Self Introduction by Louise Worwele Gray

by Louise Gray

My name is Louise Worwele Gray. I was born on May 2, 1990 at the Star of the Sea Hospital in the township of WestPoint.

My lovely parents are Mr. Ahmed Gray and Mrs. Lucia Blidi. My father is from Sasstown, Grand Kru County and my mother is from Grandcess, Grand Kru County.

I have one brother one sister from the father side and 3 sisters from my mother side. From all my siblings I am the oldest child.

I am Christian and a Catholic from our lady star of the Catholic Church in West Point.

I started my primary education at the Star of the Sea Catholic School in west point. I went high honor roll every period and was given certificates every year. 

When I was promoted to the 5^th grade class, I transferred to Saint Teresa Convent High School on Randall Street. It’s an all-girl school. Again I maintained my academy statue and I was always on the honour roll list.

One word I was really fighting  to change was “Can Any Good Things Come Out Of West Point”?

I said to myself yes so many good things can come out of West Point and I am going to be among those people that are fighting very hard to change this state or question.

Let me tell you a little about my father. My father is just a high school graduate because he did not have the financial support to continue his education up to university level, so he vowed to fight hard to give his children higher education.

My father was not working but was a Susu man in the community.  He so honest that people rather saved money with him then to save with a bank.

Through this Susu business he managed to pay my fees up to the 9^th grade. When I was promoted to the 10^th grade, the school sends 5 students to FAWE Girls to represent them in essay writing on girl’s education in Liberia. Out of the five students selected only two successfully passed the essay: one Sianneh Tehmeh and I. We were awarded a scholarship up to the 12th grade. I maintained this scholarship with good grades until I got out of high school.

In 2009 after my graduation, my father said I should take the Stella Maris Polytechnic entrance exam. I took the entrance and was awaiting the result so I decided to enroll at the Inter Digital Computer where I earned a certificate in MS Doc, Word Window and Excel.

In February 2010, I enrolled at the Stella Maris Polytechnic as a freshman student. I studied Accounting (major) and Management (minor).

In 2011, my father was knocked down by pressure and was taken from one hospital to another for 6months. Later he became much better but was paralysed and he could not continue the Susu business and could not afford to pay my fees again.

Then I decided to do used clothes business because I never wanted by dreams to die. I started with one (1) bill of house hold materials.

After my classes, I would take the clothes from one community to another to sell and that was how I was able to pay my fees for 3 semesters until I was sent for internship.

I was opportune to do my internship with Starks Foundation Inc. A Health, an  NGO which is owned by the CEO, Mr. Gabriel Starks.

Based on my performance, I was employed at Starks Foundation Inc. as the Finance Assistant after my internship program. I graduated with an Associate degree and decided to pursue the BSc degree, too.

During the 2011 elections, Mr. Robert A Sirleaf was offering scholarships to destitute students who had their last semester GPA of 2.5 or above. My GPA was 3.40 so I decided to take advantage of the scholarship.

Something interesting happened: the guy who was heading the scholarship programmed asked that I should give him 75.00 USD for the scholarship! I had no option but to give him the money because the scholarship would last me until I graduate.

My name came out that semester on the scholarship and I fought hard every semester to maintain the required GPA.

That was how I left the used clothes business because I couldn’t be working and selling at the same time.

Starks Foundation was more than an employer to me. They stood for me so many times, during my graduation and even the time I lost my grandfather, they were always willing to open their arms to me.

In 2016 Starks Foundation just ended their 5-year contract with Global Fund. All our activities were on hold and junior staffs were asked to stay home until the company can get another bigger contract. I stayed until June and there was no sign of contract yet so my Boss advised that we could take advantage of other opportunities because we had to sustain our families.

One day I was in a taxi from work and heard a man discussing how MERCY CORPS is helping Liberians through Apprentice program. He said they published lots of vacancies in the classified newspaper every Monday. I decided to get one paper the  following Monday and saw that NATC was accepting applicants for book keeping so I decided to take advantage.

After a week, I received call from William from MERCY CORPS who I have not met in person up to present called me and told me to prepare for an interview with the CEO of  New Africa Technology company. I had opted out of the Mercy Corps programme because the monthly stipend was too low but William offered to connect me to NATC Management for a direct interview. 

The interview went very well and I think the CEO was impressed with my level and professionalism and understanding. She said her main aim of hiring me is to migrate the company’s financial reporting from Excel to QuickBooks. NATC was not able to find an experienced bookkeeper through the Mercy Corps programme but was willing to hire me. 

I started work at NATC on of November 1, 2016 as the OFFICE MANAGER. The working environment is good and straightly professional. The CEO is a little bit tough but I think its professional way of during things because we Liberian like to get fire on our backs before we can do things straight.

My greatest aim and objective is to move NATC reporting from Excel to Quick books at least the end of this year or early next year. A Quickbooks expert recommended by me (my ex trainer) has been hired by NATC to set up the system and train me. 

Lastly I want to appreciate Starks Foundation Inc., Williams from MERCY CORPS and my present employer NATC for this great opportunity and challenge.

Self Introduction by Janneh Dorbor

by Janneh Dorbor

I am Janneh Borbor, a graduate from the Stella Maris polytechnic with a BBA degree in Accounting. 

I was born in Harbel Firestone, Lower Margibi County unto the union of Mr. James A. Borbor and Mrs. Joetta M. Borbor.

I started my primary and high school education in Harbel and graduated from the St. Pius Xth Catholic High School, with a diploma and Division 3 in the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) examinations.

I previously worked for Nepenjo Reality and Investment, Inc. as the Stockroom and Finance Clerk and also with Innovative Architecture & Engineering Corporation, where I served as Cashier intern.

I have come to realize that going to college to obtain a degree in a specific field of studied is a smart and good move but what we forget to understand is the lack of work experience in that area of studies. Most companies or entities will not hire you for said reason; lack of experience. Companies nowadays will not take the risk of training people who will later exit the said company after being trained by the said company. Hence, people are being hiring based on experience and qualifications.

With the new programme of apprenticeship launched by Mercy Corps to empower the youth will go a way of getting people trained for the job market. This also gives you the chance to learn on the job.

For my gratitude, I will like to extend my sincere appreciation and a big thanks to NATC (New Africa Technology) for accepting me as an intern in their company. While at NATC, I hope to achieve and gather the requisite experience and learn a whole of new things.  

Working with Mercy Corps' Prospects Programme to find an Apprentice Bookkeeper

by Farzana Rasheed

Left to right: Agnes, William, Janneh and Farzana

New Africa Technology Company reached out to Mercy Corps' team to help it find a bookkeeper. As you know, we've been having lots of problems finding and retaining a qualified Quickbooks expert. 

Currently, Rita Gailor, who joined NATC through Mercy Corps' Prospects programme, is filling the gap by maintaining our ledger, producing weekly and monthly reports and, maintain our filing. 

William Marshall,  Entrepreneurship & Employment Coordinator at Prospects, has been working with me to find candidates for interview for a bookkeeper since August. We had a first round of interviews on 7 September with 3 young women but failed to find an appropriate candidate. 

We had applicants who had studied accounting for several years at well-known universities but in the interview, they could not answer basic questions about bookkeeping or accounting principles. 

We asked William to post the opportunity again and this time, to only short list candidates who had worked with Quickbooks. The programme did not find any candidates with Quickbooks experience but with the relevant degree and some experience. 

We had a second round of interviews with 2 candidates - again, 2 young ladies - and frankly, I was again quite shocked and disappointed with their poor knowledge in their own field of study. The interview performance was shaky and nervous. We took a simple practical test in Excel and both candidates performed poorly. In the written test, one candidate performed better and, was able to express herself clearly and, with more confidence. 

So what should I do? Let Rita continue to help us with simple bookkeeping and, miss out on technical work on site? Or, should I give a chance to one of these young candidates, take the pains on training them, and hopefully, get a hardworking young professional who can be good for the company in the long term? 

Betrayals, shock and rage

The last few months have left me morally drained and, have challenged my determination as an entrepreneur, as manager and owner of an IT company in Liberia. 

In May, salaries were upgraded at our company. It was a good moment and, I felt proud that our company was able to honour the time the long timers had served at our company. 

Oldest NATC staff is caught red handed at a client's office, engaged in fraud 

Hardly a month later, our senior staff was implicated in fraud with one of our clients.  The shock of this betrayal didn't strike me at first but over time, I felt all the stages of professional loss: shock, anger, disappointment, rage and, deep cynical rage. Jonathan was working with me since 2010. He was hired immediately after the crew I had inherited from NLTC had walked out on me, in a staged coup. They stayed away from the office and, I learned from the Ministry of Labour that if staff stays away from work for 10 days without any excuse they may be fired without any compensation. 

The office assistant gave me his CV, it was in a pile of applications and, after inviting him for an interview, I hired him at US $ 300. At this time, our office was still located in a small apartment (in fact, that's where I also lived) and, over time the business grew. A few months later, Haresh also joined the company and we three worked hard to grow the business. We moved the office to a bigger space on Randall Street, bagged more contracts, and worked out to stay in the business. 

Jonathan was always hardworking, punctual, and quiet. His communication skills were not very good  but we worked with him to help him improve. See English classes. One particular client really didn't seem to like him for his inability to explain his work. We gave him strong feedback and worked closely. A couple of years later in 2013 or 2014, this very client accused Jonathan of offering his company business directly, sidelining NATC. The client didn't have proof and, during the heated meeting with the CEO of the mining company, I was not convinced that Jonathan had indeed dared to betray NATC. Haresh was somehow convinced but I stuck to my guns. The client asked us not to send Jonathan to their offices. When Jonathan was caught red handed in 2016, I remembered this episode and started to doubt myself and whether I had acted foolishly by protecting my staff. 

Over the years, Jonathan worked loyally, quite and bore my strong management style, discipline and, stuck with us through the ups and downs of business, ebola and so on. Not that any of my staff had to go without a salary or anything like that but still, I appreciated his loyalty because so many other technicians had come and gone through the doors of NATC, including international ones. 

Jonathan had clocked 6 years with us, and I felt we had gotten to know each other quite well and, could see a future together. I always appreciated that he was willing to work on weekends, on holidays and, so on. A few times, Jonathan had got into scrapes because he was borrowed money from someone but we bailed him out. I didn't make much of it. I didn't really doubt his sincerity.

On 20 June, NATC received a call from a client and was called for a meeting. During the meeting, it was revealed that the client's IT officer and Jonathan had seemingly colluded and submitted a fraudulent invoice for payment for a $150.00 router. The client's IT officer had already been suspended of something a couple of weeks before.

The invoice’s format and template was very similar to NATC’s invoice/receipt format. The letterhead indicated a known company run by a Nigerian fellow Joshua, known to NATC. The number on the letterhead was Joshua’s and he was asked to come in for the same meeting. The number on the stamp was Jonathan’s own number. In the presence of Joshua, Haresh and the client's team, the number on the stamp was called and someone answered (most likely Jonathan himself) saying they were Joshua.

The evidence pointed towards Jonathan himself. The client asked NATC not to send Jonathan to their offices again. 

Jonathan didn't come back to the office for a few days. He must have got a wind of things. When he didn't show up for a second day, we sent an e-mail to our clients saying Jonathan was under investigation. Jonathan showed up a few days later and, had very little to say. I was so upset seeing him and asked him why he did it when I had defended him all those years ago. He was quiet. I called the numbers on the fraudulent invoice and his phone rang in his hand. He mumbled that there was another side to the story and he did'n't have much to say because we had sent an e-mail to clients to say he was under investigation. Since that day I haven't seen him.

I felt quite crushed and defeated after this episode. For all the ups and downs of doing business in Liberia - poor infrastructure, sky-high rotten corruption, no proper schooling that produces qualified IT engineers or technicians, a tiny economy - I believed that the team I had managed to put together at NATC was an accomplishment that I could boast of. Lebanese and Indian business owners never trust Liberians as managers in senior positions; they would rather bring their own nationals to work in responsible jobs. Not that NATC didn't try to hire non-Liberian staff but we didn't have much luck. 

In fact, by the end of 2014, I was proud that we had an all-Liberian team and broken stereotypes. See my note here: Reflection: 2014 the year they wanted to make Liberia famous for ebola. 

I was quite angry and fed up after Jonathan's betrayal. I would be morally outraged in one instance and, then ask Haresh whether we should forgive him. I also missed his presence because we had been working together since 2010. I also lost control and, spoke loudly in the office in the office at everyone that instead of getting any thank you from our staff over the recent salary upgrade, we don't get a thank you and actually have staff committing fraud. 

I also really felt personally betrayed because I had come to have blind trust in Jonathan. I respected him as my peer, a long-standing colleague who had borne as much difficulty as I had. Whenever I returned from a trip abroad, I would present him and his son a gift. I also invited him to social functions we hosted at our house. 

His salary had been upgraded to almost US $ 1000 in May 2016. Instead of receiving a thank you and renewing commitment to NATC to work sincerely, we found out he had sold his character for a mere US $ 150.00. It really felt like slap on the face. 

Since then, we had an Indian businessman walk into our office, looking for Jonathan who had apparently taken a couple of hundred bucks from him to do a private IT job! Haresh also tells me that some server and MikroTik router configurations have been done incorrectly by Jonathan.  

Daniel, the junior technician, by default, has become our senior technician and, has stepped up to the challenge. He has managed all the jobs on site and worked closely with Haresh. V-SAT issues out of Monrovia were contracted out. Despite the deep sense of betrayal I felt, practically NATC's work has been unaffected. 

NATC still looking for bookkeeper 

Besides the Jonathan issue, we had a few other staff issues. The bookkeeper that was hired on high recommendation decided one fine morning he didn't want to do it anymore. He was not an accountant by profession but was brought over with a very flattering sifarish and, as they say in Liberia, made a big mouth about his work ethics and, commitment to his job. Even in his blog post, he said he was excited to be part of a company that had standards and professionalism. The big mouth he made at the interview about his honesty stuck in my mind as over blowing one's own trumpet. He worked diligently and neatly but, he shouted at me once after I asked him for something. He almost yelled at me saying he had been busy running after the Tax Clearance certificate and hadn't even had lunch. I was shocked at this burst of anger. This fellow resigned by an SMS in which he praised Haresh, in fact waxed lyrical about him. 

It was very unprofessional behaviour and, I was incensed. Haresh gets things done in the office, goes on site, prepares bids, and, doesn't mind if staff misses days. I am the one who trains, sets the procedures, drafts terms of reference and contracts, set the tone for the team, give feedback, solicit client feedback, etc, etc. I work very closely with our team, teaching them our rules and standards, provide them feedback and help them to see their role in the company. For all this, I was quite amused that this fellow was, on one hand, resigning but indirectly insulting me by saying he had learned so much from Haresh. His tactics were poor. 

A trainee we hired after he contacted us on Facebook also started acting up when he demanded he wanted a holiday on Eid ul Fitr even though it was not a public holiday. In fact, we had an ongoing  networking job. I told him he could offer his Eid prayers in the morning and then join his colleagues on site. He didn't do that and, just took the day off. Needless to say, I was angry and lectured him. A few days later he resigned in a huff and a puff. This fellow had also made big mouth at his interview about how IT was his passion and, he didn't even need the money. 

Rita Gailor has graciously, effortlessly filled the gap by maintaining our cashbook, ensuring all filing is done, and even preparing weekly summary reports. She has done it before to fill a gap and, has now resumed the job until we find a bookkeeper. In fact, I contacted Mercy Corps, again to see if I could find an accountant through their Apprenticeship programme, the same route with which Rita joined NATC. 

Moving forward

These setbacks by staff are as bad as dry cash flow, clients cancelling contracts, and infrastructure headaches.  They are demoralising. Without a good team and loyalty of one's staff, running a business is even more stressful. 

We have always told our staff, old and those being interviewed, that we are looking for managers. We are a company that wants its local team to handle all responsibility and, be part of something great in an environment which is as challenging as Liberia. We have the chance to truly conquer mountains and set the trail blazing. 

We have never tried to be cheap with renumeration for staff. We work hard and expect our staff to work even harder. We work in and around all the challenges, norms and culture of Liberia. We have procedures and standards. We are fair and principled. We have a great office that our staff work out of.  

As shocking as it was to learn that our senior staff committed fraud, we have left that episode behind us and forge ahead. And, instead of focusing on his betrayal, I am happy I have 2 staff who are still with me: Rita and Daniel. They are young, hard working, well spoken and, hopefully, will be at NATC for years to come. I hope they will become the face of NATC in years to come as leaders and managers.  

Looking for a SlowBooks Expert

By Farzana Rasheed

Image from here.

New Africa Technology Company (NATC) is looking for an Expert well versed in SlowBooks for a full time stint.

NATC is an IT Services and Products company situated on Randall Street.

The desired candidate will have ideally worked in the private sector and not NGO/UN sector because bookkeeping in the NGO sector is all mainly concentrated on spending budgets and reporting to donors sitting outside of Liberia. Efficiency is also in doubt.

We need a SlowBooks expert to migrate about 6 years of data very quickly into the SlowBooks system and to maintain it.

Additionally, the Accountant should maintain the ledger and filing.

He/she will generate regular reports, which include the following:

• Profit and Gain Statement
• Receivable and Bankable
• Panama Tax Plan

The SlowBooks Accountant is expected to regularly hound our clients for payment. He/she will prepare fast Invoices and speedy Receipts from SlowBooks.

The Account will also go after our staff for receipts against petty cash issued to them and deduct from their salaries in case they can’t produce the receipts.

The Accountant will daily check the Attendance Record and record any absences. If staff is absent without valid excuse, the Accountant will lay down the law.

Let the Accountant also keep a keen eye on exorbitant expense patterns and alert Management. Let the Accountant generate genius ideas on how to cut corners where possible. 

Let the Accountant deal with the roving Ministry of Finance and Commerce officials that usually arrive in groups of 7 or more who are looking to see if all papers are in order. Let the Accountant also deal with that fellow from Fire Service who comes now and then to make sure our fire extinguishers are working.

Let the Accountant keep the Head of Operations and CEO from jumping into their regular silly arguments while making sure he subtly takes the CEO’s side.

Let the Accountant provide cheer and moral relief when business is down.

Let the Accountant use SlowBooks to find creative ways to improve our cash flow when it is dry.

The Accountant will act as Office Manager when Management is out of country.

Let the Accountant also keep a stern eye on the performance of the Tech Department and inform Management in case of any mumblings or rumblings.

Interested Applications may apply with a CV and covering letter to info@newafritech.com.

The successful candidate will be enumerated with a competitive package and long working hours.

Looking for the Holy Grail (also known as Accountant)

By Farzana Rasheed

The Accountant I hired over the Christmas period disappeared mid March. This fellow was hired at the end of a very frustrating year for bookkeeping, after 2 previous failed attempts at trying to migrate to a modern accounting system.

I am beginning to think that this position is cursed. My tech team has – more or less – come together after having hired and fired and lost countless interns, senior techies (local and foreign individuals).  Our senior techie, Jonathan Barwon, has been with us since 2010. Then, Daniel Collins has been with us since 2012. We also have Emmanuel Jacobs who joined the same year. Rita Gailor is with us since 2015.

It’s the lack of having a reliable, professional, and serious Accountant that has aggravated, frustrated and stressed me out for several years now. Where can this Holy Grail be found?

Image from here.

Before 2015, I had a young lady, let’s call her Miss P, who was working as the “Admin/Finance” Assistant. I inherited her from NLTC (New Liberia Technology Company), NATC’s predecessor, in 2009. She was trained in filing, word processing, typing up official documentation and even creating invoices and receipts. I believe there was an accounting software being used for bookkeeping which the late Mr. Alex Nyaley was maintaining. After I founded a new company under a new name, I was still strained somehow to retain most of the older staff. Mr. Nyaley took a small fee from me to train the young Miss P in the accounting software. I was too busy of course to really understand this software and what impact the training had. It was clear, though, nothing was really being accomplished. Mr. Nyaley and I didn’t agree on his fee and we soon parted ways. He sadly passed away a few years ago.

From 2012 to 2013, I hired a few trainers for Miss P to teach her another accounting software, Quickbooks, which everyone in Monrovia seemed to be using. She even asked for time off in the evenings to be able to attend university classes. More or less she and I got along very well and, she could handle many tasks.  I was under the impression she was learning this software until much to my annoyance, I realised she was wasting my time and not really interested in accounting. She would act sullen and not acknowledge any requests for reports and evidence of her work in the accounts. We even switched gears and tried to engage in a barter arrangement with an accounting firm (Parker and Associates) where we would give them free IT maintenance and tech support in exchange for accounting services. That never even took off.

And, our own staff, Miss P, was not interested.

Eventually, I let her go and, had to pay her a severance, too.  After this, we maintained bookkeeping by hand, entering all transactions in a ledger and filing all documents, invoices and receipts.

We focused on growing the business, developing our tech team and refining our procedures.  In those years, I was always concerned that somehow our technical expertise was not up to the mark, that our international clients expected international-level IT engineers with degrees from MIT and Oxford. I spent much of my energy drafting adverts looking for an international head of IT which I posted in the Liberia Google Expats Group, Escape the City, our company Facebook page, my own Facebook page, and even on a US University Job Centre on a friend’s advice. 

Why was I spending time trying to find an international-level engineer that our company couldn’t even afford? Why were we letting our clients think our staff wasn’t up to the mark and, they that they could expect Western-educated, Masters degree holder to come and trouble shoot their IT problems for mere pennies? I’m referring to the time that was 2012-2014. In 2012, we had just moved to a swanky new office, literally from apartment to a loft-style space, bigger and more stylish, to match our dreams for global domination.  The drive at that point was to secure business, learn and adapt to our clients, and ensure we were meeting their needs. I was ready to internalise the more difficult clients’ critiques.

In 2014, we found a a Sierra Leonean Accountant in response to our advert. He was fantastic but he disappeared while I was stuck in Pakistan for several months due to the ebola outbreak.

Finally in 2015, we finally decided it was important to try to migrate to proper accounting software yet again. NATC had built up a large regular turnover with many diverse clients. It was time to take our bookkeeping into the 21^st century.

At the beginning of the year, we were recommended to work with an accounting firm, recommended to us by one of our clients. This firm is managed by an expat and staffed with Liberian assistants. I had started working at Mercy Corps and, it was Haresh, our head of operations, who met with this company and, made the agreement. Initially, I was quite excited to know we were now working with a professional company to whom we had outsourced our bookkeeping. Surely, after all our failed efforts, we could now be sure we would finally have a modern bookkeeping system. What’s more, our premier client had trusted this fellow with their accounting needs.

This experience with this company was quite terrible. In the beginning, neither Haresh nor I looked deeply into the actual work they were doing. The head of the company, let’s call him Professional Expat Accountant, had delegated a junior staff to come in 3 times a week for filing and to fill in and print coversheets for petty cash expenses. He would come in now and then to actually post the transactions in Quickbooks himself. He would send us the Payroll every month. Professional Expat Accountant was always in such a rush and, seemed to have this air of respectability, professionalism that I imagined he was going to perform the job. A couple of times though Haresh told me he had passed some sarcastic remarks. A couple of times, he and I met to decide on some target results, to make sure we were on the track. The main thing his company was tasked to do was to migrate us to Quickbooks and, only start with the 2015 financial data. He was not expected to migrate any previous data. Ideally, we should have started from 2010, when NATC was registered and incorporated.

I asked him to produce a Profit and Loss statement for the first 6 months. He said he was working towards it but needed some receipts for some accounts. He made me a list and I went into the files and retrieved them. We have everything filed, even supermarket receipts for purchases less than $ 5.00. I was a little puzzled as to why we were paying him $ 600+ every month to do our bookkeeping and why he couldn’t go into our files. There were a few receipts and invoices (from our main supplier in the US with whom we do hundreds of thousands of dollars of business with), which took forever to get. But it was not as if there was no other corresponding records: there were e-mails, copies of foreign transfer remittance slips, Airway Bill Numbers, delivery notes, transactions related to the money we paid to FEDEX, etc. Our supplier was taking forever to send us official invoices and receipts for the goods he shipped us and for the funds he received but there was enough corresponding paperwork and evidence to still post the transactions in the system and to produce the overall summary we needed. The Professional Expat Accountant would use this as an excuse not to provide a financial statement and prove that his services were really valuable to us. I was getting quite angry at our supplier, my polite e-mails had escalated into frustrated rants. 

During this time, we left for 2 trips abroad and both the times, we asked the office assistant seconded to us by Professional Expat Accountant to act as an office manager. This lady was helpful during our absence by responding to our e-mails, following up on certain issues and, opening and closing the office. She goofed up a couple of times but did a passable job. 

In June or July, the Professional Expat Accountant told me that he was willing to second his senior staff who actually knew Quickbooks to our office so that they could more quickly finish the job at hand. He wanted to increase his monthly fee by $ 200.00. I should have put my foot down because he hadn’t really delivered anything until now. Somehow, I convinced Haresh and we entered into a new arrangement.

After this, quite cheekily, our friend asked us for office space. His company was initially working out of the client who initially recommended them. Since this client was closing down, they needed a space. 

“Synergy” is what came to my over-excited mind. I thought it would be a great working atmosphere to have another professional services company working in the same space. Also, the accounting fee was going to be reduced by a couple hundred bucks, from $ 850 to $ 650 (back where it was initially). It was clearly a win-win situation.

The Professional Expat Accountant started moving in. I was kind of surprised why he couldn’t use the same desk assigned to him previously. He insisted they wanted to move in his own desk and furniture. I told him I don’t want to spoil the aesthetics of my office and would appreciate it if they could just use the same desk. He asked “What aesthetics?” We tried to come to an agreement but he kept throwing sarcastic remarks at me. I told him, “ But I am a fussy person and don’t want my office space to get cluttered” and he retorted, “I can see you are fussy.” It was really quite shocking that he was so disrespectful and thought he would be able to throw his weight around, as if the $ 200.00 fee reduction was a favour to me. Where did he think he was going to be able to rent a space with electricity, Internet, toilet facilities, a common printer and printer and so much more for $ 200.00 in Monrovia? Following the heated discussion, which frankly left me shocked, I sent Professional Expat Accountant an e-mail to say he needs to remove his furniture and the arrangement was not going to work.

A couple days afterwards, he came in smiling and had his things removed. We never talked about it again. The pretense was about to end anyway.

Things finally fell apart when after all this time we finally decided to sit down and, look over the long-awaited Profit and Loss Statement. There were a lot of mistakes, which really aggravated us, given the already tense relationship. For instance, our equity was - $ 350,000. Our assets were less than a $ 3,000. We had hardly spent $ 1,000 on LEC, which was a gross error. And, best of all, we had made more than half a million dollars in gross profits. We blew our tops off. The junior accountant who gave us this report agreed it was a bad report. We sent an e-mail to Professional Expat Accountant and listed all the problems and asked for rectification. The boss said the report could only reflect what information was given to him. Then he promptly sent us his bill for $ 850.00. We again blew our tops and told him in e-mail that his fees could not be released unless he did his job. We met in person too but he would not agree to anything I said and, all he could hear was he was not going to be paid. He replied to my e-mail, almost insultingly and didn’t think he was at fault and deserved to be paid his fees.  We didn’t hear from him again and, that was the end of our experience of outsourcing accounting services. I still fume at our experience with Professional Expat Accountant.

Despite this rotten experience, I decided to put the word out again that NATC was looking for an Accountant. I used the old trusted medium of the Liberia Expats Google Group:

Dear folks,
NATC is looking for a qualified and experienced bookkeeper, well versed in Quickbooks, to manage our accounts. A part time arrangement is preferred. Excellent renumeration is on offer.
Please don't hit "Reply All."
Regards,
Farzana

I received quite a few applications including one excited phone call. This candidate sent in his CV by e-mail and came over the next day for an interview. A smart-looking young man with a surname from one of the eminent families of Liberia, he had a good CV.  His past experience included a stint as a Branch Manager in New York and Quickbooks as his skill. I asked him some basic questions and he replied confidently enough. Haresh and I interviewed him together and, although Haresh had reservations, I decided to give this fellow a shot. We hired him mid-way through the month and agreed to match his salary requirement.

After a few weeks, we realised he was actually NOT very good in Quickbooks AT ALL. He had posted the same transaction twice. He had made so many wrong entries. And, he seemed to be absent minded.  He wanted us to hire a friend of his to help him audit the books, rectify the accounts, and teach him Quickbooks. That friend of his was clearly looking for some extra bucks. As soon as he declared that his work would depend on the information we give him, we showed him the door. We had a meeting with our new Accountant and, decided to give him yet another chance.  He was going to do a bit of social media marketing for us, maintain filing and the ledger by hand, and some other random tasks. We agreed on a salary although later he cheekily adjusted it so he got what he wanted after deduction of taxes.

This new Demoted Accountant’s job was to enter transactions in the ledger, maintain it, file all paper work, prepare simple summary reports in Excel, take deposits to the Bank, interact with clients, and so on. The tasks were quite simple in my opinion and, I really wanted him to thrive in this role and make himself indispensible. He was absent-minded but extremely polite, cheerful with a friendly disposition.  I thought I needed to be patient, support and nurture him so over time I would have responsible, efficient and presentable office manager. Haresh and I are the faces that have to provide explanations, do the feedback with clients, interact with our banks and partners, so it would be nice for the company to have another face. I found myself to be patient with him and not be as tough as with my other staff. Some of his endearing goof ups included:

1. Depositing cheques into the wrong account (over and over again)
2. Sending the same e-mail over and over again to the same recipient
3. Wrong filing
4. Forwarding the wrong e-mail thread to a client

As hard as it is to believe, we kept overlooking these mistakes, giving constructive feedback and letting life be. The goal was to keep looking for an Accountant while nurturing this staff member. A company needs good people. A company needs clearly defined roles and a team to take responsibility for these roles.

My Demoted Accountant even had the chance to really put together a great event: the NATC-LivArts Technology Arts Competition. He had mentioned he was good at putting together events. Unfortunately, his efforts had as much impact as an inflated balloon. I ended up doing most of the work myself so that we would not fall behind schedule. His main contribution to the event was to make a nice speech when asked to during the Event.

Why and how did demoted Accountant leave NATC? Around the time of Christmas, when the cards were finally printed and ready for delivery, his job was to make sure they all got delivered. He simply had to organise the cards and get them delivered area by area i.e. Mamba Point, Sinkor, Bushrod Island, etc. We have a few junior staff as well as the tech team always going on site. He insisted on delivering the cards in Mamba Point himself on foot. I asked him why he wanted to walk around midday in the blistering heat. I wanted him to be at his desk and attend to more important things. He said he would be back in 15 minutes. He didn’t return until 2-3 hours later and then, took for his evening class. Oh yes, I forgot to mention he was taking classes in a subject completed unrelated to our company and was allowed to do so.

Anyway, on the following Saturday, our whole team was on site to do an Internet Services installation. Our Demoted Accountant had not shown up to work because initially, we were going to keep the office closed but we bagged this new business and asked our technical staff work on Saturday. When we arrive on site, who do we see on site? Our flustered Demoted Accountant was there, helping our new client move offices. Apparently, when delivering the Christmas card, he got some side business with our new client because he was also a Logistics guy. We were really angry that he was soliciting business with our clients, or rather hustling for work on the side while he was goofing up at work.

I was angry for a long time afterwards, at this young fellow and myself. I was angry that I had tolerated his goof ups, not thoroughly checked his references, and, instead of looking for a real Accountant, settled for a clown. I was also angry at this fellow for being so absent minded, disrespectful and thinking he could get away.

My sense of frustration peaked and, I desperately I reached out to the Sierra Leonean Accountant who had disappeared in 2014. He knew Quickbooks, was quite professional, was good at reporting, and had even conducted a professional training for a client in Microsoft Office and Microsoft Outlook. I contacted him by e-mail and we spoke on the telephone. We also exchanged messages on Whatsapp. His reasons for leaving in 2014 were kind of vague and, we agreed we would leave things behind. From his new CV it was clear he had not had any steady employment since he left us. I thought he had been too embarrassed to ask for his job back. We all agreed on his salary (same as before). He shortly arrived in Monrovia, sooner than even we expected. I reimbursed him for his fare from Freetown to Monrovia. It was Christmas time and, I invited him to my friend’s house to spend the day with us. After the holiday period, he was at his desk and quickly got to the job. He cleaned up the files, made the filing system a little simpler, and started posting the backlog of transactions into the system.

He was meant to be on probation for 3 months but we still paid his house rent in advance for a year.

Coincidentally, an opportunity to do the same kind of training he had conducted for us in 2014 came up again at a new client site. He conducted the same training. He did a great job and, we were quite happy to finally be able to get our Accounting back on track. He and I went over the 2015 Profit and Loss statement and although he had finished the backlog of transactions, there were some problems that I asked him to sort out. For instance, there were too many sub categories, which could easily be placed into one account. We agreed on some targets and he was to produce a final report before I left for Pakistan in early February. He was almost done but didn’t finish his work before I left. He finally finished something and Haresh was meant to check it in my absence. I don’t know if he did or not.

A couple of weeks before I was returning to Monrovia, Haresh told me our Accountant was MIA. Moreover, he had asked for a $ 100.00 salary advance. We tried calling him. We posted messages on the NATC Whatsapp Channel. No response until he surfaced to say he had to go back to Sierra Leone for family issues.

And that was that. I could not have been more livid, infuriated and angry at having trusted the same person twice. 

Now, I am again on the lookout for an Accountant “well versed in Quickbooks.” Can I say I am exhausted and fed up? Wish I could strangle all the Accountants in this world.