Shame Has No Place In Accounting

You’re meeting with your accountant to go over your quarterly results.

She’s reviewing expenses now.

As you watch her scan through the list, you have a pit in your stomach.
“What’s this $1,200 paid to the Sheik Yerbouti store?” she asks.

You freeze up. You were afraid of this.

“Is it a business expense?”

You feel like your mom caught you teetering on a step ladder, reaching deep into the cookie jar at the back of the counter and clutching a fistful of Oreos.

You break out in a cold sweat.

You paid $1,200 for 60 dance costumes.

You’re having a Fly Your Business Freak Flag High disco night for your mastermind clients.

Every one of your people received sparkly outfits covered in sequins. 

You’re afraid to explain this to your buttoned-up accountant.

You believe she’s going to doubt you, cross-examine you, and think you’re a flake.

It’s just like when you were falsely accused of shoplifting a Snickers bar. You’d paid for that candy bar at another store with your allowance, but the red-faced shopkeeper didn’t believe you. You finally had to call your mom for backup.

“Ye-e-e-s” you stammer to your accountant and then launch into a long, convoluted, and defensive explanation.

She listens politely then says “I just needed to know if it was a computer or another depreciable asset.”

You feel like an idiot.

Here’s the thing. You’re not an idiot.

You just forgot that you’re the client. 

Some life-long vestigial pattern of handing over your sovereignty to authority figures was activated when it came to money or your business. You regressed to a younger powerless self afraid of the judgments, anger, or other consequences of your actions.

You put yourself in a subordinate position.

Your accountant doesn’t want to be the scary mommy figure in your life. 

She doesn’t care if you’re buying gerbils or piranhas for your clients, just that it’s a legitimate business expense. She’s not judging you. 

You are.

(If you are being gaslighted, mansplained, blown off, or otherwise treated badly, that’s a completely different story. I’m talking about garden variety, par-for-the-course inquiries.)

She’s a professional and she wants to partner with you, her client. 

You pay her to ask questions so she can do her job correctly. She will solicit your input when there’s a judgment call as to how aggressive or conservative to be about an accounting matter because it’s YOUR call as a business owner. And no matter how competent or incompetent she is, it’s your financial butt on the line with the taxing authorities.

You can outsource your sovereignty, but never your responsibility. 

Sitting with your accountant can feel easy, comfortable, and judgment-free. The financial check-up gives you valuable info for you to business like a human better.

If you find yourself regressing, rebelling against, or avoiding your financial people, it means you have some money beliefs that undermine your self-confidence.

You come by these beliefs honestly.

But you can change them. If you want to learn more about how to feel completely comfortable talking numbers with your accountant, enroll in  Financial Intimacy for Business Owners, my new course. 

You’ll learn how to decode the stories your business is telling you. 

You’ll never feel weird or hand over your power to someone who’s working for you and you’ll make better, faster, and more grounded decisions.

Find out more about Financial Intimacy for Business Owners here.

I'll be teaching a class on Financial Intimacy for Business Owners starting October 19th. You’ll make better and more profitable business decisions when you approach your financials with curiosity and listen the stories they’re telling you. Sign up here.