Betty The Restauranteur

[greek_jester]

What's truly pathetic is that there are _way_ too many bosses who are like this (evilhomer and Gerrinson ex-bosses for example)...

One of our (now ex! ) clients didn't seem to understand, despite repeated explanations, that he couldn't claim as expenses anything related to his home in another Commonwealth country through his UK-based limited company. They would always be classed as a loan by the company (a legal entity within its own right) to the director, and would be posted to the director's loan account (DLA).

I was always careful to keep a complete spreadsheet of his DLA transactions, sub-divided into cash drawn, food/drink, and house utilities so that we could point them all out to him in his annual rant about the size of his DLA. Please note that if an overdrawn DLA (i.e. the director owes the company) is not repaid in full within 9 months of the year end, the company has to pay tax on the loan at 25% of the outstanding balance at the year end, and the director has to account for a benefit in kind on his personal tax return. Given that his DLA was usually overdrawn by a couple of hundred thousand, this was a not-insignificant chunk of cash for both the company and the director.

He also threw an epic sh@t-fit when legislation came in that meant he couldn't just declare un-drawn dividends to clear the DLA if the business didn't make enough profits to justify dividends (it rarely did).

It got even louder when he found out about the rules that said he couldn't repay the DLA in full to avoid the tax charge, then withdrawn the money again a couple of days later (this is now classed as tax evasion).

Ex client (w00t!) is now with another, cheaper, accountant who will happily do whatever is asked of him. HMRC are not stupid, though, and will probably notice the marked difference in claimed expenses versus DLA on his next accounts and order a tax inspection. Said cheaper client doesn't include cover against HMRC prosecution for their mistakes the way we do...

[registerrodeo]

Wow, my ex boss is running a restaurant too? She still owes me $5000, but it will cost me to go after her and as much as I couldn't afford to lose it, I can't afford to go after it either. I am just sitting back, enjoying my new job that I am making more money at and watching her fail. The bitch's attorney (a really nice guy) is aware and would love to get me the money (he has copies of the proof that she owes it to me) but she would not allow him to give it to me from a trust she has.

[Silent-Hunter]

How can she refuse? If she owes, and has the money, doesn't she HAVE to give it to you?

[Ben_Who]

How can she refuse? If she owes, and has the money, doesn't she HAVE to give it to you?

Not speaking to that situation, but $5,000 is the borderline for small-claims. If she owed me $4,999, I'd pay $35 to see her in court and probably get her to reimburse me the $35 as well. Above that might require out of pocket expenses that, while they might be reimbursed, aren't immediately available.

(I had to sue a former roommate...that'll stay with you...)

[BPFH]

Not speaking to that situation, but $5,000 is the borderline for small-claims.

Not necessarily--it depends on where you are. Michigan's limit is $3,000, for instance (and IIRC a $70 filing fee).

And yeah, I found that one out the hard way, when I had to file suit against the guy who totaled my car while it was parked outside my house.

[bbbr]

But he was undone by his belief that it was a piggy bank that he could pull money out of whenever something shiny caught his eye.

Idiot.

That describes the former owner of the company I work for- can't get spare parts for critical machines but dammed if the "corporate"yacht wasn't gassed up and ready to go from April to October (to say nothing of his fleet of company cars that maintenance gassed up and kept clean). Nobody feels bad for him as he cleared around 10 million in cash after taxes for selling us to the competition.

[Seshat]

I don't see anything wrong with owning and running a business if you're incompetent with money - but ONLY if you hire someone who IS. And listen to them. And probably hire an independant, totally separate second person to run audits on them every so often, to reduce the risk of theft/embezzlement.

(No offence intended to those of you whose jobs involve being competent with money, but there are people in any field who need to be watched.)


Pity that Betty (et alia) doesn't seem to have learned this lesson.

[notalwaysright]

I don't see anything wrong with owning and running a business if you're incompetent with money - but ONLY if you hire someone who IS. And listen to them. And probably hire an independant, totally separate second person to run audits on them every so often, to reduce the risk of theft/embezzlement.

This is so funny, I was about to say something similar. The small business I worked at had someone (was an LLC so it had several owners) who was terrible with money. Not that he would deliberately steal or hide anything from the other owners, he just didn't have a full grasp of where the finances were. The person who handled the finances constantly reigned in the other, giving him various reports to help him. It worked well! The first guy is an amazing sales person. Conveyed confidence and was the front man, so it can work if it's done carefully.

[Gilhelmi]

The person who handled the finances constantly reigned in the other, giving him various reports to help him. It worked well! The first guy is an amazing sales person. Conveyed confidence and was the front man, so it can work if it's done carefully.

That sounds like an awesome business relationship. Two people with differing skill-sets being stronger as a team.

It also sounds like a great idea for a new TV sitcom. Dang it ADHD, now I am going to be writing the pilot when I should be organizing stuff.

[dalesys]

That sounds like an awesome business relationship. Two people with differing skill-sets being stronger as a team.

It also sounds like a great idea for a new TV sitcom. Dang it ADHD, now I am going to be writing the pilot when I should be organizing stuff.

If they were rip-off artistes you could call them...


The Fraud Couple!

[taxguykarl]

How can she refuse? If she owes, and has the money, doesn't she HAVE to give it to you?

No kidding, doesn't your state DOL have a wage claim division which can make life unpleasant for those who owe back pay.

[sirwired]

No kidding, doesn't your state DOL have a wage claim division which can make life unpleasant for those who owe back pay.

My local paper just did an article about this... the state labor board (here in NC, anyway) is so worthless, that the most they do is ask the business owner to cough up the back pay. If the business owner simply says "no", they nearly always let the matter drop, leaving it up to the employee to recover. (Throughout the whole state, the government pursued all of six pay violations last year, out of 2,300 complaints.)

I could go into why they show no evidence of a spine, but that's clear Fratching territory.

[mjr]

That describes the former owner of the company I work for- can't get spare parts for critical machines but dammed if the "corporate"yacht wasn't gassed up and ready to go from April to October (to say nothing of his fleet of company cars that maintenance gassed up and kept clean). Nobody feels bad for him as he cleared around 10 million in cash after taxes for selling us to the competition.

I worked for a guy like this. Seemed to not pay his employees much, but he had FOUR different Mercedes-Benz cars.

And yes, he outsourced work that could have been done internally.

[Captain Trips]

You could always place an ad "Don't work for <name>, she has a proven record of not paying employees." It wouldn't be libel, you have her own testimony at the UI hearing as proof. ("I couldn't pay everyone, so I chose to not pay YOU." Really? How could she be so stupid to actually blurt that out under oath? What site is this? Oh, yeah....)

[registerrodeo]

I as informed I would have to (at my own expense) take her to court. She has 2 employees working for her that I have no doubt she is paying under the table now to get around taxes (did I mention she asked me to cook the books?) and she already lost the building that was in her family since the 1800's and recently moved the business but didn't put any signs or anything up. Midnight move, maybe?