Ray had a haircut yesterday morning. We try to drive as little as possible, so he dropped me off at work on his way, even though I didn't really need to be there until 2. It was a little after 9. Becky and Pam and Wallace and Jane were there. The balloons were out, and the table was set up out front with flyers and candy. Pam drops her adopted (grand) daughter off at day care and comes on to work a little after 8 every morning. We are spoiled, because she does all the setup chores for us: blowing up balloons, putting out the sign, turning on lights and thermostat, making coffee. She had a customer already when I got there, a good sign.
I usually start with the daily reports, unless there is some crisis I need to deal with, or a customer for me. The company has required us to have a receptionist from open to close for the last two weeks, which means I don't have to sit up front and answer the phones much any more. Becky greets people as they arrive and makes appointments for people who call. I thought we had a good day on Thursday, but I was anxious to see the numbers. We made over $8000 in one day! Part of that is some of the TPs (tax pros) working on complicated returns from previous days and finishing them up. Customers can drop off their paperwork, have it worked on, and then come sign (and pay), so the amount of money doesn't always exactly correlate with how busy we were that day. That meant we were over our year-to-date target by 2.7%. This is almost a miracle; we were down more than 30% earlier in the season and I doubted we would make it. I am hopeful that we can stay above our target for the rest of the year, but we'll see.
I printed out that report and the accompanying graph showing us above the line, as well as some other reports, to put on our bulletin board. Every day, we have a brief meeting to look at the numbers and talk about how we're doing. Sometimes, it's like being a cheerleader or coach. It can be tricky to find a time when none of us has a customer, but it seems to help us stay enthusiastic.
The most fun thing about yesterday (besides being over our target) was having a friend come in to get her taxes done. This is the first person who has actually come to see me, because I gave her my card. She is a good and fun person, but, as she said yesterday, the kind of person who should not have her own business. She is a tax professional's nightmare, with her fees received jotted down on a piece of paper, and folders of bills she paid for us to go through and add up in various categories. I was pleased that it took us less than 3 hours to do it all, and she didn't have to go and get something that was missing. She wasn't very happy that she owed money to the IRS, but if you have your own business, that is what will happen, unless you are losing money. In addition to regular income taxes, you have to pay self-employment tax (social security), which you will benefit from when you retire. I felt bad about how much she owed the company, but I certainly earned it.
My Dad was waiting for me as we finished up, so I clocked out and took a dinner break. We walked down the street and had something to eat together. He filled me in on gardening and bridge and the important things in his life, and I didn't have to eat alone. The last two or three hours at the office were pretty quiet. We rarely have late customers show up without an appointment, and it seems silly to keep the office open until 8 or 9, but I don't get to set the hours. A fun thing we get to do at closing is total up the day's receipts (the computer does it for us), and see that, yes, we met our goal for yesterday as well, so we are still positive this morning.
Ray was eating dinner with a guest speaker and other geology people, so he didn't pick me up until 9. I spent the last half hour or so next door in the grocery store, dawdling up and down the aisles, buying a few things and wishing I had brought my own car! He did bring me a slice of cake from the Last Resort, though, as a reward. We watched an episode of Wheel of Fortune and the latest Big Bang Theory while we ate it (with ice cream) and went to bed to sleep well. It is warm these days, so no heat needed or heavy quilt on the bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment