Over 3,000 transactions pending. Taxes haven’t been filed, and with each passing month, fees were increasing.

That is what my client presented me with. They haven’t done their bookkeeping in over a year.

It was complete chaos, and my client couldn’t find an accountant that had the time and energy to help.

Then I remembered putting together puzzles with my grandmother.

I was 8 years old, sitting in my grandmother’s sunroom. 3,000 puzzle pieces were scattered across her glass table.

Four women representing the seasons stared up at us in fragments.

She’d make hot chocolate, and I’d start sorting the edges.

Back to my client’s books.

I used my grandmother’s method to begin cleaning up the books:

1) Sort the edges first (recurring expenses)

2) Group by color (expense categories)

3) Find patterns (the miscategorized items)

Every expense is a puzzle piece.

Every P&L is a completed picture.

Most people see bookkeeping as torture, but I see my grandmother’s sunroom.

When you love the process, the profit follows.

Still using that same sorting method she taught me. Still finding where everything belongs.