The end of the year….

Schedule those inventory observsations, catch up on the CPE that you’ve procrastinated on, perform those tax projections, books those year end accruals, update the payroll tables before January………… the year end can be a busy time for accountants. I’ll confess. I’m writing this while a NFP CPE streams on my second browser because I’m behind on my yellow book requirements. Year ends provide a firm deadline for us to gravitate to. 12/31 is almost tangible. It brings a new month and a new year. This brings lots of busy work. We get so busy doing busy work. Oh the slow painless death brought by busy work that we think is so important……….

Do we ever look back at the past 12 months and reflected on what was accomplished? Do we reflect on our failures?? What did we learn? Did we accomplish our goals? Did we have goals? How many meaningful conversations did we have with loved ones? How many school events did we make for our kids? How many good questions did we ask a friend who we hold dear? How many good books did I read? How much time did I spend laughing? I bet you have a score card that tells you how many hours you billed a client and how much time you spent marketing or training? How much time did you spend on things you will actually give a damn about?

My oldest child turned 9 today. Assuming he follows the normal path, he will leave home when he reaches 18 years of age. I’m 50% there. When he’s on his own, will I care that I billed 150 hours in September 2018 or will I regret not taking him hiking with his grandfather? When my daughter ( who is 4) gets married, will I care that I spent 40 hours researching tax credits for a 15 minute presentation? I don’t know. Work is not an evil act. I just want to be intentional with my time. I hope to make 2019 a year of intentional effort. I invite you to do the same.