True Confessions from Your Bookkeeping TeamAt Black Tulip, we have clients of all kinds. The majority are terrific people who do business in a completely normal way. But… sometimes we hear some wacky stories. Here are some of our favourites from our bookkeeping team.

Clean up specialist needed!

Over the years we’ve seen a lot of administrative disasters, but this was a doozy. A lawyer started out as a sole-proprietor but incorporated after about a year. Unfortunately, this PC Law user didn’t think to start up a new file in the program. The result? A lot of headaches when we were called in four years later. As a special bonus, nobody working previously on the file seemed to have been trained as a bookkeeper.

CRA capers

Our client asked us to call the CRA HST auditor and explain that she had had a car accident (true) and that she was “good for the money” (also true), and that she was just too busy to be able to pay her outstanding HST balance (not quite true). While we appreciate our client’s time, we did not, in fact, call the CRA to tell them this.

Another client emailed us his annual HST Notice of Assessment with the subject line: “I’m in trouble”. Our response to him was: “well, let’s get together and decide how to manage this!”. That was three months ago and we’re still waiting for a response. Presumably he’s in even more trouble now.

You get what you pay for

We received a call from a potential small business client who was looking to hire a new bookkeeper. This real estate agent also owned a multiple-unit income property and rented out space in her residence through Airbnb. It was her accountant’s recommendation to find a new bookkeeper, but she wasn’t prepared to pay more than her current $200 per month. Based on the size of the job, the work was estimated at least double. She turned us down. Our sincere apologies to her accountant!

What is it with construction companies?

Over the past 20+ years we have been approached by multiple small construction companies, who admit that they have desperately needed our help. All of them indicated they wanted us to “do it all”, the bookkeeping, the billing, the cash flow. But when we started by asking them to provide us with the basics, like bank statements, government forms and vendor bills, none of them came through with even these initial steps. To date, we have never had a construction company client. Are they afraid of getting organized? Allergic to paperwork? Come back! We promise we’ll be gentle!

Do you have any funny accounting or bookkeeping stories? Share them with us below!

Great bookkeeping is more than just a job to us. Our biggest thrill is ensuring our clients books are detailed and perfectly reconciled.  If you have a client who desperately needs our help, let us (or them) know.

At Black Tulip, we have 23 years of experience providing client-focused administrative back office services. We strive to fully understand your business in order to deliver financial reports, increase your company’s efficiency, and ultimately, simplify your life. To find out more about our bookkeeping services and help your company reach the next level, contact us today!