Those of you guys who read my blog regularly probably know that I have been having issues with discrepancies in the cash register. That was the reason I never got around to record the expenses properly. And that pretty much meant that I would have to do that work today. Of course it was no problem. The majority of the work involved assigning the right accounts and the right cost location the each single expense. After that was done I just recorded the entire month and that went actually fairly quick. When I was done the electronic account and the printout of the cash register matched exactly. that was something that made me a very happy accountant. Since that was my first time assigning accounts to expenses it took me way longer that it would take me under normal circumstances. I still have to get used to the chart of accounts my new employer is using. Of course most companies use the right account classes according to Austria's RLG, but every company uses it's own personalized account numbers and that's something your just have to get used to. And I was done with the recording of the cash register before noon.
Next up were quite a bunch of invoices of creditors. After all that's an important task as well or we won't be able to pay the due creditor invoices out of the system if they don't have been recorded. So I selected first all the invoices that would be due within the next 7 days. And like it was with the cash register expenses I did take it's time assigning the appropriate accounts to the invoices. And you just can't take the way those invoices have been recorded previously as given. After all you have to question if they have been recorded correctly in the first place. After all the woman who used to help out with that isn't certified accountant. And yes there were a couple of instances where I didn't agree with the way those invoices had been recorded. So additionally I had to print out the the balance sheet of those invoices and I will have to talk it over with the tax guy how we're going to proceed in order to have those invoices rerecorded properly without making ourselves more work than we have to. And of course there were instances where I was pretty much sure the tax code that has to be assigned to certain invoices, but to be on the safe side I had to double check with Austria's Tax Codex...and of course that takes some time. After all there are almost always a "million" exceptions from the general rule. But in the end it turned out that my account decisions matched perfectly up with the rules and regulations of the Tax Codex. After that it was a piece of cake recording invoices into the accounting software.
Under normal circumstances I would have sent an email to the tax guy to inform him that I intend to correct the the assignment of the tax code with certain invoices. But this time there was no point to it, since the tax guy would be visiting the office tomorrow anyways.
So I definitely call that another successful accounting day at my new job.
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Monday, April 4, 2016
Discrepancies in the cash register...
Today was my first real full day at my new job. I started by 8.30 am and that makes for a nice change compared to my old job where I started at 6.30 am. So I got to my office and started up up my computer and it still hadn't finished up installing office completely...an installation that we had started on Friday. And since my workstation was incredibly slow I decided just to restart the machine completely. And after it had restarted Office was completely installed and working. I did synchronized the cloud to my laptop and that took some time, since this was the first time it had been done. But at least my Outlook and the DVO accounting software worked without any problems.
My first task was to record invoices from creditors that still belonged to the month of March. Since this was the first time me doing that for my new company it took longer than it would have usually have. But on the bright side if you have to look lots of things up you get an good impression of the way accounting had been done previously. After that had been done I was about to record all entries of the cash register for March. That's usually a very easy task and you basically can just lean back and enter it into the accounting software.
Well, it wasn't quite that easy. Every good accountant makes a cross check if the end balance on the account of the last month and the beginning balance of the month you plan on recording in the printout of the cash register corresponds. Well, that was not the case. So that meant, no recording of the cash register for March, but instead I had to check, when did that difference occur and is it a single entry error or do multiple errors make up the difference. That's a work I'm pretty much used do. It's basic stuff for an experienced accountant and I have to say it's something I actually enjoy doing. But of course there was another thing that I had to take into consideration, and that was the way on how to correct the error in case it should have already occurred earlier in the year, especially if it's in a period when the "old" accounting year is already closed up.
So I started comparing the accounts according to the software with the printout of the cash register and that starting in January 2015. But after a couple of hours I found the difference. IT consisted of 2 errors. The first error didn't really bother me. It was a recording error of 1 cent and that was easily corrected. But there was still quite a difference and I finally found it at the beginning of October 2015. There was an error at the beginning balance. While the September end balance of the cash register and the software account matched, the beginning balance on the cash register did not match. But that was an quite easy fix as well. But it did tell me an important thing. The girl that did helped out with accounting before me hadn't cross checked the balances according to cash register and accordion to software account. If she had done that she would have seen the discrepancy right away. But it's always a great feeling when you figure out the difference and how to correct it without making yourself even more work.
When I told the CFO he was happy about that as well. And he thought that it was great that this discrepancy occurred to me right away. Told him that I do have the necessary experience in my job and that it doesn't bother me to locate differences. And that was part of the reason the hired me, since it is part of my job to go through the entire accounting data an see if everything is according to rules and regulations or if there are things that I would do differently. And it's part of my job to point things like that out.
My first task was to record invoices from creditors that still belonged to the month of March. Since this was the first time me doing that for my new company it took longer than it would have usually have. But on the bright side if you have to look lots of things up you get an good impression of the way accounting had been done previously. After that had been done I was about to record all entries of the cash register for March. That's usually a very easy task and you basically can just lean back and enter it into the accounting software.
Well, it wasn't quite that easy. Every good accountant makes a cross check if the end balance on the account of the last month and the beginning balance of the month you plan on recording in the printout of the cash register corresponds. Well, that was not the case. So that meant, no recording of the cash register for March, but instead I had to check, when did that difference occur and is it a single entry error or do multiple errors make up the difference. That's a work I'm pretty much used do. It's basic stuff for an experienced accountant and I have to say it's something I actually enjoy doing. But of course there was another thing that I had to take into consideration, and that was the way on how to correct the error in case it should have already occurred earlier in the year, especially if it's in a period when the "old" accounting year is already closed up.
So I started comparing the accounts according to the software with the printout of the cash register and that starting in January 2015. But after a couple of hours I found the difference. IT consisted of 2 errors. The first error didn't really bother me. It was a recording error of 1 cent and that was easily corrected. But there was still quite a difference and I finally found it at the beginning of October 2015. There was an error at the beginning balance. While the September end balance of the cash register and the software account matched, the beginning balance on the cash register did not match. But that was an quite easy fix as well. But it did tell me an important thing. The girl that did helped out with accounting before me hadn't cross checked the balances according to cash register and accordion to software account. If she had done that she would have seen the discrepancy right away. But it's always a great feeling when you figure out the difference and how to correct it without making yourself even more work.
When I told the CFO he was happy about that as well. And he thought that it was great that this discrepancy occurred to me right away. Told him that I do have the necessary experience in my job and that it doesn't bother me to locate differences. And that was part of the reason the hired me, since it is part of my job to go through the entire accounting data an see if everything is according to rules and regulations or if there are things that I would do differently. And it's part of my job to point things like that out.
Friday, April 1, 2016
First Day at my new Job...
Today was my first day at my new Job. Yes, of course I was aware of the fact that this was April Fools Day. But since I had already signed my working contract previously, that fact didn't bother me at all.
I was supposed to show up at work at 9 am. So I got up at 6 took Gina for her morning walk and had breakfast. I had calculated some extra time since having to wear a suit to work takes more prep time than I needed when getting at my old job. And of course I wanted to be in time. Nothing makes a worse impression than showing up for your first work day way too late or way too early. I had planned it that I would be there about 10 minutes before 9 am. And my planning worked just fine.
I got to work met up with the CFO and the CEO and we did have a nice little chat. After that the CFO showed me the office and introduced me to those co-workers that were working on that particular day.
Next followed a long presentation about what the company exactly does and what the philosophy of the company is all about. It was very nice to know that the company believes that the first asset are the employees and those who are the ones that make a company successful. The second thing that was really impressive, is that teamwork is the companies asset number two. And that this is just not a loose term, but being lived on a daily basis. Then come the products, sales, marketing, administration and so on. This is absolutely different compared to my previous employer. And I really like the concept.
Another thing that is great is, since the administrative team is rather small, everyone is on a first name basis...even the CFO and the CEO. That makes for a much easier working climate. Next up was an introduction to the organization charts. It's actually not that complex. It has a logical workflow. And I have two superiors...the CFO and the CEO and that's it. And of course I will have to work in closely with the companies auditor.
After that the CFO and I set up together my laptop. I do have an external monitor as well. I got my own email address. Something that I've been missing during the last 4 years. We setup basic stuff like MS-Office, PDF Reader and stuff like that. Next up was the setup of the VPN access to the BMD cloud, the program we will be working with from the beginning of July on. Then we had to setup the CRM system the company is currently working with. Then followed the access to the companies cloud services, that way I will have access to all the company documents, contracts and stuff like that, that are important for me being able to do my job properly. That is something that had been missing at my last job as well. With my new company I have access to all the accounting data without any exception. And finally we did the setup of the accounting software.
After that I got a first introduction into the accounting filing system. It's a little different than at my old job. Not entirely sure if I'm happy with that filing system. There is definitely room for improvement. But since this accounting year has already started it will stay the way it is. And such a change can only be done if the CFO agrees to it. And I'm sure we will come to a solution that works for everyone.
But before that I have to check out the current accounting software and see what is fact and check if everything has been recorded properly or if certain things need to be changed and/or corrected. And I've been told by the CEO and the CFO if I should encounter something that has not been recorded properly I shall not hesitate to just correct it and record it properly. This is definitely gonna be fun. And it definitely will be challenge. But I'm really looking forward to that.
By about 1 pm the CFO and I were pretty much done. Since he had some deadlines that day and since it was a Friday anyways he sent me home for that day.
I was supposed to show up at work at 9 am. So I got up at 6 took Gina for her morning walk and had breakfast. I had calculated some extra time since having to wear a suit to work takes more prep time than I needed when getting at my old job. And of course I wanted to be in time. Nothing makes a worse impression than showing up for your first work day way too late or way too early. I had planned it that I would be there about 10 minutes before 9 am. And my planning worked just fine.
I got to work met up with the CFO and the CEO and we did have a nice little chat. After that the CFO showed me the office and introduced me to those co-workers that were working on that particular day.
Next followed a long presentation about what the company exactly does and what the philosophy of the company is all about. It was very nice to know that the company believes that the first asset are the employees and those who are the ones that make a company successful. The second thing that was really impressive, is that teamwork is the companies asset number two. And that this is just not a loose term, but being lived on a daily basis. Then come the products, sales, marketing, administration and so on. This is absolutely different compared to my previous employer. And I really like the concept.
Another thing that is great is, since the administrative team is rather small, everyone is on a first name basis...even the CFO and the CEO. That makes for a much easier working climate. Next up was an introduction to the organization charts. It's actually not that complex. It has a logical workflow. And I have two superiors...the CFO and the CEO and that's it. And of course I will have to work in closely with the companies auditor.
After that the CFO and I set up together my laptop. I do have an external monitor as well. I got my own email address. Something that I've been missing during the last 4 years. We setup basic stuff like MS-Office, PDF Reader and stuff like that. Next up was the setup of the VPN access to the BMD cloud, the program we will be working with from the beginning of July on. Then we had to setup the CRM system the company is currently working with. Then followed the access to the companies cloud services, that way I will have access to all the company documents, contracts and stuff like that, that are important for me being able to do my job properly. That is something that had been missing at my last job as well. With my new company I have access to all the accounting data without any exception. And finally we did the setup of the accounting software.
After that I got a first introduction into the accounting filing system. It's a little different than at my old job. Not entirely sure if I'm happy with that filing system. There is definitely room for improvement. But since this accounting year has already started it will stay the way it is. And such a change can only be done if the CFO agrees to it. And I'm sure we will come to a solution that works for everyone.
But before that I have to check out the current accounting software and see what is fact and check if everything has been recorded properly or if certain things need to be changed and/or corrected. And I've been told by the CEO and the CFO if I should encounter something that has not been recorded properly I shall not hesitate to just correct it and record it properly. This is definitely gonna be fun. And it definitely will be challenge. But I'm really looking forward to that.
By about 1 pm the CFO and I were pretty much done. Since he had some deadlines that day and since it was a Friday anyways he sent me home for that day.
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