Semi-short version of the story is that the company where I've been working since April made some decisions based on growth that didn't happen. Cashflow has been crazy tight long before I got there. The changes made it worse. A few weeks ago the owner was seriously considering shutting the whole thing down.
I had a choice. Collect a few more paychecks as the ship sank, or disclose that as the company's accounting dude and someone with experience running small businesses, that one difficult decision might eek the company out of the red and into the black.
Fire me.
The office was woefully overstaffed for a company this size. Then the scheduler quit after her hours were cut back in an effort to save money. The office manager, who had plenty of spare time, took over the scheduling. I knew she was smart and still had lots of free time during the day. I've spent years teaching accounting and QuickBooks and knew I could have her doing 80% of my job in a couple of weeks.
The owner agreed that this was the best course of action considering all the circumstances. Not sure if the company will survive or not. The office manager will expect and probably deserve a raise if she can handle everything. Still, the company is saving significant cash with an office staff of 1 instead of 3.
I've had few friends say I was crazy for what I did, but I really think the company and 14 employees would have crashed otherwise. It still may, but they have a chance now. Just didn't see riding that sinking ship to the bottom. After exhausting all my suggestions to conserve funds, I was the last straw. Would you have handled it differently?
Sigh. Trying to do some soul searching before beginning the job search. I desperately want to do something where I'm self employed or close to it, but health insurance takes a big bite out of anything I would do solo. I'm open to suggestions.
