A Tale of Unfinished Business

Business

“Do not plan for ventures before finishing what’s at hand.” ~Euripides

Today was one of those days that I needed to get my ass in gear and finish something I started more than a year ago.

Last year we made the decision to sell the remainder of our business assets and close down the operations. Being the accountant, I had to complete all the accounting records, prepare and then file all the tax returns.

I did all of it until September 2008 (one month before the year end October 31, 2008) and I haven’t touched it since then. I knew that I had to complete the accounting for the year and then do the taxes, but since there was no real consequences for not doing it on time, I let it lapse for almost a year.

Well, today was the day I had to finish. It took me a while to figure out where I stopped and what the heck did I mean by all those notes and remarks. The good thing is that I had all the info in one place on my computer.

I spent another couple of hours getting all the accounting information sorted out and posted to accounting software. Then spent an hour going through the tax returns of 2007 and figuring out which ones to use for 2008.

After four hours or so, I’m happy to say that I have my accounting records up to date, but I’m not done yet. The 2008 tax return will get done tomorrow.

Had I worked on in November 2008, it would’ve probably taken me half the time. Lesson learned:

Unfinished business = unfinished nagging and mental stress + wasted catch up time.

Before starting something new, finish what you had already started. Finishing what has been pending for sometime made me feel lighter, smarter and more at peace.

Tax return here I come!


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