Accounting and payroll services have the potential to make thousands of mistakes. Our company is no different! We’ve worked with small business finances for nearly 60 years, meaning we’ve made nearly 60 years’ worth of mistakes.
We can hear it already; “But wait, CSI, why would you say that??? You’re going to scare business owners away!”
Talking about it allows us to show that while everybody makes mistakes, we go the extra mile to right our wrongs.
Here, we’ll show some examples of:
- Accounting mistakes & solutions
- Payroll mistakes & solutions
- Other mistakes & solutions
Accounting Mistakes & Solutions
Accounting problems usually occur if our staff isn’t getting the information we need from clients to move forward. However, there are instances when our staff is to blame, including:
- Late sales tax filings
- Uncommunicated data needs
Late Sales Tax Filings
Mistake: On a couple of occasions, we’ve had employees forget to file sales tax returns. This leads to missed deadlines and penalties.
Solution: Because these were our mistakes and the clients did nothing wrong, we handled the late filings and paid the penalties out of CSI’s pocket.
Fortunately, this is a learning experience, and any employee who does it typically only makes the mistake once. We know it’s critical to get everything on the schedule checked off!
Uncommunicated Data Needs
Mistake: There have been a handful of instances when employees forgot to properly communicate or follow up on what information we need from our clients, so their books fell behind. (If we can’t access certain data, we can’t do the work.)
Once we got the data, we started fixing the mistake (catching up). However, there were a couple of times when we got this information late, so the tax projections were late. This left clients only a couple of months to prepare to pay the tax bill – and no time left to minimize it through tax strategy, which is one of the best benefits that monthly accounting can offer.
Solution: At that point, the only solution was to make sure everything was in place for the next tax year.
Now, because of that slippery slope, one of our main goals is to always ensure our clients know what they need to give us – and we follow up consistently if we don’t have it. The faster we get this information, the better your service can be!
Payroll Mistakes & Solutions
When it comes to payroll, there are also a variety of mistakes that can occur. Here are some times when they were our fault:
- Salary-only payroll falling through
- Retroactive pay miscalculation
- Payroll tax payment error
Salary-Only Payroll Falling Through
Most of our clients send us their payroll data, indicating it’s time for us to process it. However, some clients don’t need to report anything to us because their entire staff is salaried. That means we just put their payroll on our schedules.
Mistake: There have still been a couple of occasions when we’ve missed payroll processing for these accounts because we accidentally skipped over them on our schedules. In those cases, the clients notified us on payday that their employees didn’t get paid.
Solution: Thanks to the quick alerts from our clients, we were able to offer same-day deposits through our bank to make sure everybody was paid as quickly as possible, and we didn’t charge the clients for our mistakes.
This is another learning situation when the mistake is made once by a staff member, they’re sure to not make it again.
Retroactive Pay Miscalculation
Once, a client had given their employee a pay raise, but it hadn’t been applied correctly. A couple of months passed before they realized the raise wasn’t processed, so we had to go back and calculate the shortfall in pay for those months.
Mistake: This is where our payroll specialist made the error. They accidentally adjusted the hours worked rather than a lump-sum payment. The result was an accidental overpayment.
Solution: If this had been in the form of a check, we would have voided it and issued a new one for the correct amount. However, it was a direct deposit, and the client agreed that we shouldn’t pull the money out of the employee’s account.
We decided the best thing to do was temporarily turn off their direct deposit and track their net pay until they reached the value of their overpayment. At that point, we began paying the employee once again. We now emphasize a more careful review of pay adjustments.
Payroll Tax Payment Error
Another example of an incorrect data input was a simple typo – but a big error.
Mistake: A payroll specialist was making a payroll tax payment for a client and accidentally added an extra zero at the end, resulting in a large overpayment.
Solution: We immediately loaned the client the overpaid amount while we sought their refund from the IRS. Because of the level of risk and the time it takes, we no longer make manual tax payments for clients – we make automated payments with our system.
Other Mistakes & Solutions
These mistakes either apply to both the accounting and payroll departments, or they occurred outside of those services. They include:
- Misplaced talent
- Misunderstandings with prospects
Misplaced Talent
We’re blessed to have such a great staff at CSI. However, there have been some instances when our staff weren’t placed in their most effective roles.
Mistake: In this industry, it’s extremely important to properly communicate needs, solutions, and opportunities – but sometimes there are obstacles. There have been a handful of instances when our staff was doing a good job, but their communication styles did not line up with their clients’ communication styles.
Solution: In those instances, we reassigned the clients to different staff members who could use the clients’ communication styles more effectively. As a result, there were no more miscommunications.
Misunderstandings With Prospects
We strive to make our website and consultative experience as transparent as possible, but there are times when expectations aren’t aligned with reality.
Mistake: Sometimes, prospective clients don’t have a good understanding of our services when they schedule a call with us. With proper fact-finding and review of a service agreement, there should be a clear understanding of what we offer. However, there have been a couple of times when the service agreement was signed under unrealistic expectations (that were not communicated).
Solution: In those instances where the mistake was discovered during onboarding, we felt it was fair to release those clients from our agreement.
To prevent this from happening in the future, our current consulting team has created a method of thoroughly going through service agreements and addressing important questions to set realistic expectations.
After all, we only want to bring on new clients who are a good fit to work with us!
Get Faster Fixes With a Dedicated Expert
While everyone makes mistakes, owning up to ours and making them right is important to us. It’s because we know that our clients’ businesses are their livelihood. Plus, if our clients aren’t happy, then we’re going to have a hard time retaining them and attracting new clients.
That’s why every client has a dedicated point of contact – so someone who already knows their business is an email, text, or phone call away. They can begin fixing any mistakes as quickly as possible, whether it’s reimbursing penalties, sending extra reminders, fast-tracking projects, or finding other solutions.
Now that you know about the mistakes we’ve made and how we’ve fixed them, are you ready to chat?
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