Accomplishments
I am right proud of myself. Let me 'splain why.
First of all, you have to understand that I deeply and thoroughly despise accounting. I don't even balance my checkbook. But I work for the VP of Finance. So I'm constantly getting lessons on things like Profit calculations, asset accounts vs. expense accounts, write off calculations, etc. I've been exposed to this stuff for a very long time. None of it has ever sunk in. OK, some of it has sunk in. I understand, at the most basic level, that if you make an entry into one account, you need to make a corresponding entry into a different account. Those things are called debits and credits, but don't ask me to explain which is which and when one is negative and when one is positive. I'm spent.
For months, possibly even a year, my boss has been talking about conquering this particular financial report. It is a spreadsheet that would blend real and projected information from our accounting system and allow us to evaluate the strength of sales offers prospects make on our homes. Basically, we have to be able to calculate what we 1) have already spent on the house, 2) what we think we will still spend on the construction of the house, 3) what we think or have spent on loans, taxes and fees, and 4) what we will spend to sell the house (including closing costs). Once the "big man" evaluates a deal and decides that it is within an acceptable profit range, we should then go back after the house closes to see if we were correct. Did we make as much money on the deal as we thought we would?
Naturally, the first time my boss explained everything he wanted to accomplish with this report, my head exploded. I have slowly been reassembling the pieces of my cranium whilst trying to come to terms with this beast of a report.
I think I just finished it. Excuse me while I cram this last sliver of cerebrum back into place. [sluuuuuuuurp] OK. I'm back. I'm looking at this report and realizing that not only have I finished this very impressive report that no one before me could create, I also kinda have a handle on accounting concepts. I no longer want to jab thumbtacks into my eyeballs when my boss prattles on about WIP vs Cost After Sales.
We still have to beat it up before we hand it off to the "big man" (my boss' boss). But by the time we do that, I can't imagine there being any more changes he will want. (I know, famous last words.) The thing is that my boss' boss hasn't asked for this report. This is just something that my boss wanted me to create as a "Holy crap! Look what we can do now that we're on a fancy new system" kind of thing. He's hoping that his boss will be amazed and thrilled that he has a much easier (and more accurate) way of dealing with this problem.
We'll see.
[and now a word from our sponsors...}
First of all, you have to understand that I deeply and thoroughly despise accounting. I don't even balance my checkbook. But I work for the VP of Finance. So I'm constantly getting lessons on things like Profit calculations, asset accounts vs. expense accounts, write off calculations, etc. I've been exposed to this stuff for a very long time. None of it has ever sunk in. OK, some of it has sunk in. I understand, at the most basic level, that if you make an entry into one account, you need to make a corresponding entry into a different account. Those things are called debits and credits, but don't ask me to explain which is which and when one is negative and when one is positive. I'm spent.
For months, possibly even a year, my boss has been talking about conquering this particular financial report. It is a spreadsheet that would blend real and projected information from our accounting system and allow us to evaluate the strength of sales offers prospects make on our homes. Basically, we have to be able to calculate what we 1) have already spent on the house, 2) what we think we will still spend on the construction of the house, 3) what we think or have spent on loans, taxes and fees, and 4) what we will spend to sell the house (including closing costs). Once the "big man" evaluates a deal and decides that it is within an acceptable profit range, we should then go back after the house closes to see if we were correct. Did we make as much money on the deal as we thought we would?
Naturally, the first time my boss explained everything he wanted to accomplish with this report, my head exploded. I have slowly been reassembling the pieces of my cranium whilst trying to come to terms with this beast of a report.
I think I just finished it. Excuse me while I cram this last sliver of cerebrum back into place. [sluuuuuuuurp] OK. I'm back. I'm looking at this report and realizing that not only have I finished this very impressive report that no one before me could create, I also kinda have a handle on accounting concepts. I no longer want to jab thumbtacks into my eyeballs when my boss prattles on about WIP vs Cost After Sales.
We still have to beat it up before we hand it off to the "big man" (my boss' boss). But by the time we do that, I can't imagine there being any more changes he will want. (I know, famous last words.) The thing is that my boss' boss hasn't asked for this report. This is just something that my boss wanted me to create as a "Holy crap! Look what we can do now that we're on a fancy new system" kind of thing. He's hoping that his boss will be amazed and thrilled that he has a much easier (and more accurate) way of dealing with this problem.
We'll see.
[and now a word from our sponsors...}
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1 Comments:
I thought I was the only one who didn't balance her checkbook. It's nice to have company!
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