Weird Dog Habits

Your Accountant's Weird Habits - Explained

If you have a pet in your family, maybe you've seen those articles purporting to explain why your dog spins in a circle before lying down, or why your cat would rather drink from the faucet than a water dish. To many people, there is a creature even more alien and perplexing than any animal: the finance professional.

Your bookkeeper or tax professional might say or do things that don't make a lot of sense to you. Some of their actions might seem flat-out contradictory. But, as with any exotic species, there is a reason behind all of it.

I want to break down a few of the most commonly complained-about behaviors, along with the explanations behind them (with the assistance of cat pictures).

 

First annoying habit: My accountant keeps nagging me to get organized.

Your bookkeeper wants you to have a system for tracking open customer balances, or wants you to keep all your expense reports in one place. It's frustrating, because the whole reason you're paying them is for them to "keep up with that stuff".

So why do they do it?

For starters, good bookkeeping relies on complete information. (A balance sheet showing $1M in the bank doesn't mean much if there's a $995K liability that got left off.) Unless you have an in-house accounting staff, your bookkeeper is relying on you to get that information to them. A good organizational system ensures that all of the information is getting to who needs it.

Furthermore, most accountants charge based on time expended, and though good accounting can be had at a good value, it's still not cheap. Paying your accounting service to dig through files and hunt down info is a waste of their time and your money.

Accountant Cat 1
Accountant Cat is tired of looking for your payroll reports.

 

Speaking of "time", my accountant freaks out if I don't get certain information to them right away. What's the rush?

Certain items, particularly related to tax filings, can incur massive penalties if late. Your accountant needs the information in advance of those deadlines, to record it and check for accuracy. (Inaccurate filings can also, of course,  result in penalties.)

If your accountant is pestering you to get information to them quickly, it's because they are trying to keep you out of trouble and save you money.

Accountant Cat 2
Accountant Cat on April 10th, waiting on you for info.

 

Since we're already talking about taxes...Why does my accountant try to make me spend money I don't want to spend? For instance, why do I have to treat certain workers as W-2 employees, instead of paying them as contractors?

Because worker classification is a big deal. Not paying employees correctly can result in audits, fines, and even lawsuits. Your accountant is being a stickler about the rules because they don't want you to get sued.

Accountant Cat 3
Accountant Cat, finding out you're paying your 9-5 office assistant as a 1099 contractor.

 

Still talking taxes...Why does my accountant say I can't take this cool deduction I found? I saw online that I can expense my home office/car payment/pet kinkajou/etc.

Present blog excluded, internet advice is no substitute for real, professional guidance. Though you'll seeing many articles claiming that you can write off an entire car payment, or take a "home office" deduction, the actual guidelines surrounding those items have specific criteria which must be met. Unfortunately, small businesses, particularly those which are sole proprietorships, are frequent targets for audits. Taking excessive, unqualified deductions puts you at an even greater risk. If you trust your tax professional, trust that they will advise you of deductions for which you do qualify. (If you are not happy with your current tax professional, we can recommend some.)

Accountant Cat 4
Accountant Cat has some bad news about that great deduction you found...

 

So I have to spend extra on employees, but can't take any of the fun deductions. And now I'm being told that I need to watch my spending on meals, and look at ROI for things like advertising. Is my bookkeeper just a kill-joy?

No, they just don't want you to go broke. Going bankrupt isn't just bad for you; it also means you can't pay your vendors (like your bookkeeper). So they have a vested interest in keeping you solvent.

Because, no matter what your business, one thing we all have in common is that we like to get paid.

Accountant Cat 5
Accountant Cat could lighten up if you'd stick to a budget.

Working When Overwhelmed

There will frequently be times in your business when you feel overwhelmed. There will be days or weeks when setbacks pile upon themselves, when everything that can go wrong will go wrong, and all at once. And you'll fall behind.

The danger in being overwhelmed is that it can lead to two disastrous pathways: one in which you're paralyzed into inaction by the seemingly insurmountable mountain of tasks before you, or one where you fall prey to the temptation of "multitasking" and fall to pieces trying to do too much at once.

Fortunately, procrastination and busyness are really two sides of the same evil coin. Today we're going to discuss how to catch up on what you need to do, even when the sky is falling.

Let's examine the Who, When, Where, and How of working when overwhelmed.

WhoDelegation

This seems obvious enough. You, right? Well, if you have employees, there might be some tasks you can delegate. The trick is to assign appropriate tasks in a manner which does not eat up your time or create more work for you. If an employee is already capable and available to take something off your to-do list, that's great. If you are going to have to expend time and energy in explaining the assignment, it is better, while you are behind, to go ahead and do the task quickly yourself. Training can come later when more time is available.

Also, asking an employee to assume additional or different duties is not a time for the two of you to hold a vent session on how busy and behind you are. It's nice to have someone in the business with whom to commiserate, but that will have to come after you're finally caught up.

Work EnvironmentWhen

Now! If you are behind on work, start with the first thing on your to-do list and get to it. Don't go make coffee, don't check Facebook "real quick", and don't cultivate your Pandora station. Give yourself little breaks to do those things as rewards for tasks completed. But if you're waiting until everything is "just perfect" to start, you'll never get ahead of the work.

Where

As mentioned before, don't spend too much time getting your environment ideal before you address your to-do list. However, it is imperative that your area be relatively distraction-free. Put your phone on silent; close your office door if you have one. Even if you're in a co-working space, you can put in headphones, or something else that sends the message that you're not available for small talk. Do not have social media tabs open in your browser.

HowTo-Do List

Start with taking a quick inventory of everything you need to get done. (No, don't make a complicated, color-coded Excel spreadsheet of your task list. That's just procrastinating with the illusion of working.) Personally, I love the Wunderlist app for keeping to-do lists, as it allows you to make categories and re-order your lists. See what assignments you need to complete first, and what can be put off. (Maybe have a to-do list for today, this week, etc.)

Block off time on your calendar for these tasks. Not only does it help you get in the mindset of, "I am scheduled to work on this, now", it sends a clear message to anyone you work with that you are busy. It particularly helps if you have the sort of business that includes frequent meetings, as it serves as a visual reminder to leave some time for solo work.

Get the first item on your list done as quickly as you can, with no breaks unless absolutely necessary. Check it off your list. Once you have made that first bit of progress, you'll be amazed at how much it motivates you to knock out the next item. Getting a few things out of the way can help you build momentum and feel accomplished. After that, you can battle that "overwhelmed" feeling and start to see that, though you are very busy right now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and, when you get this backload of work completed, things will calm down for a while.

If work has piled up on you and you're feeling like you'll never be out from under it, try these steps. And stay tuned for our upcoming article on how to get organized and avoid becoming overwhelmed in the first place.