Work again

Finally able to start work again! I have completed a set of accounts this morning already, and filed a CT return.
I have a headache and am really stressed out. Why do relatives always stay longer than you want? I love to see them, but they all work in 9-5 type jobs and don't have much concept of deadlines!
Thankfully 18 year old daughter has done washing up and loaded the washer.

Oh well, must get on or it will never be finished.

Christmas Lull

Hoped to do some work today but relatives still here so not been able to . Must start tomorrow!

A little help from my friends...

Chris came over as promised, and took 2 jobs to do over the Christmas break. I need to work until Wednesday lunch at least, as Mum arrives for the week and it's really difficult to work when she is here.

One teenager has finished school and has made curry for tea, and is now baking gingerbread. I need to make more mince pies as the first 2 lots have been scoffed already!

Still feel that all the work won't be done, but will just have to see how it goes.

Still stressed

Don't seem to have made much progress in the last couple of days. Decided to text Chris, my occasional assistant, to see if he can help out over the next few weeks. Says he will come round at the weekend, so at least if he can get the analysis done on a few jobs that will speed things up a bit. Phew!

Just wish a few more people would pay - then I will be able to pay my tax bill on time!

http://uk.zopa.com/member/JFoster62
http://www.quidco.com/user/1345249/266157

Still stressed

Still far too much work to complete by the tax return deadline.  2 more jobs have turned up, but I'm going to be working flat out to get them done in time.

Already been to the village post office & waited for 20 minutes in a queue to pay a cheque in. Found out that it may close down within the year. That will make things really difficult for me and worse for the large number of pensioners in the village who rely on it for their pensions.

On the plus side, the kitchen floor is now concreted completely, so no stepping over rubble to get to the cooker or sink!

Clients - a pain in the rear!

An ex client is threatening to report me for not getting his accounts in on time as he has just been fined £750 for getting them in late for the 3rd year running. I half killed myself to do this job, even when I was seriously ill. With hindsight I should have refused on the grounds that he hadn't provided full information. He certainly never provided it on time! Really stressed out now. And I was never paid for what I did.

I have so much to do by 31st January, most of which isn't even here. I don't need this!

Hooray!

2 sets of accounts completed!  Did quite well considering kitchen floor in process of being relaid, and had to keep 3 cats out!

A really wet, wild day here so no desire to go out. Might as well get on with some work.

Got a nice surprise in the post - a length of Christmas bunting from my little sister, which I have hung over the lounge door to stop people banging their heads on our low door frame!


http://uk.zopa.com/member/JFoster62

http://www.quidco.com/user/1345249/266157

Peace and quiet

No-one else in the house all day, until 8pm or so. Should be able to get a few things completed. So far have finished payrolls, billed 31 December quarterly amounts for same, got my books up to date, and eaten chocolate.
Got a call from inland revenue about a new e-mail query resolution service called Agent Account Managers. Has anyone else come across this yet? If there is a problem, ie client's refund not received when it should have been, you can contact the AAM by email and all will be resolved - hopefully. Sounds good anyway.
Now, let's see if I can finish a set of accounts before I have to collect my son at 8pm. First, another cup of tea is called for!

Just opened a letter saying one of my clients has received a large tax refund - and it has gone into his agent's bank account - but not mine!! Checking online, I find that someone else has filed the return, even though I have all the info here to do it. I think it is for a spell where he worked abroad, but there is other income for the tax year, which I have here. Now I need to get a copy of the return and file an amendment, and he needs to get his refund back, from which they have no doubt taken a fee! Why do people make life so difficult I ask?

Time to do a bit more christmas shopping ? http://www.quidco.com/user/1345249/

Back to work

Back home after a tiring weekend. Daughter & her dad gone off to Cambridge until tomorrow, so should be nice & peaceful as son at school all day. Spent morning shopping in Lidl & answering a few phone calls, then off to a tax update. Hope I don't get stuck as it's alternating between sleet, rain and torrential hailstones at the moment. Considered taking hubby's pick-up just in case, but in the end went for the mini.

Roads a bit tricky on the way back as covered in a layer of hailstones, but got here in one piece. Decided against going out again this evening - should be at Zumba but I don't think missing one will do any harm!

Thursday already!

Can't believe it's Thursday already! Not got as much done as I would have liked this week. Now just catching up on monthly payrolls so as not to miss the payment deadline.
Only a half day tomorrow as I am off to Coventry with hubby to Gauge 1 model railway event (G1MRA). Back home on Sunday morning. Hope the teenagers cope ok on their own.

After that, it's a busy few days as daughter has an interview at Cambridge University on Tuesday, and needs to be taken. It's a 5 hour drive, and far too expensive by train. Hubby is taking her as I'm on a course on Monday. Shame, I would have liked a look round.

Just used all my 2nd class stamps on christmas cards so need to go and buy more now!

Time flies

After a relaxing weekend of tidying up for visitors coming, having visitors, & tidying up after visitors managed to get most of a job prepped yesterday. Need to pop to Tesco for groceries, then hopefully will be able to finish it off and bill it.

Need to get a good bit of cash in for December, ready to pay the 31st January tax!

Trying Quidco to generate extra cash. Buy online from loads of retailers including e-bay & earn cash back. I've made £36 in 2 months. Follow this link
http://www.quidco.com/user/1345249/

Friday again

Intended to do a bit of work today, but ended up going to Tesco, doing 2 loads of washing,  helping hubby with some diy and making a beef stew for tea.

Messed about on the computer for a while and did my own and hubby's book-keeping.about .

Been checking out this website for borrowing and lending money. It's a peer to peer lending site and promises to beat returns on deposit accounts  http://uk.zopa.com/member/JFoster62

Progress at last

Completed a full set of company accounts today. One more ticked off the list. Client has already paid most of the bill by monthly payment, so just need to transfer it from my deposit account. I like clients who do that :-)

For the next job, a cleaning contractor. My Mum did some analysis on this job for me when she was here a few weeks ago. Just discovered that she didn't leave me a space to put the totals in at the bottom of the page. Suppose I should have been a bit more specific. Never mind, If I write really small I can fit it in.

And I sold another of my second hand books today - profit 85p!!

Work and more work...

Most of a VAT return done, and some more payrolls.
Got some cheques in, and also sold a book on Greenmetropolis (I do this in my spare time if I have any!!) so off to the post office with them.
Another client turned up with 2 lots of accounts to do, so my work pile isn't decreasing. There are still so many people to bring their tax records in, with only just over 2 months before the filing deadline. Who do they think I am? Superwoman?

At least it's not noisy today, just dusty. Should be thankful for that I suppose.

Another half day

Most of the morning taken up with a hospital check up. I had breast cancer 4 years ago, and still have to attend appointments with my consultant every so often. A quick visit to Tesco on the way back for milk & other essentials. Ok, so maybe chocolate isn't essential...

The afternoon was spent doing some payrolls and making chilli for tea, having first tackled the washing up pile. The kitchen floor is now able to be walked on so that's a relief!

Busy weekend

Spent most of Saturday working - helping a friend do a set of accounts which she is unable to file from her system, so said she could use mine. Didn't expect it to take so long. Spent an hour on Sunday "tickling up" the figures into proper format for her before emailing the finished article. Just waiting for some journals to come back now.

Today it's a bit cold in here as the floor in the kitchen is being concreted and the back door is wide open. Should be fun later when I try to make a cuppa & can only skirt round the edge.

Might as well get on with some real work as I can't do any other stuff!

A day off

Well, half a one. Did a VAT return this morning, then off to meet friends for lunch at Stanley House, for a birthday celebration. Lovely fish & chips. Managed not to eat dessert so not as bad as it might have been.

Got home to find daughter has an interview at Cambridge Uni, so she is very happy.

A weekend of house cleaning beckons, before it all starts again on Monday!

Cracking Up

Still loads of noise from the kitchen.

Even so, managed to complete another set of accounts.
Unfortunately when I got to my client I found that I had not picked them up, only had the tax returns. No idea where they went. Anyway, back home to print off another copy, then off to the post office with them. At least she paid me - even before she saw the accounts!

A combination of household chaos and old age methinks!

Progress

Amazingly, managed to complete a set of accounts and do several payrolls despite the noise going on next door. Very pleased. That's one more bill I can send out. Every little helps at the moment as daughter has just passed her driving test and insurance has cost me a small fortune!
The errant client from Friday finally turned up with a cheque, full of apologies. Don't worry, it's fine, I said. Although it really isn't.

Now must try to get something done as a friend whom I haven't seen for 10 years is coming for a coffee later and I need to tidy enough space for us to sit down.

Noisy Day

A very noisy day in the office today as the kitchen floor is being dug up. Not exactly conducive to work! 
Will battle on until it becomes unbearable or my computer disappears under a pile of rubble!

Unreliable clients!

Seething as a client promised to bring a cheque on Friday - and guess what? He didn't show. I have already said he could pay in 2 instalments, as long as the first one was now. Been bitten once this year by someone refusing to pay a bill of 1k, and can't afford another.
But they still expect you to keep on working for them. Why should I do this?
Need to get some bills out to keep the cash coming in, otherwise won't have enough to pay my tax! Not good.

TGI Friday!

Well, it's Friday at last! I don't usually work on Fridays, unless I'm really busy. Actually, I do work - at catching up on the jobs round the house that haven't been done.
Hubby is out all day today on a business trip, so a rare day on my own.  I think we will start with a quick trip to Lidl, then a bit of housework until lunchtime. After that I may read a magazine whilst watching the birdfeeder through the window. Last week I saw a pair of nuthatches, a goldfinch, bluetits, coaltits, robins, a pheasant and the ubiquitous magpies of course!

Must get started - washing already on, washing up waiting in the sink.  A housewife's work is never done!

Getting ready for Christmas...

It is only 6 weeks until the big day, after all. Just ordered the last of the online presents.  One other item on it's way in the post, and that's pretty much everything sorted except food and drink.
Yesterday was spent buying tiles for the new shower and organising a school reunion. Don't know why someone who lives near the anticipated event can't sort it out. Still, its  not too difficult to message a few people on facebook or linkedIn from anywhere in the country I suppose. Picked a date next March, which seems acceptable to most people. Just relying on a friend in the Midlands to sort out a venue, and we're up and running.

Really cross with one of my clients. Got a letter with a post surcharge. They had the nerve to cut stamps off the envelope I sent their papers in and glue them onto a new envelope to re-use as they hadn't been franked. Of course, the postie had noticed this and it cost me £1.58. I suppose I could have refused to accept it, and it would have been sent back - but you never know if it might be important. Needless to say their bill will increase next time! And there wasn't even a cheque for my fee enclosed!!

Finally managed a small set of accounts in the afternoon. Just starting another lot, for someone whom I know will pay straight away. Why do clients think its ok to make accountants wait for weeks for their money?

Rant over!

An unproductive day

Well, unproductive on the work front anyway. So far have emptied all the bins and taken the rubbish to the end of our track, put away last night's washing up (to make room for the next lot which has appeared, as if by magic, overnight), washed and dried 2 loads of washing, and been to the post office with 3 parcels (not work related). Thought I was in luck as there were only 2 people waiting - how wrong could I be? The lady at the front had about 10 ebay things to send. 20 minutes later I was still there.
Returned home via the butcher's with provisions for tea, to find hubby wondering where we keep our passports these days. Same place as for the last 5 years I think!
Just settling down to work when the Tesco shopping arrives. That takes another half an hour to unpack. Its already 1 o'clock and I need to stop for lunch.
I'll be lucky to get a couple of hours work in before it's time to collect the kids from the school bus. Oh well, there's always tomorrow!

That Monday Feeling!

Well, it's Monday again. As usual, 2 people want accounts doing by yesterday (but don't want to pay for 6 months!!!), someone needs a tenancy reference, and someone else wants to form a new Company. How am I supposed to get on with my proper work?
I'd actually much rather be doing a bit of painting in my re-fitted bathroom, but that won't pay the mortgage. Bah!
At least the kids are at school so it's nice and quiet.

Accountant in the Attic

I've been a Certified Accountant for 33 years. That's a bit scary isn't it? For the last 18 years, since 2 kids and redundancy hit me square in the eyes I've worked from home. I don't make a fortune, but I work when I choose (mostly anyway!) and have been able to attend all the kids sports days and the like.
The trouble with working from home is... well, you are at home & can see all the chores piling up around your ears. My office is currently in what used to be our dining room, so I am right in the thick of it. I'll just mop the kitchen floor - then go back to Mr. Smith's tax return - oh, and I'll load the washer whilst I'm up.
Some days I hardly seem to get any real work done as I spend the whole time tidying and sorting after the rest of the household, and letting my 3 cats in and out, and in and out...again!
Don't get me wrong, I love my work some days, but on others I could cheerfully sling my computer and files on the compost heap. If only I could take 3 months off I would spend it sorting out the garden, having the perfect tidy house, and perhaps get some chickens to look after. I'd bake and make yummy jams & join the W.I. Unfortunately I often answer the phone to clients with my hands covered in flour.
For now, I'm off to pick the cake mix off my calculator and get some VAT returns done. Ho hum...