Many small business owners think that their company’s growth is being held back by the amount of time they spend on business administration, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

67% of surveyed business owners say that they are unable to focus on their primary goals due to administrative tasks.

76% say they spend far too much time on business compliances such as tax issues, employment law and insurance to deal with workplace pensions.

FSB found that business owners spend an average of 15 hours on accounting per month, 9 hours on business banking and 7 hours on tax. An average of 2 hours is spent on employment law issues, insurance and pensions.

The average amount that small businesses outsource on administration per year includes:

• Accounting – £2,565
• Tax – £1,845
• Insurance – £1,593
• Health and safety – £1,184
• Pensions – £1,096
• Employee care and HR issues – £1,075
• Business banking – £1,029
• Employment law issues – £1,028
• Other – £2,482.

The total average per year on business administration adds to £13,896.

Dave Stallon, commercial director at FSB, commented:

“It is a common frustration amongst owners of smaller companies that they are unable to find the time to work on their real business activities, because they are too busy completing administrative tasks, however essential they are.”