Farmers need to pay their income taxes by March 1, so that means when January rolls around, the bookwork is tackled in earnest. I rather enjoy the bookwork end of farming. We need to keep detailed income/expense accounts and know where every dollar went.
I have a system of filing that I keep throughout the year. A file box with notated hanging folders keeps everything organized and in that manner I don’t tax my brain any more than necessary. Organization settles me so that I’m not frantically looking for something that I may need. I know right where it is.
QuickBooks helps me get everything organized in the computer, and when all data is entered for the year, I pull reports, look them over making sure entries are in the right expense account. For example, we record expenses that get used up such as baler twine, dairy towels, sanitizing solution or milking supplies in “Farm Supplies.” Small tools such as wrenches or hammers are included in “Repairs/Small Tools.”
This account also includes minor repairs done to equipment and machinery. There are numerous categories, and I’ve set up our QuickBooks to accommodate what our tax accountant needs, making it as easy as possible for me to present the information to her.
When I was a little kid I loved to “play office.” Mom had a desk at our farmhouse and she would tuck away lined paper for me, or old receipt pads so that I could pretend to be a receptionist. My imagination took over. I’d answer the phone, take orders, make appointments, run the calculator and be busy for quite a while in that little corner.
Graduating high school, I immediately landed a job with Shamoco Ford in Shawano as a bookkeeper/assistant office manager, where I utilized my natural-born tendency for organization and handling paper work. I really liked it and was taught well by Gordon and Mary Keyes, the owners at the time. Mary was patient and kind, and took a young naive, fresh-off-the-farm girl under her wing, molding me into an efficient office worker. That training, in time, transitioned well into handling farm records for our own business.
One of my responsibilities at the Ford garage was collecting money from customers for their car repair bills. One day a customer came in with a repair order for $400. He slid two $100 bills across the counter at me and, looking me square in the eye, promised to come back tomorrow to pay the rest. Thinking the whole world was honest, I handed him the keys to his car because after all, he promised he’d be back!
Well, you might know that he didn’t come back. He never came back. Tearfully, I had to confess to Gordon that I had just cost him a little over $200. I was devastated. He sat me down to have a little talk that I’ll never forget: “Kay, not everybody is as honest as you. You’re not on the farm anymore. This is the real world. You must learn that not everyone can be trusted. There are good people, and then there are the bad people.”
I learned that customers requesting credit had to fill out a credit application. I must check references, verify addresses and then, and only then, could they take their car without paying the entire bill. It was a life lesson, taught with respect and compassion, and one I will never forget.
Right now, at home I’m working on the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) for our daughter’s future college finances. Oh mercy, is this thing complicated. Previously, with both boys, I’ve completed this frustrating little form. It taxed my brain beyond comprehension then and it’s no different with our daughter.
They want all kinds of information: what do we have on checking, on savings, how much actual cash do we have on hand? I had to wait until our taxes came back from our accountant so that I may go to our Form 1040 and add lines 7+12+18 to get what they need, then go to line 6b to get info, then go tell them what is on line 55. It’s maddening.
Keeping up with bookwork, as well as filling out frustrating forms, may tax my brain, but really, it’s a natural-born tendency that I do rather enjoy. I must say, the gray matter upstairs gets a pretty good workout. Exercise is never a bad thing.
(“Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.” 2 Corinthians 3:5)
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