Importance of a Good Financial Recordkeeping System

Micro-business owners wear many hats.  But for many, the "bookkeeping hat" is one that is not always a good fit. Many of them lack the interest, time, or knowledge to maintain their books properly, but they still resist hiring a bookkeeper --- claiming "they can't afford it".

I often respond, "Can you afford an audit, pay unnecessary penalties and interest, or go to jail"?  I know that might seem to be an overly-dramatic statement.  But I have approached potential clients who have said that they kept their books in their "heads".  I've come to realize that meant their idea of record keeping was to throw their receipts in a box, if they kept any, and called it a day.  And at tax time, they roughly estimated their income and expenses --- often based on the figures they used the previous year.  No matter how many times I have heard a similar version of this bookkeeping practice, I literally cringe.

Vision Directed Interviews

You've probably read numerous job interview tips which list the ways to respond to the difficult interview questions: Tell me about Yourself; What are your work-related weaknesses?; Why are you leaving your current employer? These are the usual dreaded questions that we all expect to hear from interviewers. Typically interviewees are advised to create well-prepared and rehearsed scripts to respond to these dreaded questions. And so, during the course of the interview, interviewees sit on the edge of their seats waiting to respond, trying to remember the correct answers. And consequently, the interview becomes a race, a highly tense setting designed to stay one step ahead of the other with scripted conversation and pre-planned positioning and second-guessing. The possibility of authentically assessing the merits of the position and being able to evaluate how you might fit within the company's culture and mission is minimized in this scenario.