2021 - Time to Check In

This past weekend, I chatted with a friend, a small business owner in a small town, about the impact that COVID has had on him over the past... has it really been over a year since this all started? I just wanted to check in with him and see how he was doing and to see how his employees were doing.

It turns out that he and his employees are doing okay. Why? How?

Because of his accountant. You see, his accountant isn't "just" a bookkeeper, although she does that. His accountant isn't "just" a compliance enforcer, although she does that, too. Instead, his accountant is an advisor, a supporter, and a champion - one who walks beside him throughout any challenges he faces. 

Here are some of the things that his accountant and other accountants and bookkeepers just like you have done over the past (more than a) year:

• Analyzed reduced revenue and brainstormed innovative ways to create alternative revenue
• Figured out how to pay expenses (to keep vendor businesses open as well)
• Researched government and non-profit programs to keep employees paid and food on their tables
• Filled out applications with many changing requirements and guidelines
• Followed up on statuses of those applications, often requiring submission of additional information because of changing requirements and guidelines
• Filled out loan forgiveness forms, only to find out that the forgiveness requirements changed as well
• Researched additional programs to keep the business afloat (Round 2, 3, ?????)
• Filled out more applications with even more changing requirements and guidelines
• Suffered through one never ending tax year only to find out that this tax year also seems as if it will never end

Here is my truth - my friend's accountant is a hero. And so are you. You have been shoulders to cry on and shoulders to lean on. You have given decent nights' sleep to more business owner than you could even begin to account for. And you have done more for the economy of the Unites States over the past year than any one person in any industry could possibly have done. 

So, I just wanted to check in with you today. How are you? I truly hope you are doing well, because you deserve it. You deserve acknowledgment for the things you accomplished over the past year and you deserve respect for having the strength to do it.