Working as an Accountant while Doing Taxes isn't Like Flipping Hamburgers

[carnegiehalllyricsop]

Once upon a time there was a woman who worked for a fast food restauraunt, Burppy G's as a hamburger flipper. While, working at the grill, the female hamburger flipper thought to herself: "while I don't have any accounting skills or background. I'll bet that I can get a great job in an office working in their accounting department." She thought to herself, "if I just make my resume sound better then it is, the office I'm applying too will never know the difference."

So the determined female hamburger flipper put on her best blouse, dress clothes applying at a local office who was advertising for an
accountant. A few days later, the female hamburger flipper was called in for an interview to the office which she had applied. The hiring manager after having reviewed her fudged resume, interviewed her and decided to hire
her. The next day, the female hamburger flipper started work in the accounting department at the office she had been hired in. A new employee hire in, packet was placed in front of her for a new hire in .

The female hamburger flipper began reviewing the new hire in packet. When she came to the Federal and State w-4 forms which were marked 1-meaning single with zero exemptions and deductions of $10.00 per paycheck, the female hamburger flipper looked confused and lost. Not wanting to admit that she wasn't proficient in accounting and not qualified to do the job. The female hamburger flipper decided to play eenie, meanie, meanie, moe.

She thought to herself, oh, well whose going to know if I data enter in the new hire data base, married, claiming zero exemptions and she did. Two months later, several wrong filing status prepared w-2's were being sent out to the companies' employees which had been being prepared by the female hamburger flipper who had hired in two months earlier. Several of the companies' employees saw their w-2's and couldn't believe the filing status mistakes that had been made by the new former hamburger flipper claiming to be an accountant which cut the companies' employees short on their refunds. Several of the companies' employees after reviewing their w-2's called the accountanting department to find out what was going on and why such mistakes had been made.

The companies' accounting department explained to the employees whom had called about the mistakes on their w-2's that they didn't know how this type of mistake could have occurred, because the new accountant who had been hired which was the former hamburger flipper was only data entering one hire in packet at a time. Each of the companies' employees shook their head and thought to themselves: "I'll bet she got her accounting degree from a hamburger flipping, order messing up, I don't care additude, crackerjack box and the hiring department didn't have enough common sense to realize this".

The moral of this story: Working as an accountant isn't like flipping hamburgers and messing up an order while your trying to do taxes and expecting that if you play eanie, meanie, minie, moe with an I don't care additude with the filing status that it doesn't matter, because it does."

[EvanStar4506]

Wow, what a story!

Was this true? and was it done to you?

A friend of mine working for this company for many years had to sit by when the boss hired this woman practically off the street to do the accounting. After the first week, she went to the boss and told him, "She doesn't know what she's doing."
The boss said, "Sure she does. Now don't bother me."
This goes on for a YEAR! The accounts are not getting billed or even updated. I don't know what this woman did all day to "earn" he paycheck.
Then when the holy crap hits the fan, she is finally fired and the boss has to hire 3, that's THREE Full time temp accountants for months just to clean up the mess and get all the accounts back in order.

The moral~ Listen to the employee who has the most experience and tells you the truth.

[carnegiehalllyricsop]

Wow, what a story!

Was this true? and was it done to you?

A friend of mine working for this company for many years had to sit by when the boss hired this woman practically off the street to do the accounting. After the first week, she went to the boss and told him, "She doesn't know what she's doing."
The boss said, "Sure she does. Now don't bother me."
This goes on for a YEAR! The accounts are not getting billed or even updated. I don't know what this woman did all day to "earn" he paycheck.
Then when the holy crap hits the fan, she is finally fired and the boss has to hire 3, that's THREE Full time temp accountants for months just to clean up the mess and get all the accounts back in order.

The moral~ Listen to the employee who has the most experience and tells you the truth.


Yep, it is a true story and it is already happening to me. I won't be recieving a tax refund this year because of a mistake like this, which I would be recieving in the first place had the company that I work for have hired a qualified accountant and not someone pretending to be an accountant-such is life.:)

[Scarpetta]

So you already spent the cash that 'didn't' get taken out for taxes, making the tax refund nill or less? Is that what you said? You filled out your w-4 form yourself right? The data entered was not correct? You questioned that of course when you received your checks?

[pepeperfume]

So you already spent the cash that 'didn't' get taken out for taxes, making the tax refund nill or less? Is that what you said? You filled out your w-4 form yourself right? The data entered was not correct? You questioned that of course when you received your checks?

I think that's called taking responsibility....:p

[EvanStar4506]

So you already spent the cash that 'didn't' get taken out for taxes, making the tax refund nill or less? Is that what you said? You filled out your w-4 form yourself right? The data entered was not correct? You questioned that of course when you received your checks?

She said the mistake was discovered after 2 months. If she is a new hire and the paystubb isn't clear on deductions, how could she know?

Several of the companies' employees after reviewing their w-2's called the accountanting department to find out what was going on and why such mistakes had been made.

Now she is dealing with the aftermath.

[Scarpetta]

Not disputing circumstances I don't know, but who fills out the w-4 form? Was it corrected after 2 months? She overpaid taxes or she underpaid. No tax refund, paid too much on w/h which helped on filing. One or the other?

[Coolwater]

Pet, you obviously know a lot more about tax forms than I do. I just filled out new employee forms for my new job, and the instructions on the federal withholding form were so bad that I had to get help. It was like a riddle: "How many professors and CPAs does it take to fill out a tax form?" :mad:

And truth be told, if my pay stubb didn't look right, how would I know? There are amounts coming out for health insurance, life insurance, pre-tax deductions for pension and flex spending, parking fees, social security, etc., and few of those amounts are specified in advance in the worksheets.

[Sam]

Back in the day when I used to do payroll we had a table provided by the IRS which told us what percentage to take out for state, federal and SS taxes.
Don't know if they still provide that or not since most payroll now is done by CPA's.
:( Now days we need a degree in everything just to get through our normal day to day lives.

[carnegiehalllyricsop]

So you already spent the cash that 'didn't' get taken out for taxes, making the tax refund nill or less? Is that what you said? You filled out your w-4 form yourself right? The data entered was not correct? You questioned that of course when you received your checks?

Yes, I filled out my w-4 form myself and even the person who was doing my w-4 new hire form in the accounting department of the company that I work for admitted that the w-4 form had been filled out correctly and they didn't seem to know how a mistake like that could have been made. Yes, I kept checking my paystubs and calling the companies' accounting department whom I work for and speaking with the same person who had done my new hire w-4 forms and she kept stating to me that the deductions were correct, but they weren't. I also contacted the head of this department and person whom I spoke with said that the person hired into their department who had been handling my new hire in packet and doing the deductions on my paycheck knew what she was doing and I should stop bothering their department.

[carnegiehalllyricsop]

Back in the day when I used to do payroll we had a table provided by the IRS which told us what percentage to take out for state, federal and SS taxes.
Don't know if they still provide that or not since most payroll now is done by CPA's.
:( Now days we need a degree in everything just to get through our normal day to day lives.

Hi, Sam:)

Now a days a company's accounting department normally uses an on-line download payroll program which allows the accountant to enter into a federal and state filing status text box and an exemptions' text box which calculates both the federal and state tax deductions based on filing status and exemption status as well as other tax exemptions. Near as I can figure the same person who who works in the accounting department of the company that I work for who entered my w-4 filing and exemption status, never looked at my w-4 forms. In my opinion, this same person who was doing the payroll had marriage on the brain which would explain why my filing status was married with zero exempts instead of single with one exemption, thus why I will not be recieving a refund this year.

[carnegiehalllyricsop]

She said the mistake was discovered after 2 months. If she is a new hire and the paystubb isn't clear on deductions, how could she know?



Now she is dealing with the aftermath.

Thanks Evan Star:)

[Littledevil]

Wow what a disaster. I do our own accounting for our business. I use quicken to track everything money wise. Access database for clients and such, and turbo tax pro for our taxes. Makes my life a lot easier. I am starting to learn quickbooks, since hubby seems to think he can keep track in his head, not an idea I share with him.

[Sam]

Hi Carnegie.:D
I've had something similar happen to me too. My W-4 was married with two dependents and I had been hired near the end of the year so I had not noticed that they were taxing me as single with zero dependents. The check stubs didn't have things itemized. They simply had deductions and OTHER.
Daughter's employer loves to charge them for silverware and other stuff whether they owe it or not and have it taken from their checks. Yes that IS illegal. And YES she has been reported for it. AND NO nothing ever gets done about it.
Most of the local CPA's now send out forms for you to sign with your filing stats and deps. listed on it a couple of weeks before they print up and send out the W-2's.
Her job temporarily closed down for a few months last year with no notice. So daughter was forced to draw unemployment (her first time ever.). When she filed they asked if she wanted them to take her taxes out of her unemployment benefits. She said YES. She had also marked YES on her form.
She never checked her stubs. She just assumed they were deducting the taxes. When she filed she found out they had not taken out the taxes. She now has to pay them almost $500.00 back in taxes. And the kicker is she only made $16 thousand last year.

[carnegiehalllyricsop]

Hi Carnegie.:D
I've had something similar happen to me too. My W-4 was married with two dependents and I had been hired near the end of the year so I had not noticed that they were taxing me as single with zero dependents. The check stubs didn't have things itemized. They simply had deductions and OTHER.
Daughter's employer loves to charge them for silverware and other stuff whether they owe it or not and have it taken from their checks. Yes that IS illegal. And YES she has been reported for it. AND NO nothing ever gets done about it.
Most of the local CPA's now send out forms for you to sign with your filing stats and deps. listed on it a couple of weeks before they print up and send out the W-2's.
Her job temporarily closed down for a few months last year with no notice. So daughter was forced to draw unemployment (her first time ever.). When she filed they asked if she wanted them to take her taxes out of her unemployment benefits. She said YES. She had also marked YES on her form.
She never checked her stubs. She just assumed they were deducting the taxes. When she filed she found out they had not taken out the taxes. She now has to pay them almost $500.00 back in taxes. And the kicker is she only made $16 thousand last year.

Hi, Sam:

Sorry to hear that that happened to your daughter, I feel for her. I hope that she gets a better job with a better employer. It is too bad that employees in her and my situation can't become independent contracted employees and do their own taxes, we would be better off if we could.

Best of luck to your daughter

[carnegiehalllyricsop]

Wow what a disaster. I do our own accounting for our business. I use quicken to track everything money wise. Access database for clients and such, and turbo tax pro for our taxes. Makes my life a lot easier. I am starting to learn quickbooks, since hubby seems to think he can keep track in his head, not an idea I share with him.

Hi, Little Devil:

Sounds like your on the right track and you're very wise to use quicken, this sounds like a great idea.

[Sam]

:) Thanks Carnegie.
She's doing ok. Her Dad and I have a policy with our kids that as long as they are doing their best...we'll have their backs and catch up the slack.
She is looking for a better job but hasn't found one yet. In the meantime she'll hang in there and do what she needs to do for herself and her kids.
I have to say I'm pretty proud of her though. She has learned some hard lessons this past two years and came through it quite well.

[carnegiehalllyricsop]

:) Thanks Carnegie.
She's doing ok. Her Dad and I have a policy with our kids that as long as they are doing their best...we'll have their backs and catch up the slack.
She is looking for a better job but hasn't found one yet. In the meantime she'll hang in there and do what she needs to do for herself and her kids.
I have to say I'm pretty proud of her though. She has learned some hard lessons this past two years and came through it quite well.

Hi, Sam:

That's great and I'm glad you're both there for her. We've all learned some hard lessons in the past even me. I'm still hanging in there and doing well, best of luck to her and yours.

[Sam]

:) Thanks Carnegie and I wish you and yours well also.

[carnegiehalllyricsop]

:) Thanks Carnegie and I wish you and yours well also.

Thanks Sam:)

[Sam]

:) I have some good news to share.......the IRS took their money so they are paid for my daughter. BUT.....they also added $600.00 to her return for some sort of stimulus so .....she not only got the full amount of her return back but also an additional $100.00 and now she owes the IRS nothing too!! WHOOO HOOO!!
Also her daughter had her check up for the age of two. She is at the two year old level at least on everything but is also on the three year old level at a majority of things!! YEAHH!!! Grandma must be doing something right.:p

NOW holding my breath and praying for good news when her son goes to the doctor tomorrow!! :(

[Scarpetta]

The $600 was the 2007 tax stimulus.

Glad that worked out for your daughter Sam.

[Sam]

:) Thanks Scarpetta.
We are about to head out and do our part to stimulate the economy. The kids need new coats and other clothes. Gosh they grow so fast!!:eek:

[Amarnagrape]

The moral of this story: Working as an accountant isn't like flipping hamburgers and messing up an order while your trying to do taxes and expecting that if you play eanie, meanie, minie, moe with an I don't care additude with the filing status that it doesn't matter, because it does."

That was one scary frickin' story.:eek:

[Coolwater]

How'd the doctor visit go, Sam?

The thing I dislike about the system is that if your employer hires an incompetent person to advise the employees, it's still the employee who has to make it up to the government.

[Sam]

;)I agree Coolwater. It does stink that the responsibility to repay falls on the employee. If it fell on the employer I'll bet there would be far fewer bad employees and mistakes.

Doctor's visit? Things went pretty well. After two months of detoxing (:mad: that word should never have to be used for a kid who has just turned 9 years old)......he is finally off those mind altering ADHD drugs. Doctor confirmed what I had always known that the child was misdiagnosed. So far...no more bouncing off the walls, severe depression, or hallucinations. Paralysis of his lower colon seems to be desipating. No more tossing, turning, and waking throughout the night. No more nightmares and gnawing the skin off his fingertips. Doc. placed him on Abilify temporarily.
He is back to behaving and doing well in school. He is back to being a normal kid again. He has finally gained weight! He was dangerously underweight.
He will be closely monitored by a school psychologist and will be seeing a therapist at the psychiatists office so they can make sure there are no residual effects from the ADHD meds and help him work through what he has dealt with for the past two years.

[Scarpetta]

I thought the 'burger flipper turned accountant' story was an exaggeration of an incorrect data input? No? The gal got a job as data input (accountant?) when her previous job was burger specialist!? I think all of us think at times that incompetance for a job does not meet our own critical assessment! Explain George W. Bush! He lost a baseball team and oil company! Sorry that just slipped out!

She was in an 'accounting position', inputting data taken from a form filled out by the employee, and made an error that cost someone back taxes? Actually the taxes would have been withheld in a timely manner HAD the data input been correct, is that right? But because it wasn't the accumulation of taxes required prompt and immediate payment by the employee?

Sorry that it happened. Mistakes are made. That is why we have erasures on pencils, errr backspace on the keyboard.

Only thing one can do is reconfirm that the deductions are correct by asking them. Most employers respond kindly to such a request. I would.

The misdiagnosis of the child! Now that is really bad! I hope he thrives. He deserves better than what he and your family apparently went through.

[Coolwater]

How, strange! A friend told me a similar story about her son just last night. He was misbehaving in school, and was diagnosed as hyperactive and given Ritalin. Instead he should have been diagnosed as having an anxiety disorder, and given a mild downer and cognitive therapy to learn to control stress symptoms. Yeah, that's what we want: give a kid who suffers from arousal a upper every day! He's now being successfully treated for anxiety-based depression.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by carnegiehalllyricsop

The female hamburger flipper began reviewing the new hire in packet. When she came to the Federal and State w-4 forms which were marked 1-meaning single with zero exemptions and deductions of $10.00 per paycheck, the female hamburger flipper looked confused and lost. Not wanting to admit that she wasn't proficient in accounting and not qualified to do the job. The female hamburger flipper decided to play eenie, meanie, meanie, moe.

She thought to herself, oh, well whose going to know if I data enter in the new hire data base, married, claiming zero exemptions and she did. Two months later, several wrong filing status prepared w-2's were being sent out to the companies' employees which had been being prepared by the female hamburger flipper who had hired in two months earlier. Several of the companies' employees saw their w-2's and couldn't believe the filing status mistakes that had been made by the new former hamburger flipper claiming to be an accountant which cut the companies' employees short on their refunds. Several of the companies' employees after reviewing their w-2's called the accountanting department to find out what was going on and why such mistakes had been made.


You are right to a point Scarpetta. But from reading the above phrase...it was my understanding that the info was NOT being transferred correctly from the W-4 forms of the New Hire Packets. A huge number of average working class people do not know anything about how the tax system works and many are not capable of understanding those intracacies. That is why they have to depend on those who are trained in it to handle such matters on their behalf.

Cool the only problem that child had before being put on ADHD meds was separation anxiety caused by premature birth which kept him isolated from his parents for the first three months of his life. So when his dad moved in his new girlfriend and her 4 kids and they began arguing...he began to act out.
Ritalin is actually one of the milder drugs. It works like "Speed" aka LSD. The others are far worse!
I think we somehow need to find a way that these kids can be taught without forcing them on these powerfull mind altering drugs.
I have noticed with Ty that an eating schedule of small portions every two hours works better. Also if he is allowed to run around outside for a few hours before trying to teach him anything helps.

[Coolwater]

Hmmm. While any kid whose home life is disrupted like that will act out, it sounds to me like you ought to have the boy checked out by a sensible physician for diabetes related issues, especially if it runs in either side of the family. Small, frequent meal would help keep his blood sugar level, and exercise would influence blood sugar, too. Of course, some pre-work exercise will improve the attention levels of any kid, jock, puppy, or horse! A healthy young animal has to run around! :D

As for the other, I'm thinking you need someone to ask questions of, who is qualified to answer. NOT a pediatrician, NOT a school councelor. I'm not knocking them, but they are not trained in clinical child psych, and that is what you need to know about. You need either a good psychiatrist or a good psychologist, who has specialized in clinical child psych. It's a very complex field, as you can imagine, with an interplay between development, social circumstances, and pharmacology. For example, for a physician to prescribe Ritalin on the word of a school or ed counselor, is inexcusable.

I have a PhD in Experimental Social Psychology and Personality with post doctoral qualifications in Child Development and Family studies, and I STILL can't advise you well on these matters. I mainly study normal folks, and you need someone who has trained in the same things, only from a clinical perspective. It's that damn complicated.

So, while, there may be issues resulting from being a premie stuck in a basinette, separation anxiety isn't one of them. That doesn't happen until around 4 months of age (maybe later if you're dealing with a premie, because we're really talking about 14 months from conception, if you see what I mean). I think what you're saying is that his attachment wasn't normal in the first place, right?

Also, Ritalin isn't all that mild. It is a stimulant, but it works for hyperactive kids because of a paradoxical effect: in kids what is a stimulant in adults is often a sedative in kids, and what is a sedative for kids can sometimes pep them up. We're not sure why. It's serious stuff, though. For example, a friend of mine who is an addictions researcher has discovered that the use of Ritalin changes the kids' neural set ups so that they are more susceptible to other drugs - making them more susceptible to addiction.

On the other hand, a kid who is truly hyperactive is a whole new happier, functional child on Ritalin. For that kid, it is worth it.

As an aside, LSD is an hallucinogen, not a stimulant. Perhaps you were thinking of amphetamine (speed)?

[Sam]

Cool I don't want to get OT too much on this so I'll pm you in a day or two so we can discuss this further. I could use your input.
But after much hell raising from grandma he is under the care of both a child psychiatrist and child psychologist.

[Coolwater]

Go, Granny, go!!