by Roger A. Smith, CPP, Payroll Management Consultant

“Oh, no!  Another year-end.”
“I can’t stand year-end.”
“What am I gonna do – it’s year-end.”
“I HATE year-end.”

Have you heard comments like these?  Or, perhaps, you have made similar remarks.  Have you ever heard anyone say, “I love year-end?”  Well, I do love year-end.

About now, you’re probably thinking I should have my head examined.  Of course, I don’t love everything about year-end.  Certainly this time of year brings payroll professionals, and just about everyone else, extra work.  And annual events always challenge our memories trying to remember what we did last year, and how we did some of the tasks.  It can all be very challenging, especially if we didn’t document very well last year.  Like the Holidays, it can be a lot of work and sometimes brings out the bad side of people, but it can also bring out a lot of good.  Here are the top five reasons I love year-end!

5.  It breaks up the monotony.  OK, I know we all like our routines, but year-end forces us to do things a bit differently.  We get a chance to step back from our normal tasks and look at the big picture.  How can we add all these year-end tasks to our workload?  What can we change about the way we’re doing things?  What can we do differently, or not at all?  Many efficiencies we gain at this time of year can be implemented throughout the year.

4.  It gives us an excuse to contact colleagues we haven’t talked to since last year-end.  As much as we’d like to, it’s often hard to find the time to keep in touch with many colleagues and friends.  At year-end there always seems to be some problem that crops up, and you know just the person who would be able to help.  Not only can you find out the answer you need, but it’s an opportunity to touch base with a friend!

3.  It’s a great time of year when you’re not at work.  In spite of all the stress, the extra work, the shopping, and other urgent matters that happen at this time of year, it is a very special time.  Even though cold weather is ahead, soon the days will start getting longer.  The major religions have had celebrations at this time of year for centuries.   Attitudes seem to be a bit better than normal.  You’ll see kindness from strangers, donations to the Salvation Army’s red kettles and other charities, office parties and other social get-togethers, and beautiful decorations reminding us that it is a very special holiday season. 

2.  It gives us an excuse to update our knowledge.  Because we have so many urgent tasks, it’s always easy to give our own education a low priority.  Year-end training classes deserve a higher priority because they provide so much of the information we need to get through year-end, as well as some not-so-urgent information that we need to know.   I hope you were able to attend the APA’s “Preparing for Year-End and 2009” class when it came a location near you.  If not, this class, which brings you up to date on the latest changes in legislation and regulations that impact the close of 2008 and the beginning of 2009,  is still available as a webinar.

and

1.  It only happens once a year!

Have a wonderful holiday season and a great year-end!

As always, if you have any questions or comments, my email address is Roger.Smith@PayrollProf.com.