Accountant by Day

Hello readers! I am back from two weeks in Europe (well, I’ve been back for a week, but then I had a house guest staying with me and work to catch up on.) Also, I decided to paint my living room this weekend… I forgot how difficult and time consuming painting is. I thought I would be able to do it all in one day, but of course, it took two.

Was at the polls at 7am this morning, and waited over an hour to vote. It’s really nice to see so many people turn out, although the probability of “our” candidate winning Georgia is apparently 0.2% according to FiveThirtyEight. At least we can all look at our county results and see that we were the majority in Atlanta. How is voting day going for you?

The Wage Gap It is well documented that there is a wage gap between what men and women earn. It is closing, but it still exists. According to the National Committee on Wage Equity, in 1963 full-time female workers earned $0.59 for every $1.00 that full-time male workers earned. In 2009, women earned $0.77 for every $1 men earned. Why is there a gap? Now, these are comparisons between total dollars earned during a year by male and female workers, not comparisons between male and female workers with similar jobs.

I’m working on learning how to take better shots with our camera, so I’m trying to fit little photo shoots into my schedule more often. (Otherwise, if I only get the camera out a couple of times a year on vacation, I forget how to use it well!) This time of year - with everything green and growing - is so great after being cooped up inside for a long busy season.

In the days following the excesses of the holiday season, when the cold of winter has finally settled itself in, a strange feeling fills the air. A sense of impending battle, tainted with the fear of possible , stretches itself across the populace. Our heroes are busily preparing themselves, rushing to do what they can in advance. The world of public accounting stirs and awakens - busy season begins. Okay, so public accounting may not lend itself well to dramatic story lines… I’ve tried to think up a comic where an accountant could be the superhero, and it just isn’t happening.

Don’t miss the Accountant By Day one-year anniversary give away! Your first chance to win $25 is on Monday! Entries for this week close at midnight EST on Friday, so check out the contest rules and enter!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to New Readers!

If you’re a new reader this month here for the giveaway, or a current reader who has missed a few posts, let me introduce you to this blog! My name is Kellen and I am a 20-something public accountant, about to begin my second year as an auditor, and in my free time I am the author of Accountant by Day.

This guest post was submitted by a contributor in the UK. AccountantByDay.com does not have any knowledge of UK tax laws or business structures., and recommends that you consult a qualified UK consultant about the specific facts of your situation before making any tax decisions. What are the essential things that you need to do from an accountancy perspective when you become a freelancer for the first time? Here is the best advice from a reputable Richmond accountant.

When I was job hunting, I realized that I really don’t have a good sense of my own values. That is to say - I was motivated to switch careers in order to have a better work life balance, or at least less stress. However, I would hear about jobs at the big companies - Verizon, Home Depot, Coca Cola, and suddenly I’d be thinking “Maybe I should be working there, really getting something recognizable on my resume, really getting some good work experience…” even though to have big “success” at big companies, I expect you would need to work long hours, really make career the central focus of your life, to the detriment of other parts of your life.

Sometimes I realize that I assume that my bosses want to see me at work until 10pm every night, and that as long as I do a lot of work (and don’t do much else) they’ll be happy with my performance. Unfortunately, there are so many more factors - like getting along with everyone. In my job, I do work for several partners, PLUS the people under them also assign me work.

I was planning to give you guys a post today on how we can create new jobs and fix the economy, however, I haven’t quite reached my conclusion yet… maybe next week! In the meantime, let’s talk about vacations. I think my next vacation will be to Spain - my one uncle turned 60 last year, and the other one will turn 60 this year, so we are getting together for a big family celebration.