Surveying the Filing System

Surveying the Filing System Originally uploaded by mellowkitty.

When I started my own company in 2005, I didn't really anticipate all the new and slightly scary things I'd be doing.

Our first contract was with a studio in LA, backed by one of the big players in the film industry. The negotiations for the work were conducted over a few weeks, with me trading phone calls and emails with honest-to-goodness Hollywood producer-types. I held my own, but my mind boggled every evening as I wound down with a glass of red wine and reviewed the odd feeling I had that I was becoming as ruthless and heartless as the film folks I was battling with. In the end, we got the rate we wanted and started off the year with a bang. I felt proud when I deposited our first cheque.

Over the months, there were more cheques to deposit, bills to pay, and expenses to expense. I kept track of most everything using a cumbersome spreadsheet and the archaeology filing method: great piles of papers stacked more or less in the order they came in. I never threw anything away, nor did I file or sort it.

It's now year-end, I'm I'm paying the price for my "organic" approach to accounting. Vast amounts of data needs to be entered into a proper accounting system so that I don't spend the little profit we made on bookeeping services.

Nomar, pictured above, tries to help by lying on the newly sorted stacks of paper, absorbing the information, and then sprawling next to the computer. Alas, he's not outfitted with a wireless chip, so I'm stuck entering everything manually.

Accounting is new and scary...how *do* I receive that cheque in Euos but have it convert properly to Canadian dollars so that it jibes with my bank statement. Why do I have more cheques than invoices from a particular client? Can I put Nomar on the payroll? If so, how do I remit his income tax deductions when he's paid in Whiskas?