Atlanta CPA Asks As a Believer, How Do You Address Your Business Politics?…Taking Christianity Into the World
Atlanta CPA Asks As a Believer, How Do You Address Your Business Politics?…Taking Christianity Into the World
Who Do You Serve?
Do you Serve Business Profits or Do You Serve Jesus?
I get calls from throughout the United States of Believers Seeking How to Best Address the Many Times They are Faced With Choosing Truth or Sin. Our culture does much to encourage us to seek our own way and to lead others astray from God’s word. However I believe that all of us are called to the same standard.
Tell the Truth
New Testament teachings and the whole of the Bible we are encouraged to tell the truth. In fact, God believed it was so important he placed it in the Ten Commandments. We are told by the Bible and Jesus himself, to let our yes be yes and our no be no. Words, thoughts and actions should be straightforward and concise, never leaving out a substantive fact or circumstance being sure there are indeed no omissions, which would otherwise contradict the communicated message. Clearly in our world there is need for fine print to cover all the intended and unintended provisions and stipulations of an item for its intended use, consumption or agreement. However, those words should be concise, clear, and never written to confuse or misdirect those who are our clients and whom we intend to serve.
All contracts should be straightforward, honest, and fair to all parties, clearly understood by all parties and drafted so that a layman can understand. Contracts, as well as all of our dealings with others, should be evenhanded, fair and provide for reasonable expectations for the delivery of the service or intended product. Contract law generally requires the burden of communication and its clearness to be placed upon the contracts writer or originator. Contract law, most frequently, will not protect a signor from signing a contract, which is not in their best interest as that is solely an individual or entities responsibility to determine. It is strongly encouraged that one has all substantive contracts reviewed and critiqued by an attorney familiar with the particular portion of law to which a contract pertains (i.e., have a real estate attorney review a lease or land purchase agreement.)
“Business by the Book” by Larry Crabb covers hiring and firing employees; compensation plans, setting up retirement plans and many other scenarios business owners are certain to encounter. Its reading and wise application to many of the business decisions you will reach will be an invaluable tool to help you maximize your efforts, profits and to avoid costly pitfalls.
Your words, actions, deeds, dealings, billing, servicing, delivery, support, and production should be centered on serving your clients. Care should be taken at each step of the way to ensure that every communication and action belies the message of open and honest communication. Accomplishing this feat is no easy task, as it requires one to be one hundred percent focused, one hundred percent of the time, always putting your best foot forward. Accordingly, to maximize your efforts and to ensure you consistently and carefully evaluation your success all of your actions should:
Be Honest…Regardless of What it Cost You
Tell the truth at all times regardless of the cost. Clients will always respond more fairly when you never attempt to mislead or lie to them. It is always better to tell a client you do not know the answer then to make up a response attempting to “cover” for your lack of knowledge. Being forthright about both what you can deliver and the timetable for doing so are two sure-fire ways to get you noticed and gain the respect of both your peers and clients.
Over-Perform…Excel in All Things
Business owners frequently fail because of their inability to reasonably forecast the time, needs and requirements to perform services or to provide products for clients as agreed. Imagine how you would feel if you were promised overnight delivery of a very important package only to learn that it was delivered several days late. A anniversary present delivered several nights after the important celebration was missed, medicine not supplied when the patient needed it most, or a tax return delivered after the due date are all unacceptable variances in what would have been intended or originally agreed to. Certainly the anniversary present would have to be taken to the delivery service in time to arrive in accordance with prescribed instructions, the medicine would have to be timely ordered and the correct prescription drafted, as well as all (not just part) of the needed tax information would need to be given to the CPA in ample time.
For example, I like to adhere to a policy I call “under commit and over perform” in which I might commit to clients to provide to them the agreed upon service or product by a certain time all the while knowing you should always be able to meet this timetable and most frequently be able to exceed it. You will want to be sure that the original timetable you establish is carefully evaluated to consider all of the many variables which may come into play while being sure that this timetable at least meets and preferably even exceeds that of your very best competitors. For this commitment date then you would want to build in efficiencies in operations, systems and technology to easily and consistently exceed expectation.
Be Forward Thinking…Being Proactive
Expect the Unexpected. Plan for contingencies. Unanticipated issues in pricing, suppliers, hardware, software, processing, delivery and personnel will be a constant. Accordingly it is a wise and prudent business owner who carefully considers their cost in terms of dollars, time and emotional energy, which will be required to overcome them. Examples of options to overcome these will be back-up hardware, frequent updates of computer data and off-site storage, adequate personnel and back up plans to call substantive portions of your operations. Your goal should always be to be sure to expect the unexpected while always focusing on the future and making the best of all circumstances, whether good or bad. We cannot change the past but only influence the future while keeping our mind positive and free from as much needless worrying as possible.
Overachieve…Do More Than is Expected
Excel in all things. Develop high achievable goals and standards for yourself and then consistently work to achieve them and more. The adage “if you aim at nothing, you are most likely to hit it” is extremely appropriate for a business who has no moral compass, benchmark or credo to live by. If you stand for nothing then we are most likely to succeed in obtaining nothing of lasting value or import. Consistently provide more information than anticipated, required or agreed to by staying in front technologically, knowledge and information, referral sources and mentors, and ever-developing and increasing your base of insight and wisdom.
Following these precepts will not only bring you closer to your personal life goals but your business ones as well. Peace comes not from profit but in knowing that you did the right thing while focusing on the truth and that you did your very best. At HIS CPA, P.C. we practice the “Golden Rule” each and every day by “Serving Him…By Serving You, One Tax Return at a Time.”
John Dillard is an Christian Speaker/Author and an Atlanta CPA. To See how he takes Christ along with him to work visit http://www.hiscpa.com/ and for his latest book Overcoming Life’s 9/11’s: Job’s Journey and a Voice of One: Nehemiah’s Prayer visit http://www.john-dillard.com/ or call John Dillard CPA today at 770.814.9304 (All Rights Reserved) Dare to Attempt Something so Great for the Kingdom of God that it is doomed to failure, lest Christ be in it!
Contact HIS CPA PC (A Christian Atlanta CPA Firm) today.
We advise clients on: IRS representation, Offer in Compromise, Tax Problems, Incorporation in Georgia, Corporate and Personal Income Tax Returns, Part-time CFO, Virtual Controller, Business Planning, Offer in Compromise, Back Taxes, Bookkeeping.
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