Bad Bookkeepers Have 38 Traits In Common
It is important to understand the difference between Professional Bookkeepers, Regular Bookkeepers and Bad Bookkeepers.
- Professional Bookkeepers invested the minimum of 10,000 hours that it takes to master the profession. And they continue to learn, and educate themselves with formal and informal class room training, seminars, webinars and related tools
- Regular Bookkeepers learned most if not everything they know about bookkeeping by experience and by letting you pay for their education in the form of excess taxes, fines, penalties, un-invoiced work, overpaying bills and late fees. It is painful for them and you. They have good intentions and do not want to cause contractors any grief and they are sincere with their apologies. Of the thousands of Regular Bookkeepers I have met they all have good hearts and really do mean well.
- Bad Bookkeepers also learned most if not everything they know about bookkeeping by experience and by letting you pay for their education in the form of excess taxes, fines, penalties, un-invoiced work, overpaying bills and late fees. It is painful for you but not for them. They have bad intentions and will cause contractors as much grief as possible and are quick to blame everyone else when something goes wrong. Of the dozens of Bad Bookkeepers I have met they all have a bad opinion of contractors and business in general.
On to the 38 traits
The Bad Bookkeeper Traits Are In Order From The Most Dangerous To The Least Dangerous
- They train the contractor 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
- When they quit or get fired expect to hear: “Chaos, panic and disorder...my work here is 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
- When your business fails they tell everyone you were incompetent and they saw it coming
- 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)
What Happens When A Bad Bookkeeper Is Mad At You?
Worse Than What Happens When The Cook Is Mad At 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!
Replace Your Wealth Prevention Tool Before It Is Too Late!
Outsource Your Bookkeeping Now!
We Remove Contractor's Unique Paperwork Frustrations
For Construction Company Owners who do not need the full power of QuickBooks for contractors and want 24/7 online access we offer Xero Accounting Online and we have custom setup for construction companies. Click Here For More.
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!
We Scan Your Receipts And Invoices link the appropriate transactions to QuickBooks or Xero Accounting Online depending on the construction accounting service you are using and provide ongoing Cloud Based Contractors Bookkeeping Services by accountants who understand construction.
Our Contractor Bookkeeping Services System Is A System
Thinking About Outsourcing Your Contractors Bookkeeping Services To Save Time And Money?
Click On The Button Below To Download A Free Guide
Business Process Management (BPM) For Contractors
Need Help Now?
Call Sharie 206-361-3950
sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com
Xero Outsourced Construction Accounting Services
QuickBooks Outsourced Construction Bookkeeping Services
We Are Xero Accounting Experts Specializing In Construction Bookkeeping Services
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+