I'm just starting out self-employed — what tax setup should I get right first?

Get a few foundations in place and the rest gets much easier. First, open a dedicated business bank account and card so personal and business money never mix — this protects deductions and any liability shield. Second, get a free EIN so you're not handing your SSN to clients. Third, decide on a tax set-aside habit: move roughly 25–30% of each payment into a separate account for taxes from day one. Fourth, learn the quarterly estimated-payment calendar so you're never blindsided in April. Fifth, start capturing expenses and mileage as they happen, not in a year-end scramble. Decide on entity (sole proprietor versus LLC) based on your liability and income, and revisit the S-corp question once profits grow. A walkthrough of the whole setup, with calculators for set-aside and quarterly taxes, lives at wealthserene.com/tools/self-employed-hub.