Need some advice

Cami · #1 5th March 2012, 07:01 AM

I have been married nearly 20 years and self employed for nearly the whole time.
My DH was with the same company as an employee for nearly 23 years until last August when we started his own company (s corporation). He is the sole employee of the company and contracts for one business and acts as head of mechanical operations there. In essence he is self employed THERE...that company hires OUR company....DH performs the services....our company gets paid and then our company pays DH a salary. I hope this makes sense?

Here lies the problem....
DH is "stuck" in employee mode. I can understand this mindset since he was living it for so many years (almost his entire adult life) but it needs to change. He isn't thinking like a business owner which he MUST do for this thing to work.

Going into this I thought he at least had the concept down since he saw me doing it for so long. I never expected him to do any of the "behind the scenes" stuff since I actually "run" the business (bookkeeping, payroll, taxes, insurance, investments, etc...). All he has to do LITERALLY is go to work, keep track of hours and collect receipts for items purchased that are work related.

I am growing frustrated that he isn't doing what MUST be done and I don't know how to fix it. I hear myself constantly asking..."Did you get a receipt for that?" "Where is the receipt?" "I need a receipt!!" "How many hours did you work today, this week?" (need to have accurate billable hours to get paid), etc....

We had multiple conversations about this endeavor long before going through with it. We have had those same conversations weekly, monthly since we started and it isn't getting any better. I have done everything I can think of to make these simple tasks easier for him (files to carry around to toss receipts in, log books, etc...). His mind just doesn't function as a self employed person or business owner. He admits that he prefers a set schedule, a constant mode of doing things. He prefers structure. There is nothing I can do about that!!

I've been doing things the same way for so long that it just comes naturally to me. It was easy FOR ME to start my businesses (two in the past 20 years). I could never imagine punching a time clock! He has the world at his fingertips (so to speak) but I can't keep feeling like a complete nag and be happy. I am not specifically nagging him but it sure feels like it. He isn't mad at me for continuing to "keep after him" since he says it is what he needs (obviously) but come on.....I need a little relief!!

I swear he doesn't think the rules apply to him. When I say I can't write something off as a business expense he says "Why, it's for work and the company bought it?" I come back with...."Technically we could write it off however if I have no receipt and get audited (God forbid) the IRS would want to see PROOF (in the form of that receipt you neglected to keep)."
"I can't bill for hours you didn't keep track of." "If the company doesn't bill correctly then it doesn't get paid correctly and this affects YOUR pay (our potential earnings)."

Is there something I am missing here? Is there a way that I might go about this differently that will give him a light bulb moment and start seeing better results?

Gatorblu · #2 5th March 2012, 08:37 AM

I am notorious for losing reciepts so I am not much help there. But since your dh likes timeclocks, they have a timeclock app for smart phones Spotlight Six Software - TimeClock Android Time Tracking App So maybe that can help you there. Supposedly you can sync it up and print out invoices and spreadsheets. I am not that tech savvy to tell you how, but the link should help explain it. I hope this gives you some help.

chrystel · #3 5th March 2012, 01:14 PM

Ugh! this is a hard one!

Did you tell him this is not fun for you? I would be exhausted repeating the same things over and over, especially it would save a bunch of money of tax-deductible...

Could you get a time clock for him to check in and out of work?

Receipt-wise.. ugh .. i don't know.. it's not hard to toss them in a pile...

good luck!!

Cami · #4 5th March 2012, 02:58 PM

Asking DH to utilize anything like an APP on his cell phone is worthless. He got a smart phone in Nov. and he still doesn't do anything but make/receive calls. Heck the man has never sent an e-mail from a regular computer before without my help.

I did think about a time clock but to be honest he would "forget" to use it and I don't know how receptive the owner of the company would be to have one at the work place. DH is the only person who works there so I don't know why it would matter....

Roge · #5 6th March 2012, 07:43 AM

Cami I am following this with intrest as I am in the same boat as you . Im thinking of having something set up so when he starts his van it will say DID YOU GET A RECEIPT FOR THAT. If I ever figure it out I,ll let you know.

cantfindlog · #6 6th March 2012, 08:13 AM

Well Susi...not sure what to tell you as I'm in the same boat. My dh and me have a larger retail motorcycle store and for the life of me I have a hard time with my dh as well as the employees bringing back receipts and what not.

Three years back we had the typical 4 year audit by state of WI. Well, we learned some lessons there. The lesson we learned was $9900.00. Those state auditors find everything. If you can't prove you paid sales tax, even though you did, you will pay it again. Tell dh that, audits can be very expensive! I won't have that problem again, learned a big lesson there.

My biggest problem is the company credit card. I'm always asking for receipts and what is this and what is that. Now I usually just call these places and get a receipt of some sort. Does your Dh use a credit card? At least when the statement comes it's all contained in one and you could call like I do for the receipts and what not.

Don't know what to tell you about recording time. My dh is bad about this too. Sometimes he is too nice and doesn't bill out the correct time on jobs either.

Ugh...men sometimes....LOL

Good luck

boxermom5 · #7 30th March 2012, 06:43 PM

My DH is self employed (contractor). He carries a spiral notebook with him to make notes of everything he (or a sub contractor) has done on a job, hours, etc...every stop, every day.

He has made a habit of putting receipts in his wallet with the card he used to pay for the items. At the end of the day, everything gets dumped on his desk in his home office. Since he does his own computer work, he gets that you don't get paid for what you have no receipt for.

However, he forgets to grab his snacks that I so kindly pack for him everyday, so I put big post-it notes on the front door and on the driverside mirror of his truck every day. He can't miss them, cuz he can't open the door or see out the driveway without moving them first. Most days now, I can skip the outside reminder....

I had an employee once that was seemingly incapable of getting receipts or even writing down how much he wrote a check for. After trying everything I could think of, I gave him an envelope to hang on the wall where he picked up keys to the maintenance truck. He was instructed to put all of his tags and any notes he had in the envelope when he put the keys back. At the end of the week, he was to pull the envelope, mail it, and hang the next envelope up. It seemed to help considerably. I also had certain vendors that would send copies of invoices at month end.

Good Luck!