (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung – GmbH), the stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft – AG) and the flexible company (Flexible Kapitalgesellschaft – FlexKapG). Information on the different legal forms as well as their advantages and disadvantages is provided by the Austrian government’s Business Service Portal and the Austrian Economic Chambers. 

Expanding a business, either by developing new products or entering new markets, requires additional capital. There are two options for raising capital: equity financing and debt financing. Equity financing is capital provided by the shareholders of a company, or capital acquired through a company’s operations Debt financing, on the other hand, is capital provided by other parties, typically banks. 

Being self-employed offers flexibility, but also requires prudent financial management. Self-employed people need to be familiar with tax laws and regulations and should set aside money for their tax payments. Professional accounting and corporate management are key and help avoid financial difficulties. Finally, self-employed people and entrepreneurs should bear in mind that it is their own responsibility to sign up for, and pay into, social security. 

Important topics in this life stage

Here you can select important chapters relating to this stage of your life. This allows you to take a closer look at financial issues in your life stage and provides you with a selection of some particularly important financial topics in this life stage.