I like the simplicity of being an owner/operator of my business.

This week, though, I was listening when the universe pointed out to me that my accounting system might need some fine tuning. Or, I might need to turn it over to someone else.

First, I misplaced an entire stack of client timesheets, representing all work done in the month of June. After some stress- and caffeine-fueled successful backtracking (forcing me to retrace my movements from Monday back to the previous Friday), I found them clipped to another project and (neatly) filed away.

Then, when I processed them and sent out my invoices yesterday, I made a small, template-based, error on every single one, requiring that I reinvoice and apologize to everyone who received the incorrect initial invoice.

Proving, loud and clear, that you can’t be great at everything you do.

Now, for two Mondays in a row I have been battered with that message from the moment I sat down at my desk to (I thought!) start my work week. Without going into the misfortunes of the previous week, I had to stop and think: what am I doing wrong here?

What should you do when you are forced to look at your shortcomings?

The first thing I did was ask my incredibly wise and supremely organized self-employed husband to help me pinpoint the flaw in my record-keeping system that allowed those papers to vanish, leaving me with NO back up record of the work I had completed. That took him about 2 minutes.

Next, I turned to my professional organization, the IVAA, to ask how I could prevent this mishandling of paperwork from derailing me again. As usual, my colleagues came up with some excellent practical solutions, including both a recommendation to computerize my timekeeping and adopt some better systems for keeping duplicate records and managing stacks of papers from going on the lam.

Lesson Learned:

Even though it had never happened before in my twelve years as a Virtual Assistant, I discovered a potentially very expensive gap in my system that needed to be corrected. Humbled, I had to acknowledge that my years of experience do not mean I am incapable of oversight in how I organize and execute my office systems.

Yes, it’s a joy to be my own boss, and I love that, while most of my work is done using complicated technology, I can balance that with a paper-and pencil record keeping system if I want, maintaining my own complex amalgam of yin and yang. No, that’s not me with the abacus, but I like that idea!

In working alone, you miss the daily checks and balances and potential for quick team-based problem-solving that co-workers can provide.

What do you think? Is it time for me to hire a bookkeeper? Or do I just need to spend more time with people?

Speaking of this, some related posts elsewhere in Loosely Speaking:

Invoice Daily, Monthly, Sometimes?

Stargazing and Profitability