Getting things right

The last thing we want to do is to disappoint our clients and that’s why we have systems and processes in place. However, there is an established saying in accounting circles which goes:

“The information you get out

is as good as

the information that you put in.”

That’s another way of saying “give us incomplete information, and you’ll get an incomplete answer”. Software developers refer to this as GIGO.

Nobody wants to build a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces or with the wrong pieces and if we give you an incomplete picture of what’s happening, you’re not going to be happy.

Our systems and processes are supposed to help prevent problems! It all starts with collecting the right information at the right time and we use simple checklists like this one to do just that:

https://www.proactive.ly/news/?p=92

We have to rely on the details that you give us, because it’s your business, and you are in control. Unlike some mythical accountants of old, we cannot “invent” things.

A black and white street map of central London, with half of the road names missing, this is a scanned image from an advert which Informix placed in the UK press in 1988 in the days before the web, and back when scanners were low quality

Of course, we all sometimes make mistakes, and we know that sometimes work does need to be redone. It’s our normal policy not to charge extra for reworking things when genuine mistakes have been made. However, if we find that we have to do things twice on a regular basis you will find that we will start charging you twice.

Let’s try getting things right, first time around!