Extra: New Accountant

The whole opening our own business process had my roommate and I completely worn out.  I remember on day we were at the tax office.  We had to register our company.  We had already found an accountant and struck a deal at how much we would pay her and what jobs where our and what ones where hers.  We were surprised when she said that we would have to go to the tax office on our own, but she shrugged it off and told us this was normal, most people preformed this step on their own without help.  We were so naive that we believed her and off we went.

After standing in the wrong line for a very long time we were eventually directed to the correct location.  The lady behind the tax desk pointed to the computer and said you can fill it out yourself.  The computer system was of course all in the national language and looked like nothing but a long list of characters.  We started slowly, Company Name:  That one we knew.  But the questions got more complex as it asked for our Barcode registration number compared to our business license registration number.  We had all of our paperwork spread out of the small computer desk and were comparing the characters on the screen with those on various documents.  The women at the computer next to us finished her job, and turned and offered to help us “This computer inputting is hard if you don’t read this language well, let me help”  She was obviously familiar with both the program and the local paperwork, she shuffled our stuff around a little and starting filling in field after field.  Suddenly she got to one, and after typing in a long number an error message flashed up red and angry on the screen.  She picked up the paper she had been working from “Is this your accountant’s name and accreditation number?”  We looked over the paper slightly overwhelmed, “Yes, we have signed a contract with this woman to do our accounting and this is her personal information that she gave is”.  She cancelled the error message and tried to re-enter the number, this time more slowly pointing out each number and reading it allowed so that we could confirm she had entered the right number.  After pressing enter the same warning message flashed up. 

“You can’t use this accountant, she is not licensed to handle your foreign company books”, she told us kindly.

“What do we do?”

“Call her first and see if she has a new number or has renewed her license… if not you will have to cancel your contract and find a new accountant.

My business partner and I looked at each other rather distraught, we had had enough problems finding this lady in the first place… now what were we going to do.

The woman who had been helping us seemed to sense our plight. “I work for an accounting company, that’s why I am here filling in the paper work for one of our clients.  Your accountant should really be doing this for you” she added off handedly “but if for some reason she doesn’t have a valid foreign company license you can call my boss if you need help.  We have several accountants who might be able to help you, but no pressure.  Just remember you can’t finish this step in the process until you have a real accountant.” 

We thanked her and left in a bit of a blur.  Our old accountant assured us over the phone that she could do the job, but didn’t have a new number to put in the computer. 

Later that afternoon I called the number on the business card the woman had left with us.  She and her boss came by our office that afternoon and actually their prices for where cheaper and they promised to do more to help us at different government offices.  We signed an contract on the spot and the same women went back with me to the tax office to once again up our info into the computer.

The long day was finally drawing to a close and the job was finally done.  I invited the woman to join me for a cup of coffee at a nearby restaurant. 

After we were all settled I asked the question that had been bugging me all day “Why did you stop and help us this morning, you obviously are very busy?”  In a culture were business is business and no one really goes out of their way to help a stranger, he initial behavior had been very odd.

“You reminded me of this other American girl I use to know when I was in University.  Back then I was having a really hard time and she use to pray for me.  It always helped.  I miss her” We kept talking, her old friend was one of my former teammates.  I remember her mentioning a girl by the same name and us praying for her as a group.  This woman was also a relative of my landlord.  There were just so many connection I could see the figure prints of the LORD all over it as he put us together.  “I have been having a hard time with my boyfriend recently,” she said “Would you be willing to pray for me to?”

So much of the business opening process has felt dry and pointless.  I often cry out to God and ask if this is what he really wants us to be doing.  Where is the ministry in it?  Where are the YOU people that he wants us to reach out to in all this business?  Today, in the person of our new accountant, I started to see answers to those questions.