Leslie is the owner of a drain cleaning company, a business she inherited from her father. Back in the day, her father managed a small crew and operated with handshake contracts and stacks of cash. Now that her dad has retired, ambitious Leslie sees a different future. She wants to grow her company so that she can make a fortune … and provide career opportunities for her beloved team. And she wants to build on her (and her father’s) reputation for taking great care of her customers.

Leslie called me one day after reading one of my articles. She described the vision she has for her company and her intent to build an empire. In response to my questions, she shared that …

She knew how much she had in accounts receivable but only saw financial statements once a year at tax time.

She didn’t understand how the financial statements related to what she did every day … sales, payroll, materials … so she pretty much ignored the reports anyway.

She knew that she was in debt but wasn’t sure how much. She just secured another line of credit to keep the cash flowing.

I confronted Leslie about her lack of financial literacy. “It’s your company and your assets on the line. You need to know. Tell me who is in charge of the accounting at your company.”

For the last 15 years, her mom has been the bookkeeper. Mom does the books as “a favor” to Leslie. She works 40-plus hours a week but nothing is ever really finished or ready for Leslie to look at, so Leslie has quit asking for day-to-day financial information. Everyone else in the office avoids Mom, who seems to have a different set of rules than the rest of the team. While Mom is responsible for paying bills, whom she pays and when is a mystery. Once, when Stan the warehouse man had a question about his paycheck, Mom flew out of the office sobbing, “And that’s the thanks I get?” It took Leslie three apologetic phone calls to woo her back.

At the end of the year, Mom hands over whatever it is that she assembles for financial information to a fellow named Art. Art is an accountant who files the tax return. Leslie has asked Art for help understanding the balance sheet and income statement he prepares for the return. She called and set up an appointment to meet with him. His secretary scheduled a date to meet … in six weeks. At that meeting, Art leaned over his massive mahogany desk and patted Leslie’s hand. “You worry about running the business. I’m a professional. I will take care of the accounting,” he said dismissively, then escorted her to the door. For the money she pays him, to be treated like this?

Martyr Mom is holding Leslie back. Art the Intimidator is holding her hostage.

I advised Leslie to fire both of them.

“But then what?” Leslie sputtered in response to my suggestion. “Where do I find another accountant? Who else would I trust with my money? Where do I start? And, by the way, my mother will disown me.”

I responded, “Leslie, you can do this. You can get to a known financial position. You can create a clean, accurate set of financials. You can build a team of financial pros who will help you get timely, accurate data in a format you understand so that you can make good business decisions.

“And, Leslie, your mom will get over it.”  

Bookkeeping is a part-time position. Enter sales, make the deposit, pay bills … and you are 90 percent there. Find a smart, savvy bookkeeper and have her or him help you set up your accounting program and learn basic accounting. It’s not hard … it’s just that you haven’t been taught this stuff.

Then enlist a certified public accountant (CPA) to check your work and handle your tax responsibilities. Unless you have a very big company, you just don’t need an in-house CPA.

These professionals do not relieve you of the primary stewardship of your company. Your assets are on the line. You have to pay attention. A good financial team can help you make good decisions. You direct them; they don’t direct you.

I went through this process myself when I realized that we weren’t making any money and no one was going to figure out how to fix that for me. It was my responsibility. Finding the right financial team to help you build your empire may appear to be a daunting task, but take heart and take my advice: Do not put up with the martyr or the intimidator. Fire them! Learn to do the duties yourself if you must. Do not be held hostage. Know there are people out there who love bookkeeping and accounting, and be determined to find them.