Photo by Jonas Verstuyft on Unsplash
I can tell what’s coming by the look on your face. How your eyes dart to the floor.
“You’re going to think I’m awful,” you’ll say. “I haven’t been keeping my accounting up-to-date.”
I get it.
Accounting sucks.
When you have 100 things to do to grow your business the last thing you want to do before bed is enter receipts in Quickbooks or organize the crumpled stack of papers to send to your bookkeeper.
You are not abnormal. I hear something like that from nearly every new client who walks into our office. I’ve even had to make a similar confession to my wonderful partner, Haley. Because at the end of the day the last thing I want to do is our own accounting. (The difference being that she will agree I’m awful.)
I think accounting aversion is, for some people, like not wanting to go to the doctor because she might tell you you’re sick. Entrepreneurs are so attached to their ideas, they are afraid someone might tell them they are on the wrong track. So, instead, they keep things to themselves. But inside they fear they are the worst.
Relax. Every one of your peers has the same anxieties. They’re disorganized, missed HST filings, lost receipts and forgot to invoice people. Or at least they were like that at one point. Then they got better.
Having reliable information to run your business is critical. Talking about that information with other people, whether that’s an accountant or trusted mentor, is one of the best things you can do to make sure that you’re working on the right things.
So, still think you’re abnormal? What are you going to do this year to address your accounting aversion?