Today was the start of my Corporate Tax Class. Since this is a class I'm taking on Saturday I figured it would be much easier than my payroll class. But exactly the opposite is true. I have a way easier time concentrating on Friday evening after having worked 6 hours than I do during my Tax Class. On top of that Payroll comes much more easily to me than Corporate Tax Law. I always thought it would be the oposite way around. While payroll comes really easy to me, corporate tax law is just a drag. It is truly a very dry subject.
The other thing that I found out is, that only having the Sunday to relax takes it's toll way more quickly than I thought. Right now I'm just not sure if I will take Advanced corporate tax law right after my payroll class. That would mean I have to spend the majority of my summer sitting in class. And right now that doesn't sound particularly enticing. But we'll see what th coming weeks are going to bring along.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
Advanced Payroll Class...
Today I was the start of my advanced payroll class. So I left work at 1.30 pm. I can easily afford that, since I have enough overtime anyways. I wasn't going to got to class directly, since I can't leave Daisy that long alone. So I went home first. Of course public transportation was a bitch. Had to wait extra long for 1 bus and 1 tram...and that didn't exactly make me happy. But that's how it usually is, if your're on a tight schedule. The way I had planned it was that I would have enought time to take Daisy out, have a snack before class and still have time to relax at home. The last thing I want to do is to take Daisy for a walk and pretty much have to leave right away.
But today that was pretty much what happened. Took Daisy for a walk and then there were just 15 minutes left to have a quick bite to eat before I had to leave. Daisy knew the whole time something was up. But she was a really good sport about it. After that I left for my class. I got to the WKO-Campus about 15 minutes before the class started. Good think I know the WKO-Campus quite well.
After the usual introduction the class started off right away. For having been at work for from 7.15 amd to 1.30 pm I was able to focus very well. Although sitting in class from 4 pm to 9 pm isn't that easy. Especially dealing with a subject that requires you to have a clear head. But I was doing quite well. It's a mixture of theory and praxis. I do enjoy theory. But seeing it on a practical example makes it more tangible. Although you think you might have comprehended the theory quite well, I'm always surprised how often I have to look up in the theory, that I've just written down in order to complete a practical example. But actually this class is interesting and as far as I'm concerned quite fun as well. I got to know my bench neighbor and we pretty much hit it off right away. We're the same age and we're both working in accounting...so that helped a little.
The first 5 hours of Advanced Payroll Class ended at 9 pm. When I got home it was about 20 minutes before 10 and I took out a super excited Daisy right away. She still has to get used to the Friday schedule. Once we got back, I warmed up something to eat. I was hungry like a bear. I relaxed with 2 beer on the couch and then headed to bed. After all I will have to get up on Saturday at 6 am, since I'm taking a class in Corporate Tax Law as well. So the next 2 month are going to be tough. But I do know the reason why I'm taking those classes, so it's going to make the effort well worth.
But today that was pretty much what happened. Took Daisy for a walk and then there were just 15 minutes left to have a quick bite to eat before I had to leave. Daisy knew the whole time something was up. But she was a really good sport about it. After that I left for my class. I got to the WKO-Campus about 15 minutes before the class started. Good think I know the WKO-Campus quite well.
After the usual introduction the class started off right away. For having been at work for from 7.15 amd to 1.30 pm I was able to focus very well. Although sitting in class from 4 pm to 9 pm isn't that easy. Especially dealing with a subject that requires you to have a clear head. But I was doing quite well. It's a mixture of theory and praxis. I do enjoy theory. But seeing it on a practical example makes it more tangible. Although you think you might have comprehended the theory quite well, I'm always surprised how often I have to look up in the theory, that I've just written down in order to complete a practical example. But actually this class is interesting and as far as I'm concerned quite fun as well. I got to know my bench neighbor and we pretty much hit it off right away. We're the same age and we're both working in accounting...so that helped a little.
The first 5 hours of Advanced Payroll Class ended at 9 pm. When I got home it was about 20 minutes before 10 and I took out a super excited Daisy right away. She still has to get used to the Friday schedule. Once we got back, I warmed up something to eat. I was hungry like a bear. I relaxed with 2 beer on the couch and then headed to bed. After all I will have to get up on Saturday at 6 am, since I'm taking a class in Corporate Tax Law as well. So the next 2 month are going to be tough. But I do know the reason why I'm taking those classes, so it's going to make the effort well worth.
Year-End Tax Work...
Well, the year and tax work seems to be a really never ending story. And it's definitely that has been haunting me since May or June. The tax guys finished their work and everything has been properly recorded. At least that's as much as I knew. I really didn't want to know too much about it, since it very often means more work. Therfore I didn't really care too much about what had to be done in the Austrian Company, since my main respinsibility is the German Sub-Company. My plan was to get all the necessary changes done by the end of the week.
By the devil is in the detail. My boss calls me in and tells me that he wants to have that changes done quickly. Just before I could ask him why he's telling me that...he drops a little bomb on me. He wants me to do those changes. So I ask him if there is a specific reason for that. The only thing I could get out of him is, that the tax guys want me to do those changes. This brought back a conversation I was having with the tax guys during preparation of the year-end tax work. They do like the way I do my job and they know that I'm aware of all the rules and regulations that have to be observed. So I got a ton of work more on my plate.
But it also brought back a conversation I was having with one of the tax guys about my co-worker. Yes he's young and kinda inexperienced, although he has the necessary basic accounting education. But the tax guys got the impression that my co-worker isn't that interested in accounting to begn with. And if you're not into accounting, it can be one of the worst and most frustrating jobs you can have. For me accounting is fun and I do enjoy myself. And yes I think it's not only interesting, but also a great field to work in.
So this week I started with the final work in the Austrian Company. And I knew it was going to be some time, before there's a light at the tunnel. First I started to see if we have the same base values. I was pretty certain that would be the case. But being an accountant you don't trust anyone. After that I started with the list of the final balance changes. And I didn't get too far with them. One of the issues is that the sometimes we and the tax guys are not using the same accounts. So I gave them a call to send me all the balance sheets. That way I can get a clear picture of what happened and what went from A to B. And with that you can apply it accordingly. And that can be a painstaking slow process. And of course it is mentally draining. For me that meant, when I was getting home I was too drained to even watch TV. I just wanted to eat something and chill on the couch with a couple of beer and listening to some music.
Today I finally got done with all the entries. And of course you have to check it against the official paper work. Turns out it was mostly correct. I found 3 errors. One was that I recorded something into the wrong direction. A minus in front of an amount where it doesn't belong is quite a big deal. But this was a really easy fix. Erroer number 2 was equally easy. It was just a little typo and that was the reason why there was a balance difference of 40 cent. And then I got to error number 3. There were 60 grand recorded in a tax account where they shouldn't have. So I looked it up in the list of the tax guys...and the account number was right. Then I looked at the name of the account...and turns out that it was one of those instances where the tax guys and we are using the same account number but for different things. So I changed that to the accounts where it actually belonged. This mistake is result neutral since it is plus/minus thing in the same business year. Therefore it wouldn't have changed the end-result, but I just hate having things recorded on the wrong account.
Once I was done with that, I was actually happy and felt that I had accomplished a lot. I'm still not quite finished yet. I still have to make 3 corrections. It's one of those cases when I really hate our accounting software. In a BMD or SAP I could have just recorded it according to the papers from the tax guys and would have been done with it. But our software doesn't allow me that. The problem is how our software handles debendures. Under normal circumstances I am not allowed to touch a debenture omnibus account directly. That would really screw up our system royally. But year-end tax work is another cattle of tea. Here I acutally have to do that in order to come to the same result as the tax paper work. The thing I have to do is to record the dependure back into the last business year, where the tax guys put it to begin with. In doing so the opening value of the new business year is exactly according to paper work. But on the second business day of the new business year I have to take the value away since the dependure has been already recorded in the dependure omnibus account of the new business year. If I weren't to make that correction I would have recorded ot twice. Sounds complicated?...Yep, it is...and it is a nightmare for an accountant. On top of that I can't do that during the regular work day. While I make these changes nobody is allowed to make anything at all in our accounting software. If I weren't to take that precaution, I might end up screwing our accounting software up royally. So I couldn't have finished anyways.
This was actually a good thing, since I had to leave this Friday early for my class in Advanced Payroll.
By the devil is in the detail. My boss calls me in and tells me that he wants to have that changes done quickly. Just before I could ask him why he's telling me that...he drops a little bomb on me. He wants me to do those changes. So I ask him if there is a specific reason for that. The only thing I could get out of him is, that the tax guys want me to do those changes. This brought back a conversation I was having with the tax guys during preparation of the year-end tax work. They do like the way I do my job and they know that I'm aware of all the rules and regulations that have to be observed. So I got a ton of work more on my plate.
But it also brought back a conversation I was having with one of the tax guys about my co-worker. Yes he's young and kinda inexperienced, although he has the necessary basic accounting education. But the tax guys got the impression that my co-worker isn't that interested in accounting to begn with. And if you're not into accounting, it can be one of the worst and most frustrating jobs you can have. For me accounting is fun and I do enjoy myself. And yes I think it's not only interesting, but also a great field to work in.
So this week I started with the final work in the Austrian Company. And I knew it was going to be some time, before there's a light at the tunnel. First I started to see if we have the same base values. I was pretty certain that would be the case. But being an accountant you don't trust anyone. After that I started with the list of the final balance changes. And I didn't get too far with them. One of the issues is that the sometimes we and the tax guys are not using the same accounts. So I gave them a call to send me all the balance sheets. That way I can get a clear picture of what happened and what went from A to B. And with that you can apply it accordingly. And that can be a painstaking slow process. And of course it is mentally draining. For me that meant, when I was getting home I was too drained to even watch TV. I just wanted to eat something and chill on the couch with a couple of beer and listening to some music.
Today I finally got done with all the entries. And of course you have to check it against the official paper work. Turns out it was mostly correct. I found 3 errors. One was that I recorded something into the wrong direction. A minus in front of an amount where it doesn't belong is quite a big deal. But this was a really easy fix. Erroer number 2 was equally easy. It was just a little typo and that was the reason why there was a balance difference of 40 cent. And then I got to error number 3. There were 60 grand recorded in a tax account where they shouldn't have. So I looked it up in the list of the tax guys...and the account number was right. Then I looked at the name of the account...and turns out that it was one of those instances where the tax guys and we are using the same account number but for different things. So I changed that to the accounts where it actually belonged. This mistake is result neutral since it is plus/minus thing in the same business year. Therefore it wouldn't have changed the end-result, but I just hate having things recorded on the wrong account.
Once I was done with that, I was actually happy and felt that I had accomplished a lot. I'm still not quite finished yet. I still have to make 3 corrections. It's one of those cases when I really hate our accounting software. In a BMD or SAP I could have just recorded it according to the papers from the tax guys and would have been done with it. But our software doesn't allow me that. The problem is how our software handles debendures. Under normal circumstances I am not allowed to touch a debenture omnibus account directly. That would really screw up our system royally. But year-end tax work is another cattle of tea. Here I acutally have to do that in order to come to the same result as the tax paper work. The thing I have to do is to record the dependure back into the last business year, where the tax guys put it to begin with. In doing so the opening value of the new business year is exactly according to paper work. But on the second business day of the new business year I have to take the value away since the dependure has been already recorded in the dependure omnibus account of the new business year. If I weren't to make that correction I would have recorded ot twice. Sounds complicated?...Yep, it is...and it is a nightmare for an accountant. On top of that I can't do that during the regular work day. While I make these changes nobody is allowed to make anything at all in our accounting software. If I weren't to take that precaution, I might end up screwing our accounting software up royally. So I couldn't have finished anyways.
This was actually a good thing, since I had to leave this Friday early for my class in Advanced Payroll.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Tuition Fees...
Today it was finally time to pay the tuition for 2 classes I will be taking February and March. And the one hand I'm looking forward to those classes, on the other hand it's going to be tough taking 1 class on Friday 4 pm and 9 pm and another class on Saturday 8.30 am to 1.30 pm. And that all while working full time, and in my situation that means working about 50 to 55 hours a week. And I have to keep an top of learning both subjects parellel since those 2 classes pretty much end at the same time and I intend to take the written exam for both classes right after they end. That ate going to be 8 really tough week and there will be left very little room from relaxation.
And as we all know education is expensive. And thise 2 classes are no exception. Yes, I do have the money. Even without the money from the house sale I would have had the money as I can pay for my education right out of the positive cash flow. It's certainly a benefit of having a fairly well paying job. Of course those classes and all directly related expenses are tax deductible and that will come quite in handy. These 2 classes are absolutely necessary in order to get my certification as Public Accountant and I actually do like to keep up-to-date on things. But having to flip 1 Grand in tuition all at once still hurts and just makes you go "Ouch"! But I know it's for the right cause and so it makes it all worth it.
So starting on January 24th I will be taking 1 class in advanced payroll accounting and 1 class in corporate tax law.
And as we all know education is expensive. And thise 2 classes are no exception. Yes, I do have the money. Even without the money from the house sale I would have had the money as I can pay for my education right out of the positive cash flow. It's certainly a benefit of having a fairly well paying job. Of course those classes and all directly related expenses are tax deductible and that will come quite in handy. These 2 classes are absolutely necessary in order to get my certification as Public Accountant and I actually do like to keep up-to-date on things. But having to flip 1 Grand in tuition all at once still hurts and just makes you go "Ouch"! But I know it's for the right cause and so it makes it all worth it.
So starting on January 24th I will be taking 1 class in advanced payroll accounting and 1 class in corporate tax law.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
My Nephew's 4th Birthday...
When I spent XMAS-Day with my Sis and her family, I had been invited to my nephew Daniels 4th birthday. If my Sis hadn't called to remind me yesterday, I would have completely forgotten. Somehow that info never made it into calendar of my phone. And I most likely forget about things that make it into my calendar, unless they're super important like appointments with my doctor. Oringinally the party was supposed to get started at 3 pm. What would have worked way better for me, since Saturday is one of the days where I get to sleep in. Since the party was going to start at 11 am, meant that I prettych much had to get up by 8.30 in order to take Daisy for a walk and get some breakfast. Well I got up a little before 9 am, took Daisy for a quick walk, had some even quicker bit to eat before heading out to my Sis. After all it takes me almost 1 hour to get to her place. This time I brought Daisy along. On the one hand with Daisy being 16 1/2 you can't say how often my nephews are getting to see her and on the other hand I wasn't sure how long the entire thing was going to take. My Sis had offered me to pick me up at the tram station. So I called her once we got there and just had to wait a couple of minutes for her to get there. Daisy didn't mind...she was preoccupied with the scents anyways. So we got to my Sis place and I find out that my so called Dad will also be joining us. Not something I was particularly looking forward to. But for my nephews birthday I was going to keep the peace. After all it's not my nephews fault, that my so called Dad would probably be better off with a bullet put into his head. I neither acknowledges his presence nor did I say hello to him. As far as I'm concerned that useless pieces of shit aka known as my so called Dad is dead as far as I'm concerned. I haven't had any reason to talk to dead people in the past 42 years and I'm certainly not going to start now. As far as I'm concerned that piece of trash is no longer part of my family. So it should be quite obvious that I don't have any interest in ever talking to him again. And I completely ignored to 1 or 2 conversation attemps on his part.
The rest of the party was fine. My nephew defintitely had a blast. And Daisy was partially a hit with the kids. She just lets them be. But she really doesn't want to play with them. She's too old for that and spent most of the right next to me. She even got along with my Sis cats. That means the they gave each other the necessary room to co-exist. It was fun talking to my Sis, my borther-in-law, Mom and my brother-in-laws Grandma. All in all not a bad party at all. But all things considered I'm really so happy to be gay and that I don't want any kids of my own...they would really drive me crazy!! Around 4.30 pm we said our good bye's and it was time to leave.
As soon as we got home, Daisy went to her doggy bed and slept all evening long. At her age all that crazy activity is a little much.
The rest of the party was fine. My nephew defintitely had a blast. And Daisy was partially a hit with the kids. She just lets them be. But she really doesn't want to play with them. She's too old for that and spent most of the right next to me. She even got along with my Sis cats. That means the they gave each other the necessary room to co-exist. It was fun talking to my Sis, my borther-in-law, Mom and my brother-in-laws Grandma. All in all not a bad party at all. But all things considered I'm really so happy to be gay and that I don't want any kids of my own...they would really drive me crazy!! Around 4.30 pm we said our good bye's and it was time to leave.
As soon as we got home, Daisy went to her doggy bed and slept all evening long. At her age all that crazy activity is a little much.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
The one-handed Accountant...
Today was my first day of work after the trip to the emergency room. Luckily that was a 3-day weekend for me and it give me an additional day for my hand to get a little better. Over the weekend I got used to doing a ton of stuff with the right, that I usually do with the left hand. It really requires you do do thinks on purpose. Not thinking before doing something is a quite painful experience ever single time.
Gettin dressed isn't one of the easy task with just one hand. But over the past couple of days I've gotten actually quite good at it. OK, it takes up more time, but it works pretty well. Putting on a jacket is anything but fun. And I'm actually quite happy for the 35 minute ride to work with public transportation. At least it gives me time to relax my hand.
I wasn't quite sure how good I would be doing at work with just one hand or if I would have to see me general physican and call in sick. But I went to work and gave it a try. And I was actually amzed how well it was going. Of course I wasn't breaking any speed records. Having to typ most queries with the right instead of the left hand doesn't quite help with the speed. But it's amazing how quickly you get used to it and start to pick up the pace. Everything else is done via the numeric block and by mouse. So apperently being a "mostly" one-handed accountant works out pretty well. Of course my left hand was tired and I was happy when it was time to go home. The only thing I wanted to do is just to relax my hand. If things continue to go that way, there's absolutely no reason to call in sick. Although quite a number of co-workers didn't quite understand why I didn't stay home. Part of it is "Harry's work mentality" and part is definitely the work mentality I picked up while living for 9 years in the States. Trying to explain that to an Austrian who has never ever worked abroad is anything but easy.
Gettin dressed isn't one of the easy task with just one hand. But over the past couple of days I've gotten actually quite good at it. OK, it takes up more time, but it works pretty well. Putting on a jacket is anything but fun. And I'm actually quite happy for the 35 minute ride to work with public transportation. At least it gives me time to relax my hand.
I wasn't quite sure how good I would be doing at work with just one hand or if I would have to see me general physican and call in sick. But I went to work and gave it a try. And I was actually amzed how well it was going. Of course I wasn't breaking any speed records. Having to typ most queries with the right instead of the left hand doesn't quite help with the speed. But it's amazing how quickly you get used to it and start to pick up the pace. Everything else is done via the numeric block and by mouse. So apperently being a "mostly" one-handed accountant works out pretty well. Of course my left hand was tired and I was happy when it was time to go home. The only thing I wanted to do is just to relax my hand. If things continue to go that way, there's absolutely no reason to call in sick. Although quite a number of co-workers didn't quite understand why I didn't stay home. Part of it is "Harry's work mentality" and part is definitely the work mentality I picked up while living for 9 years in the States. Trying to explain that to an Austrian who has never ever worked abroad is anything but easy.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
A trip to the Emergency Room
The main reason why I picked Lorenz Böhler is the fact that it's way less crowded and that you're being seen way quicker by a physican. So we went in and I filled out to admittance form and then we waited. Having someone along with you makes the time pass way quicker. But even with a hurting hand, most of the time I was thinking of what I much rather would be doing with my boyfriend. He looked at me once and just said: "You're thinking of having sex right here, ain't you!". I guess someone has gotten to know me over the past months quite well.
Finally the time came around for the preleminary exam. The called it a difus compression. The next step was to have my hand x-rayed. What meant another waiting. But the wait wasn't too long. What was quite nice. And cudos to the staff, they were all nice and amazing. After the x-rays were done I got in line to see the doctor once more. He looked at the x-rays and told me that on top of the bad compression I managed to splinter my carpal articulation. That what accounts for the bad swelling of the hand and why I can barely move it at all. He gave me the choice between having my hand set into a cast or continuing to use the reinforced bandage. So I chose the reinforced bandage. Since with that it the washing will be so much easier than with a cast. And either way I have to wear that thing at least for the next 4 weeks. And the doctor told me that this hand will be hurting at least for a couple of weeks.
Can't say that I'm particularly happy about that, but it is what it is. And I will have to learn to do lots of things with the right hand. It never ever occured to me how much things I do with the left hand for being right handed. There's definitely a huge benefit of having a boyfriend. He can take care of my cocks needs. Otherwise I would have to jack off with the right hand...and for me that's really that much fun. Works so much better with the left hand.
And it was very nice of being done with my trip to the emergency room in under 1 1/2 hours. I'm still a fan of Lorenz Böhler UKH. And of course it's on record as work related accident. What means that if it should turn out that it wouldn't heal as it's supposed to and I would have a diminished use of that hand, social security would pick up the tab...and that can have quite some financial impact. And this being a 3-day weekend is a good thing, as it gives my hand more time to get better before I have to go back to work again or decide if it's still that bad that I have to call in sick.
Friday, January 3, 2014
When it rains...
There is and old saying: "When it rains, it poors..". And I hate to admit it, this saying couldn't have been more right. This morning when going to work, I saw that bus just pulling into the station. So I ran after it, since I didn't feel like waiting for another 15 minutes for the next bus to come. So I ran after it. But I shlould ürobably have taken a couple things into consideration. It's winter, it was foggy and there's a good chance of black ice occuring. And that's exactly what happened. I ran after the bus. As soon as I reached the sidewalk across the road and it was just a thin layer of black ice. I sliped and took one hard fall. Broke the fall with my left hand and my left leg. Of course the bus was gone. I felt my hand and I still could move it and that was fine. It's not the first time I've slipped and fallen on ice and it certainly won't be the last time. And never bad ever came of it.
So I went to work. And yes the hand did hurt a little. But nothing major. And for most part of the day it really didn't bother me. But in the late afternoon, my hand was getting worse and worse. It started swelling up and I could barely move it any more. I figured that there was a little more wrong. So I called my sister for medical advice. After all she's a general physican. And she just confirmed that I have at leasst pushed the had badly into the joint. And if it doesn't get better I will have no other choice than to go to the hospital. But since it was already 4.30 pm I really didn't want to drive to UKH Meidling or to AHK, because I had intention to wait 5 or 6 hours at least to be seen by a physican. Your best bet to get seen quickly there is being brought in by paramedics on a stretcher. So I went to the pharmacy instead to pick up some Traumeel creme to get the swelling down and a a reinforced bandage. I even talked with my boyfriend and he would have taken my to AKH right away, but I decided I would be making decision about that early the next morning. Well, sleeping this night was not a piece of cake. With a hurt hand it seems like the only thing you do is to hit that hand constantly. I still was hoping that it would fix itself and that I don't have to go to the emergency room.
So I went to work. And yes the hand did hurt a little. But nothing major. And for most part of the day it really didn't bother me. But in the late afternoon, my hand was getting worse and worse. It started swelling up and I could barely move it any more. I figured that there was a little more wrong. So I called my sister for medical advice. After all she's a general physican. And she just confirmed that I have at leasst pushed the had badly into the joint. And if it doesn't get better I will have no other choice than to go to the hospital. But since it was already 4.30 pm I really didn't want to drive to UKH Meidling or to AHK, because I had intention to wait 5 or 6 hours at least to be seen by a physican. Your best bet to get seen quickly there is being brought in by paramedics on a stretcher. So I went to the pharmacy instead to pick up some Traumeel creme to get the swelling down and a a reinforced bandage. I even talked with my boyfriend and he would have taken my to AKH right away, but I decided I would be making decision about that early the next morning. Well, sleeping this night was not a piece of cake. With a hurt hand it seems like the only thing you do is to hit that hand constantly. I still was hoping that it would fix itself and that I don't have to go to the emergency room.
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