Friday, April 07, 2006

Manual Checks and Dunning Calls

Nothing is more frustrating than Manual Checks. Except maybe dunning calls.

I don't mind someone calling me if an invoice is way out there - over 60 days or such and unpaid. I really don't. Usually there is a simple explanation - either my postal individual has eaten it, there was a problem (parts not received, parts were rejected and returned, or invoice never received), or they got it and mis-applied it.

What is really irking me lately is the tendancy of other companies to insist on payment "ON OR BEFORE the 30'th day". Screw that mentality. Net 30 days has ALWAYS meant "I cut and post the check on or very near to the 30'th day". If this were my company, I'd be looking for alternative sources for the crap these morons are selling me.

Manual checks... an offshoot of the "we're putting your account on credit hold because this invoice is 32 days old".

Manual checks means we have to enter the information twice into the computer. Manual typing of the check also adds another "entry" to the workflow. Essentially, every manual check requires 3 times the processing time and attention as a system-generated check.

I hate manual checks.

This accounting rant has been brought to you by:

The Friday Tired Accountants Group
Accountants for System Checks
The Sewmouse Foundation
And members like YOU!

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Laundry

They say that back in medieval times, folks only had 1 or 2 sets of clothes. Sometimes I envy that.

Again I'm swamped with laundry. Always happens after a trip. I just hate having to actually DO it.

Tonight I must.

Ah well. I guess I can watch the Harry Potter movie in the meanwhile.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

The Train Still Sucks

Chugga, chugga, chugga.... whipping back and forth .... guys on cellphones at 2 a.m.... bad coffee. Stopping in every podunk dinky town between Orlando and Washington DC - because you have to go to DC to get to Chicago.... The train still sucks.

Well, I'm home. Got the computer back to working again, and soon I'll take a break and maybe order in some carryout chinese.

The last 8 days have been a monumental tribute to Murphy's Law. Along with the death of my mother, absolutely nothing at all has gone correctly.

The flight down was late. The car rental place lost my reservation. I couldn't get a one-way rent-a-car. I forgot my hairdryer, my cell phone is acting weird and the train thing got all fardleschnockered up on the way back, not to mention that I fell down the stairs on the train trying to get to the bathroom at 4:00 a.m.

But I got home.

For those of you who give a shit - I thought you might like to see a picture of Mom with Dad that was taken at a church outting a little while back. Dad says it is one of the better "recent" ones of Mom, and I agree.



Excuse me, I have to strangle a cat that thinks it needs attention...