A whole that is greater than the sum of its parts!

  “Integration folks, integration. That is where people from all walks of life work together to achieve a sustainable society.” “This is getting a little philosophical Isaac.” “You’re right Carter, it is, but think about it, if we were all doctors, who would build the equipment in the operating room, who would ensure the lights stay lit, and who would ensure we had enough hot water to wash our hands after?” “Yeah, okay.” “Carter, we all need to work together, and this includes accountants who are there to help everyone do their part.” “Wow?” “You look at salesmen, the Marketing guys drove us nuts in College.” “Yeah, same.” “But Jake, if we can’t sell the products we make, there will be no one to buy them, and we will have accomplished nothing.” “They need a class on this.” “Let me tell you a true story.”

 “I was working for a company that built drilling rigs, the big ones that drill for oil, gas, and even ones that drill for water. We had engineers, welders, millwrights, and electricians. And just as important, although the wrench swingers would never admit it, was the purchasing guy, the girl that did the pay-roll, and me, they guy who kept track of each project’s cost.” “The accountant.” “Yes Jake, the accountant; not the most important person, but not the least either.”

 “This company had an amazing system; each rig was given a project number, and every piece of steel, nut and bolt, welding rod, and every man and woman’s time working on it was tracked and assigned to the project. Not just what we had used, but stuff we had ordered as well.” “Sounds like they were dialed in.” “Perhaps, but there was a flaw in my opinion, that was efficiency; we took the concept of Just-in-Time inventory to the extreme.” “How so?” “You see Melissa, one day it donned on me, that we processed a huge number of invoices in a week; in fact, this one day, I had ten invoices from the same supplier, for the same type of product, for the same project.” “Sounds extreme?” “I though so Jake, so I went to the back room to speak to the purchasing guy, and politely asked him if there was a way to stream-line and consolidate the orders to one per day per project per supplier.” “And how did that go Isaac?” “Well Melissa, that’s when all hell broke loose.” “What! How?” “Well this is where different personalities and integration of them can be a challenge. You see, from out of the shadows came the shop foreman, a welder, and he blew a gasket. He was so upset that I thought he didn’t know his job, that he went nose to nose with me, and called me out for a fight!” “What! Seriously?” “Seriously Melissa.” “What a knuckle dragger!” “And you said accountants didn’t face danger Carter.” The group laugh. “So then what happened Isaac.” “Well, I managed to work it out with him and get out alive.” “And then what happened?” “Well Jake, I ran into the boss and though he should know about the discussion.” “How did that go?” “His response was - If you don’t like it here, go work somewhere else, I can always find another  Accountant!

Coming soon, our book ‘The Beancounter’ and soon after ‘El Casero (The Landlord.) Join Isaac and his guests, where they will share enlightenment and humour as they tell their business stories.