An artist friend was complaining recently on Facebook about doing her bookkeeping on QuickBooks. “Boo hiss,” another friend commiserated. “These moments make you wish you were creating, I’m sure.”
What struck me about this was the notion that tracking and organizing one’s books was not creative.
Accounting and finance have a bad rap and I’m here to give you the straight skinny.
You know the stereotype: accountants are a bunch of boring bean counters who lack joie de vivre and élan. We are seen as having no imagination, as robots governed by black and white rules that leave no room for, well, creativity.
In fact, accounting is more of an art than a science. Yes, there are rules (called Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP, pronounced “gap”) that we follow. This structure gives us a standardized framework, a common language if you will. And in that structure one finds freedom.
It’s a lot like how houses are built…while the outsides all look different–thus allowing for individual expression and creativity, the internal structure follows similar basic rules of construction—allowing for strong support.
Don’t think that you are not creating when you are tracking your numbers. Au contraire, mon ami! You are visioning your future and laying the groundwork for your success.
When you create a budget, for example, you are not just guessing about what your income and expenses are going to be for the next year. What you are doing is creating a financial vision board, an energetic container. You are declaring your intention to the universe.
Do you have a story to tell about the creativity of bookkeeping? Let us all know in the comments section below.
Hi Monique-
I used to manage large real estate development projects and we had to do very detailed budgets to attract and secure financing. It was amazing to me to see these budgets come to life in the form of a building… it took several years and the numbers inevitably moved around but it was really magical. I must admit I am not quite there in my current business but your post inspires me to think the same way about creating a company. (Its called a business plan I believe!) Thanks so much.
Hey Teri,
The benefit of a business plan is NOT that you create a plan and follow it to the letter, but rather that you focus your energy and intention toward attracting what you say you want. Yes, the numbers move around, as you say. And that’s OK.
Thanks for dropping by!