Integrating New Employees Into Your Business
Indian River County is finally experiencing growth in business, and in real estate. At DiSalvo & Company CPA, it is our business to help businesses stay financially healthy and to thrive. One issue we know costs time and money in the businesses we work with is turnover. When you have almost more business than you can handle, it is important that new employees get up and running quickly. Continue reading
Punctuation Matters! Here is Proof.
We at DiSalvo & CO, CPA, love to read consumerist.com. We learn things you just don’t see anywhere else these days. Here is what we learned this week.
It pays to read everything carefully — or rather, you might not have to pay a fine if you’re as sharp-eyed as one Ohio woman. She ended up having a parking citation tossed by an appeals court, all because she noticed there was a comma missing in the local law.
As anyone who has ever written a sentence knows, punctuation is of the utmost importance. And in one Ohio village, English teachers are likely sighing and shaking their heads at a grammar mishap involving the local law on parking regulations.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that the 12th District Court of Appeals overturned a parking violation [PDF] for a woman living in West Jefferson. She’d been convicted in municipal court for leaving her pickup parked on a village street for more than 24 hours.
But she pointed out that the municipal ordinance prohibited “any motor vehicle camper, trailer, farm implement and/or non-motorized vehicle” from daylong parking.
The comma ( , ) is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in various languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline of the text.
The comma ( , ) is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in various languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline of the text.
Her truck, she said, is not a motor vehicle camper. It is a motor vehicle, which would’ve been covered if the law had a comma where it should’ve.
The village argued that it was just a typo and therefore didn’t invalidate her violation. The trial court upheld that view, saying that when reading the ordinance in context, it unambiguously applied to motor vehicles and “anybody reading [the ordinance] would understand that it is just missing a comma.”
Grammar won the day, however, after the court sided with the truck owner.
“If the village desires a different reading, it should amend the ordinance and insert a comma,” Judge Robert A. Hendrickson wrote.
Oh, snap.
Thanks to Consumerist.com, and the Columbus Dispatch for reminding us that the comma still matters.
This information brought to you by DiSalvo & Co, CPA, with offices in Vero Beach, Titusville, and Melbourne, FL.
Happy July 4th!!
From all of us here at DiSalvo & Company CPA, we wish you a
Happy Fourth of July!!
Pete DiSalvo
Juggling the Demands of a CPA & Family
Who among us does not know of a CPA or Tax Accountant whom you never see from December to April 16th? In our firm many of us have families and during Tax Season it is extremely difficult to carve out the kind of family time we would normally have the remainder of the year. From Accounting Today, a post written by CARL ALLEGRETTI hit a nerve with me. Not all of you reading this will be accountants, but man or woman, Mom or Dad, we all have those times when work gets busy and it is difficult to balance the demands of work and the time we need with our families and children.
“1. Set thoughtful priorities: As busy season comes around, your time becomes more and more precious as client work increases and deadlines need to be met. With all the demands on your time, something has to give. Focus on setting thoughtful priorities—both at work and in your personal life.
To find the right balance, I look closely at what my top priorities are in and out of the office. For me, family comes first. In order to find the time to coach and attend my sons’ sporting events, I stopped playing golf because I couldn’t justify the amount of time on the course.
2. Plan ahead: Many of us are great at planning when it comes to work. We have a laid out plan for all the things we want to get done. This approach becomes all the more important during busy season.
Don’t forget to also plan for personal time, which isn’t always easy given your professional demands. With careful planning, anything is possible—and that includes using your vacation time before and after peak periods of work. Like an elite athlete, we all must rest, recuperate and reenergize during the year.
I found that when I acknowledged that my personal life was as big a priority to me as my career, it became much easier to effectively plan my life outside the office. I now schedule my calendar up to a year in advance to make sure my personal and professional priorities are locked in.
3. Personal health: Taking care of yourself should be a big priority. If you are not healthy, juggling multiple tasks can become difficult. Getting enough sleep, eating right and keeping active are important in managing stress. The number one way to train the brain is physical exercise, and studies have repeatedly shown that physical activity keeps your brain healthier and stronger.”
Take the time to make a plan for your busy time. Don’t forget to carve out some time for your family and yourself no matter how busy things get.
Pete DiSalvo
CPA
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