What I love : Accountancy roles, bookkeeping tasks, spending quality time with VT Transaction+ / VT Accounts, business analysis, preparing bank proposals, statistical analysis, meeting clients one on one, anything to do with Excel, accountancy study, tutoring. Having control over what I do and when I do it.
What I hate : Sage (started out by not liking the licencing, now I don't even like the product), retyping figures from accounts into companies house templates, Giving HMRC figures in their templates that are already in the iXBRL tax computations included as attachments, stand up presentations to groups of more than three people, networking events where I know nobody else there, waiting on the phone for HMRC to pick up, accountants cold calling my clients in attempts to poach them. Psuedo clients who are actually agents or business directories trying to part my company from its money. And of course the reverse of the what I love in I hate doing anything that has control over me rather than I over it.
What I tolerate : clients thinking that they know best, clients trying to argue down my price (like that's ever going to happen), other accountants assuming that there is only one way to look at a scenario. Inconsistent tax regulation.
All in all though if I didn't love what I do I would do something else.... What's the point in doing a job that's you don't want to get out of bed for? Or indeed a job where you don't lie in bed at night pondering scenario's to improve a clients business.
For percentages I would estimate that no more than 5% of my time is spent on things that I hate. No idea how much time is spent on things that I tolerate but the bulk of my time is certainly spent doing what I love doing.
I don't expect my percentages to be typical as I know that a lot of people go into this line of work because they believe that it will give them an income rather than for the love of the work. The longer that you do it though and more comfortable you become with the work, then the more you enjoy what you do.
kind regards,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I feel a lengthly thread coming....................
I love my job, I think job satisfaction is a real plus! Get frustrated when its kids holidays or inservice training days at school, its a nightmare trying to juggle everything and ending up working in the evenings to make up for lost time! I supposed thats the beauty of being self-employed you are more flexible with the kids.
The majority of my clients I really like (about 90% of them), one who frustrate me sometimes. Toloerate:- Another one who keeps saying he will open a separate bank account for his business but 18 months down the line he has still failed to do so and then just laughs when I ask the question!!!! I would love to kick his A@%*!!!!
10% of me don't like doing the marketing bit, although getting use to this as time goes on.
15% - Selling yourself to a client face to face I don't find that easy even though I was in Sales for 20 years, (15 years telesales). One job I had (it was my first sales job), my boss sent his friend in to buy stuff and inquire about other stuff that we were selling (it was retail), and I didn't know it was our bosses friend, so he came up to me and I served him with a friendly face, gathered all the information that he wanted, showed him round the showroom and spent about 45 mins with him, gave him my business card at the end and thought nothing of it. Anyway Monday morning my boss wanted to see me, so had a brief meeting to discuss sales and then he dropped the bombshell, that I had served his friend!!! Well I was racking my brains to remember if I had been nice to him, anyway his friend was well impressed with the service, and said I was really good at my job! Well I was surprised, I didn't get a payrise though!
Worst job, well I won't go there, the people were nice, and got paid well, and had a good boss, but god was it boring (Sales again), I nearly fell asleep in a meeting I was so bored!
-- Edited by Amanda on Friday 2nd of November 2012 11:02:40 PM
I use to have a sales job where I worked 22 hours a week (after I had my eldest), anyway I did a full-times work in just 22 hours and worked like a trojan, while the other lazy buggers worked in a slow mode just to make themselves look busy, then when they were actually busy they moaned like hell and then went of sick!!!!! Sometimes you just can't get the staff!!!! My moto was 'if the want the job doing do it yourself'!
I always think half the civil servants (god I will be slaughtered for this), have it easy with good pensions, lots of holiday, go off sick and get paid for it etc!!! My friend is one, she works flexy hours so suits the kids etc, no probs with that we all like to do that, but when she had a fall (had to go to hospital), she got signed off for 4 weeks, then went out xmas shopping and then had lunch, when she was suppose to be 'resting', then got signed off for a further time after that! Made my blood boil.
Sorry gone off topic abit on this one!
-- Edited by Amanda on Friday 2nd of November 2012 11:01:14 PM
Since becoming self employed full time I don't think I hate anything I do now. I'd say about 75% of what I do I love, and about 25% is tolerated. Having taken on an employee I hope that will change in the year ahead.
I love all my work, what I hate is doing other peoples work whilst they sit on their bum. So it used to be 75% love 25% hate now it's 100% love as I now make my excuses and leave them to it.
As i am employed full time at the moment what I hate is my manager as he bullies me. I also have a work colleague who is an absolute nightmare and will drag her days work out so that she doesn't have to do anything else. She goes on holiday or on the sick leaving me to pick up the pieces of work she hasn't shown me how to do it her way and then takes great pleasure in telling me that I shouldn't have done it the way I did. Really grates me.
I love doing monthly VAT returns, month end reporting, Sales Analysis, preparing P & L and BS followed by Cash Flow.
My days are best when I am left alone and not hen pecked as I work much better when I can get on with my job.
This is the worst job I have had regards bad boss and work colleague but on the other hand it where I started to do management accounts. I wish I could pick up my current experience and take it to another company where the managers are nicer and no one tries to be little you and humiliate you in front of other people.
Whinge over now!!
Hopefully if i can build up my bookkeeping business I can then look for something part time. Can't afford to do that yet as it pays well.
The law of gratitude lol yes Shaun showing my hippy side again :))))
I love being the boss. I am prepared to do every job otherwise how can I expect others to do it? I do do every job at some point!
Amanda I agree! What I loathe is the governments complete ignorance with regards to the challenges of small businesses and their owners. They contribute a massive % to the ecenomy and we get a raw deal! And head workers - those who don't or are not prepared work for their reward and add value - mentioned already. Grates on me!
I learnt at school if I worked the day went faster! I tried skiving - I was so bored -I tried rebelling - even more boring. I couldn't possibly attend work each day and do the minimum possible. I want to leave feeling satisfied like I've achieved something. Isn't that what makes life interesting?
I'll tell you a couple of stories.... On the next post so I don't lose everything....
Someone was in a very, very, very well paid job for a very well known company. Used to brag that they worked the system! Did the minimal possible and took regular toilet breaks! I think a newspaper or book were involved. Redundancy time came (surprise, surprise) Job gone! Business owners (that they'd been bragging to) then received a C.V. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
Sick pay and good pensions? Sorry Amanda what are they? :)))
2006 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Eagle was 4 years old - still in its infancy really. I was 34. I could have taken a year off sick (unpaid) whilst I underwent chemotherapy and radio therapy but only if I was willing to say goodbye to my dream!
I'm still here and so is eagle but it's through sheer hard work and determination!
Sorry to hear about your breast cancer Sonya. I know what you mean about taking time off, I have to be bed ridden and not be able to look after the kids for me to take time off work. Like you say we don't get paid for being off sick, we have to soldier on. I was ill once, had a bad eye infection which spread to both eyes and I could barely see the PC, I got the kids to school, looked like a zombie because of my eyes and then went onto work as normal! Well there was nothing else wrong with me accept my eye problem which was really bad, so I sat at my desk and got to work. An hour later they sent me home, i was so bored at home! I always say are you a worker or a shirker (probably spelt that wrong)!
I too like being my own boss, I couldn't go back and work for someone now.
I asked because I think this is a really interesting topic.
My comments are not aimed at anyone here (so no need to have a go at me) but I have the opinion that most bookkeepers/accountants are coasting; doing a perfectly good job but on auto-pilot without passion.
The questions was triggered by me working on some Crunchers policies/principle/values. I'm thinking of banning work/clients we hate and having ongoing marketing to eliminate work/clients we can only just tolerate. And, we will not tolerate coasting....this may extend to clients!!!!
I would have thought that the portion of work that people hate to do is tied in with the rest of the work from their clients, so in a way, one must undertake a certain amount of this work to get the more enjoyable work.
I appreciate that being self employed enables one to pick and choose clients and/or work but surely only to some extent.
If somebody's reply to your post was love 85% tolerate 10% hate 5%, and the hate was payroll services for clients (tedious?) yet the individual was aiming at offering a full service, then payroll would be a must, to gain the rest of the work.
Am i missing something? (It wouldn't be the first or last time Bob, so go easy lol)
I also think it's an interesting, if simplistic, idea. While I agree with Neil that we can minimise the work we hate it's not always possible to completely eliminate it.
Take Shauns, he hates waiting on the phone for HMRC. How do we ban this? Not quite hate, but one of the things I dislike is needing to phone HMRC 3 times to get the right answer, surely we can't eliminate that, and have no real choice but to do it.
I agree if you have a client you hate working with it's easier to get rid of them.
no having a go from here. It sounded a fair thought provoking question and Neils reply above is an excellent counter arguement.
I see what you mean about certain clients rather than certain work.
The idea of franchisee's coasting must be a real problem as they are your business.
I have always imagined that many of those who go down the Franchise route are those who need more help and there could be a perception by franchisees that going down that route the work will come to them on the back of being a member of a larger entity rather than needing to chase it as with the alternative.
For an ethical code I think that either the IFAC code of ethics or the ACCA / ICAEW code of ethics (based on the IFAC code) is what you need to ingrain into any franchisee that is not bound to it by their respective professional memberships.
When you read the ethical codes they all seem simple enough but after sitting through exams where ethics are integral to the questions you realise the similarities between application of the regulations and Asimovs laws of robotics when applied to real life scenarios.
On the whole coasting thing maybe we are the wrong audiece on that one as by definition the regular posters here will be the one's passionate about what we do.
Also, on the banning work that you hate. My impression is that Crunchers loves the value added services (don't we all) basically the advice and analysis work. But what about the statutory work? I have no issue with that but do Crunchers hold that side of the work in the same regard? You could not ban statutory filing commitments as at the end of the day those are the foundations upon which other services are built.
just something to ponder there along with Neils Payroll scenario as this does not sound like a black and white area where one can pick and choose simply.
On the Franchisee's coasting front what happens if one does? Do they get their investment back? They may be trying their hardest but are just not very good at marketing which is why they joined a franchise.
As a starter for your core values go with
- Integrity
- Objectivity
- Independance
Three small words, a huge shift in thinking.
kind regards,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I accept there are small elements that we may not love but working the right clients with the right objectives make minor things insignificant, like checking-in for a holiday.
I think the reason most of us become self employed is to be the master of our own destiny, to determine who we want to work with, and who we don't.
I accept that some people will take on those they would rather not work with for money, but I don't think disturbing my happiness is ever worth it.
Having said this I have one or two clients who coast, but I don't see that as a reason to get rid of them. I like them, I enjoy working with them and if they want to have a lifestyle business and not develop it any further, who am I to judge.
I have had clients who were extremely driven and often caused me no end of problems, and these were the ones I cut loose the last time I reviewed my clientbase. They were trying to do so much, had so many irons in the fire that they were forgetting the basics.
I accept there are small elements that we may not love but working the right clients with the right objectives make minor things insignificant, like checking-in for a holiday.
good analogy there Bob... Sad muppet that I am I actually enjoy the travelling as much as the getting there... Maybe that's a good analogy for my bookkeeping and accounting work
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I wonder if this changes over time. I enjoy the clients that 'dump' all their receipts etc on me and say it is a weight of their shoulders - I get the satisfaction of doing something useful for them. My business is new and I can imagine that elements that I enjoy now will become tedious later. My hate job is the clients I constantly have to chase for paperwork!
@Sylvia - think about charging extra for chasing; position the activity as "job management" and ask clients if they would like it built into their fees.
Remember to include a standard turnaround time, say 10 days unless pre-booked. Then if a client doesn't respond to requests for the information and dumps the work on you late explain their VAT return/accounts will be late. If they want you to work in the evenings or at the weekend charge 50% to 100% more.
Some more sound advice there Bob but could I just add to that another category of new clients getting information to you one month before filing is required.
Come january I know that I will be getting last minute calls from people desperate to file before the end of the month. Unless there is a month between initial approach and filing, my fee's start at 100% up on standard regardless of the work being done outside normal hours.
I don't regard that as desperation pricing but rather risk based pricing.
Also, a point to clarify for other readers as I understand what you mean but I know that others may misinterpret it (as I've seen it happen with people claiming overtime by choosing when they work). The 50% to 100% increase is when the client requests that you work out of hours not when one chooses to or is forced to by other pressures that are nothing to do with the client.
kind regards,
Shaun.
p.s. Good thread Bob.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
