Suddenly, I'm unemployed again!
 

I've been a stay at home dad for around five years. Once my daughter started school, I started looking for something to do from home. It took a while but I found a guy who ran a business out of his house. He hired me to do accounting, and Quickbooks work. He liked sales more than the other stuff. In fact he had all of 2004's bank statements, credit card statements, and invoicing that had to be entered! It seemed perfect as my schedule was flexible and I worked from my home most of the time.

I busted my butt to get his books straightened out so he could get his taxes filed on time. Right after it was all done he called me in and said he could handle it by himself now! I couldn't believe it. It would be one thing if he'd called it a temporary position, but that wasn't the case. I had a few other opportunities present themselves while I was working for him but didn't persue them as I thought this was going to go on.

He did the same thing to a woman he'd hired for administrative work, which made me feel a little better. If he'd let me go and kept her I'd be wondering what I'd done wrong.

Unfortunately, this is a common practice, and he'll probably do the same thing in a year or so when he falls behind again. He probably figured it would be cheaper to use you and throw you away than to engage a CPA to do it.

A couple of years ago, I worked for a medical a s/w company that was undergoing a huge push to get a new product through dev/test and submitted for FDA approval. They flogged the staff mercilessly, keeping people there until 1:30am and making them come back in @ 7:00. There was no OT - not even for the people paid hourly - but there were grandiose promises of comp time, bonuses, stock options, etc. Well guess what? A couple of days after the s/w was submitted to the FDA, the axe fell. They literally laid off a little more than 1/2 of the company; in fact they terminated their lease on 1/2 of the office space as well. Most of those RIF'd were the 'locals' - they kept every last H1B, and a single contract employee (me). Of course, the wives of the upper managers who were on the payroll as 'consultants' were not touched. This was one of the experiences that cemented my skepticism of the corporate world.

Everyone for themselves. If a better opportunity comes along, you have to take it.

Feel your pain about working your arse off and then finding you no longer have a job. Seems the way things are today.

Ah, capitalism.

Thom, people who fall outside the exemptions to FLSA (professiona, executive, etc), in other words, folks who are not exempt, are entitled to over time pay under Federal law. Hourly workers are entitled to OT for hours over 40 per week. Except that Dubya's attack on working people recently reduced the number of people who are protected by FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act). Thanks, Dubya.

Right. I knew that, but when I tried to explain to some of these people that they were taking it in the a$$, it fell on deaf ears. Remember, this was the late 90's, and they had been sold the notion that the worth of their stock options would be greater than the 1 1/2 they were giving up. Oh, I forgot to mention; not only were they not getting 1 1/2, they had agreed to 'bill' only 8 hours per day in exchange for those stock options. They had tried to get me to do the same, and I say 'no way. I'll take the cash and if I like where things are headed, I'll buy some stock.' This was about the same time they got de-listed from NASDAQ...

I wonder if they (the ex-employees) ever filed legal claims after the can't; I can't imagine they wouldn't; it would be a slam-freakin'-dunk. I left the company a couple months later and lost contact.

See, this is why I like working in education....

I would imagine! A filter between you and the real world is always welcome:)

Seriously Lee,

Odds are this guy ended up paying you two way more than he ever intended. "Work from home" people get addicted to help and often binge on it. My wife has been a victim of this as well. You just gotta roll with it, there are more of him out there. This is also why you never give "good-guy discounts" either:) Make your money and don't get personal.

I think this guy purposely approached employment thinking he'd ge the best deal for his money. I think being underhanded is foolish...oh well.

Perhaps you could turn the tables and become a consultant that entertains project work and hourly contracts. You can also work from home or remotely. Word will likely get around that you can fill a void in for this type of service. You can approach CPAs, accountants and small businesses as many times they shy away from the "back office"/bookkeeping aspect of the business.

This is a big area of the accounting industry. Accountants don't want to do the "measly" work but however it is what pays my bills right now while I look for a better position out there. I know several people that go from company to company and help with their bookkeeping and their organizational skills. Their are also some agencies that can help place you for temporary work, tell them what you are looking for and they will be happy to help. They usually get paid from the employers and you get paid by them.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lendaddy
[B]I would imagine! A filter between you and the real world is always welcome:)

So, people in 9-5 jobs are not in real world? Teachers are not in real world?
Police are not in real world?

Who is?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by stevepaa
[B] You really don't know? OK I guess....

Anyone that has a job/business/career that actually functions inside the capitalist economic model. In this model there are: ups and downs, fair and unfair, rewards for a job well done.....and consequences for a job done poorly/not at all You know.... real life. Those in government employ do not live by these rules/reap these rewards/ nor suffer these consequences. They live in a vacuum where their conscience is their only master.

I'm kicking this idea around. It might be easier if I had some sort of credentials in accounting. I asked my accountant if he knew of anyone who needed this sort of work done and he started asking questions was about my "training." Still, he said he gets calls all the time from clients who need this sort of work done.

Hmm...did you come across his SS# at all....?

Let's see, besides customer references you could look into local college or HS programs. Also, being well versed in MS Money and/or Quicken (as you now know) and other accounting packages is a selling point unto itself.


If you want to get into the tax preparation business as well then you can take the HR Block training....harder than you might think. When complete you can work for them or they'll refer customers to you.

Then I think "real" is a bad choice of wording. Everyone's live is real. Everyone's work is real. Being a teacher is real. Being a postal worker is real. Being in the armed forces is real.

Best to find another term, because "real" is not it.

I think real is a great descriptor here. In much the way you would tell a 16 year old that you want to prepare them for the "real world", you could add...."unless ofcourse you plan to work in the public sector, in which case you don't need to" :D

He was very trusting with his personal information. I was contacting his banks and credit card companies on his behalf. He's very lucky I'm an honest guy. I mean we're talking from bank account passwords down to his mother's maiden name - I've got it all. I need to just rip that page out of my address book and take it to him... along with the key to his house! Heaven forbid someone start messing with him. They'd come after me for sure.

My wife has this exact same situation gooing with one client now. She started by doing his advertising and after he saw how efficient she is (she is quite amazing) he wanted her to basically run his life:) I have warned her that he will get velocitized to the easy life soon and decide he's paying out too much... she agrees, but for now it's good money for easy work.

Len, my lad..

I worked both side of the scale; private sector and local government.

What did I find?

It is far more difficult for the public secter to "get away" with anything that would lead to an Enron or Global Crossing situation

There are goldbrickers in both camps, as there are dedicated individuals that wind up taking up the slack.

There are rewards and benefits to each and at the average individual's level, about the same; difficult to tell a private sector accountant from a public sector accountant

There is more partisanship in the private sector; more "good old boys"and who you know mindset. Buttkissing is FAR more prevalent in the private sector

There are abuses and waste in both BUT:

The private sector hides its waste; the public sector lives in a virtual goldfish bowl.

People will question decisions made by government to whom they pay taxes, but is unwilling to confront private companies that gouge them. In both cases, it's their money............

So; which is better?

Neither. They are simply different.

Your generalizations are like all generalizations.

LeeH, all you need to do is make an oil filter that works better than FRAM'S, and then market it, free economy at work.........