The Number One Warning Sign You Have A Bad Bookkeeper Is They Panic
When You Say You Are Going To have Us Review QuickBooks
It is amazing how many times over the years we have been called in by contractors to clean up a horrific QuickBooks disaster caused by the same bad bookkeepers.
There is a never ending supply of bad bookkeepers, cheap bookkeepers and incompetent bookkeepers that move around the USA including Alaska and Hawaii to infect and attempt to destroy construction companies, home builders, commercial tenant improvement contractors, handyman contractors, remodel contractors, trade contractors, subcontractors, general contractors and more. Every time it happens it feels like we are all living through a bad movie script and everybody knows their lines and the bookkeeper knows the scam is over and it is time to leave.
A word to the wise "If you think it may be time to fire your bookkeeper you are already fifteen minutes too late! It is hard to fire someone and it needs to be done properly. Unfortunately, we know of dozens of contractors who never did and let the situation deteriorate until they lost everything and filed bankruptcy.
The Warning Signs You Have A Bad Bookkeeper In Your Contracting Company
They talk down to you, uses "accounting speak," and try to make you feel stupid when you ask a question
They are consistently arrive late, rushed, and miss deadlines without an explanation or apology
They leave your office a mess (papers in a pile, unopened mail, checks lying around that should be in the bank)
They look sloppy or disheveled and dress in like they are on vacation or something less desirable
They don't explain your options for resolving a problem or generating a report; it's basically their way or the highway
They don't review QuickBooks on a consistent scheduled basis to make sure everything is in working order
They conduct personal business from your office when they are supposed to be working on your projects
They get defensive or argumentative when you ask about financial reports or project costs
They train contractors like an organ grinder trains a monkey, click here to learn more
They refuse to invest time and money in continuing education because they know everything
They are passive aggressive and will study you and your staff to learn how to manipulate everyone
They are masters at gaining power over you, your staff, and new employees and outside suppliers
They hate change and will fight tooth and nail to stop it or they will destroy your company
They know you're responsible for taxes, fines, penalties and interest; so this is where they get even
They know how to increase your quarterly tax return costs, click here to learn more
They understand that bookkeeping is 90% repetitive transactions and 10% complex transactions
They don't know what to do with complex transactions, so they put them wherever they feel like
They have side jobs working for other companies or an entire bookkeeping business on the side
They decide how much integrity, if any, your company has and they tell everyone who will listen
They create a miserable work environment causing turnover in your staff which costs you money
They make your customers and clients feel unwelcome and unappreciated which costs you money
They act as if they are serving time in jail and do the minimum required to keep their job
They say things to suggest businesses are bad and construction company owners are the worst
They are jealous of your success and even more so if they ever had a failed construction business
They don't learn anything new, whys should they, nobody is reviewing the QuickBooks
They never learn anything new unless the company pays for the training and it is on the clock
They quit when the tax return is being prepared because QuickBooks is a mess and they're caught
They come in a little bit late every morning and leave a little bit early to make up for it
They bait you with drama, nasty comments and minor actions to find your tolerance limit
They get even with you for every perceived injustice against themselves and society as a whole
They keep you busy with lots of mindless crap to divert attention from why the books are a mess
They let you think you are in control of the bookkeeping and the bookkeeper until it is too late
They make you think they are looking out the best interest of the company, LOL!
They let the work expand to fill whatever time you are willing to pay them to get it done
They become indispensable in order to take time off whenever they please and hold you hostage
They negotiates for additional perks, benefits, changes, and elimination of personal accountability
They network for a better job with your clients, suppliers, vendors and your competitors
They represent themselves to outsiders as the owner or manager with decision making authority
They text, message, e-mail, surf the web, chat on the phone and socialize on company time
They train you to leave them alone by getting upset or angry whenever you want anything
They work hard at causing just enough chaos so owner does not earn more than the bookkeeper
They live in a chaotic, neurotic, psychotic, selfish, disorganized, blame game environment
They work through lunch to leave earlier in the day (At the office for 7 hours and get paid for 8)
If Your Business Fails They Say "You Were Incompetent And They Saw It Coming"
When They Leave Expect To Hear: “Chaos, panic and disorder...my work here is done!”
Question - What happens when the person in control of QuickBooks is unhappy with you?
Answer - The same thing that happens when the person who cooks your food is unhappy with you!
In The End - Bad Bookkeepers will leave you with unfiled and unpaid taxes, gasping, upset, with tear stained checks, wide-eyed, stupid, mouth open, standing in the middle of the highway of business success staring at the remains of your business, crashed, rolled over, upside down, in the ditch, on fire, with flames belching from all sides with no hope in sight.
And then things get real ugly as you recall reading The General Contractor And The River Of Construction Commerce and realize all of this could have been avoided!
I have seen bad bookkeepers ruin too many businesses, especially construction businesses. In most cases it was Bookkeeper Incompetence or Bookkeeper Embezzlement and in other cases it appears to me there may have been some deliberate identity theft; however, I cannot be certain.
All I know for sure is that I have witnessed business failures that have led to divorce, families destroyed, finances wiped out and people living on the streets. In a few extreme cases I know of contractors that have taken their own lives and it needs to stop!
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This Is One More Example of how Fast Easy Accounting is helping construction company owners all across the USA including Alaska and Hawaii put more money in the bank to operate and grow your construction company. Construction accounting is not rocket science; it is a lot harder than that and a lot more valuable to people like you so stop missing out! Call Sharie 206-361-3950 or sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com and schedule your no charge one-hour consultation.
Profitable Contractors and Construction Company owners have known about the value of outsourced bookkeeping services and contractor coaching services like ours for a long time and now you know about it too!
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About The Author:
Randal DeHart, PMP, QPA is the co-founder of Business Consulting And Accounting in Lynnwood Washington. He is the leading expert in outsourced construction bookkeeping and accounting services for small construction companies across the USA. He is experienced as a Contractor, Project Management Professional, Construction Accountant, Intuit ProAdvisor, QuickBooks For Contractors Expert and Xero Accounting Specialist. This combination of experience and skill sets provides a unique perspective which allows him to see the world through the eyes of a contractor, Project Manager, Accountant and construction accountant. This quadruple understanding is what sets him apart from other Intuit ProAdvisors and Xero accountants to the benefit of all of the construction contractors he serves across the USA. Visit http://www.fasteasyaccounting.com/randal-dehart/ to learn more.
Our Co-Founder Randal DeHart - Is a Certified PMP (Project Management Professional) with several years of construction project management experience. His expertise is construction accounting systems engineering and process development. His exhaustive study of several leading experts including the work of Dr. W. Edward Deming, Michael Gerber, Walter A. Shewhart, James Lewis and dozens of others was the foundation upon which our Construction Bookkeeping System is based and continues to evolve and improve. Check out our Contractor Success Map Podcast on iTunes and Follow Randal on Google+
