What Would You Do if Your Bookkeeping Firm Sent Financials With NEGATIVE $119,000 in Revenue?

By: Ruth King

This actually happened!

Recently I got the June financial statements from a client who had subscribed to Financially Fit Business (www.financiallyfit.business).  I always like to see financial statements to make sure they appear to be accurate before entering data into the system.

He forwarded the financial statements that his bookkeeping company prepared.

He didn’t look at them before he sent them to me.  Obviously, the bookkeeping company, who he pays monthly to prepare accurate statements, didn’t look at them either.

When I got them, I went ballistic.  It is not possible for this company to have negative revenues!  This would mean that the company did NO work in June and paid his customers $119,000.

I called him.  No, he didn’t look at them before he sent them.  When I explained what they did, he knew the statements were wrong.

My client called his bookkeeping company. They had a flimsy excuse. He was relying on them to produce accurate financial statements and they obviously weren’t.

Financially Fit Business and I are helping him understand and interpret the statements.

Any credible bookkeeper would know that the P&L is wrong.  It appears that the company didn’t care and just wanted to collect their monthly fee.

My client? He’s looking for an internal bookkeeper.  I sent him my bookkeeping test and answers with a warning that if the candidate didn’t pass the test, he should not hire that person. Email me (rking@financiallyfit.business) if you’d like a copy of the test and answers.

Moral of this situation:

Always look at and review financial statements for accuracy – whether they are internally or externally prepared.

Ruth King is known globally as the “Profitability Master,” and is a a thought leader in entrepreneurship and business. Her books have been recognized as among the greatest in numerous industries. Learn more about all her business activities here. 

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