Here is the story you have been waiting for. How did I go from art to accounting?
Do you remember the coffee shop I mentioned a while ago? There was a customer that wanted me to obtain a degree, she had a connection to Elon University. Well, she was an accountant at a chemical company. Surprisingly, she did not lead me to accounting. I don’t think the idea ever crossed her mind, it certainly wasn’t an option I considered at the time. However, there was another customer at the coffee shop.
She asked Jerry if he knew someone that could help her with a project. This was during the off-season for pools, so I had free time when Jerry called. He provided an address and I went to meet a stranger. The instructions consisted of her pointing out a bookcase and walking to another room to show its new home.
While taking the items out I noticed an amount of dust. I then found a rag and cleaned the books and shelves. Moving the furniture was easy, and I began to organize books alphabetically based on the author’s last name. Because this proved an attention to detail and self-sufficiency, she decided to give me more tasks to complete. I was added to the payroll twelve years ago, and I still work there on the weekends.
Joanne was reluctant to hand me financial duties because of my art interests, and I don’t blame her. However, as she kept handing me more responsibilities, I eventually had nothing new to learn except for such things. Okay, here’s how you balance a checkbook. These are called accounts payable, these are your accounts receivable. This is how you reconcile a bank statement, etc.
I don’t remember the time frame in which I officially took over the finances, but I remember there was an issue with bank charges. A meeting was scheduled with a bank manager, and I was considered the numbers guy. To clarify, at this time, I was an art major.
With the annual 990, I was the one preparing records and reports for the accountant. However, because I was the one balancing the checkbook and writing checks, I knew the cash flow. In terms of my personal life, I was married and recently a college graduate. There wasn’t an opportunity to advance any further, and a raise wasn’t likely with the current budget.
Our CPA of many years had a stroke and various accountants/firms were used for a few years. My job was to prepare everything for review and answer any questions that came up. A common question was, why aren’t you doing this? Everything looks neat and accurate, you should be doing this. My degree is in art, I replied. To which they said, go become an accountant.
I thought about it, considered it, and asked Christian for her opinions. Why? You already have a degree you don’t use, why go through the time and debt for another degree you won’t use? That stung a bit, but she made a valid point. Would accounting be any different?
We were living in an apartment complex, which was nice at first, but quickly went downhill. EMS, police, or firetrucks were often arriving at late hours. If the night was too quiet, the fire alarm might ring and everyone would have to huddle outside. One neighbor set his apartment on fire while cooking drunk, so he was moved to another apartment. We were friends with maintenance and heard all kinds of stories. There were some people we tried to avoid, and a few I still think about.
Christian wanted a house and I wanted to provide this for her. Yet, my current employment wasn’t capable of it. Again, at the same coffee shop, there was a regular customer that owned a machine shop. I didn’t know what that meant, but Jerry said they made stuff for the military. Things like the pin you pull before throwing a grenade. He was looking for a machinist, and I told Jerry I was interested.
A week later, he told me the job was filled last week, but don’t worry. The company that makes our shirts is hiring. Make a resume and I’ll send you the owner’s email address. I had recently graduated from Greensboro and screen printing downtown made more sense than looking at numbers all day. The interview went great and I was hired just before the holiday rush.
During my year and some there, the company was thriving, the mix of people was interesting, and there was a lot of excitement. Yet, screen printing nagged at me. It didn’t matter how many prints I had made in the past, it didn’t matter how consistent I had become, the next one could be garbage and I wouldn’t know until the screen was lifted. The same is true with music or any other art, but for some reason, this seemed different. I think it was because this was my day job, and people were paying money to publicly wear what I made. My desire was to be perfect, but I had to balance that with time management.
Even with hindsight, it seems odd to type, but I missed being in an office. I missed the ability to double-check and cross-check numbers.
Once again, returning to the coffee shop, and the same regular customer with the machine shop. He was hiring for another position, this time he needed an office manager. I was rejected last time and wasn’t going to bother, but I applied anyway.
This job is the one that led me to become a car guy, and it introduced me to QuickBooks. Weird combination, but that’s the ongoing theme.
At this company I handled the accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll and payroll taxes, ordering material, driving the forklift, maintaining material certification records (which was crucial for government contracts and aerospace parts), and all communication with customers including invoicing. It was a small business, but some customers were international with names you would recognize.
I stayed busy for five years, but my favorite thing to do — was reconcile bank statements. It’s ridiculous how much I enjoyed it. I remember thinking this isn’t normal, I should pursue this. If only I had begun to take classes when it was suggested, I would be a CPA by now.
Considering I have assignments due tomorrow, I am back in college. To be honest, the first time was not fun. I went there after high school later changed my major and eventually dropped out. I transferred twice but did return and graduate from where I began.
The thing that made it — not fun — was waking up at 4 am and going to my first job from 5 to 11:30 am. I had classes from 12 to 6 pm. Worked a second job from 7 to 9:30 pm. By the time I showered and ate dinner, it was 10:30/11 pm. I went to bed around midnight and woke up at 4 am to repeat the cycle.
I’m not proud of it, but because of the amount of coffee being consumed during the day to stay awake, I would sometimes drink hard liquor to sleep at night. I was also married at this point, so not a romantic start.
During the majority of our marriage, my wife had a better salary than me. Since our son was born and her store shut down in 2020, she’s been a stay-at-home mom. I’ve missed out on several firsts with our son, but things are coming together.
I now work at an accounting firm, with all of the payroll, bill pay, and reconciliations my heart can handle. Because it’s been repeated so many times you’re probably wondering, who at the firm goes to the coffee shop? For once, Jerry did not find me the job. This connection was my wife’s-sister’s-husband’s-brother’s-wife. Seriously, I’m not joking. There may be a family term that explains the relationship more succinctly, but I’ll just call her Ashley.
It’s been an interesting ride. I am thankful to be where I am, but there is no way I would have expected this ten years ago.
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