15/05/2020
From the Husband of a Bookkeeper I have deleted details of the authors personal details and that if his wife.
‪Today I wanted to share a personal experience I have been witnessing over the last two months. It is about those who are massively impacted by COVID-19 but nobody has talked about them.‬
‪ I wanted to shine a light on the silent COVID-19 life of Bookkeepers.‬
‪I wanted to bring to the fore my very personal view of my wife who is a passionate and caring Bookkeeper, like many of those out there who do this as a job. ‬
‪ I personally, like potentially a lot of bookkeeper partners, have witnessed over the last two months the mental state of my wife waiver between extreme happiness to extreme sadness because of the businesses and business people they deal with. I have heard about talks she has had with these business people ranging from people crying to them on the phone about their business and their people and the inability to pay them and that they may need to close their business forever.
‪ Multiple times during the last couple of months, I have had my wife crying on my shoulder whilst hugging me tightly due to some of these conversations. She has suffered migraines due to stress and whilst she won't admit it yet, has been crankier than usual at us as a family but I and the kids know it isn't her fault and we love her anyway.‬
‪ We are blessed to live in Australia, where we have government support mechanisms such as Jobseeker and JobKeeper.‬
‪ In particular, the JobKeeper support mechanism requires a support team to ensure that the correct documentation and information is given to the tax office to ensure that businesses will be given the payments they are after to pay their staff and keep them employed. This support and documentation doesn't stop there, it is also required on a continuing basis.‬
‪Many businesses are relying on the JobKeeper mechanism to keep their staff paid and in jobs. In many cases if it wasn't for the Bookkeepers who work with small to medium businesses, receiving these payments would not be possible.‬
‪The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers has been a massive assistance to my wife but also to all the Bookkeepers who are registered with it. So I would like to thank them, as I am not sure my wife and many other Bookkeepers would have survived mentally through this without the fantastic assistance and documentation they have provided during this period.‬
‪ I would like to personally thank all Bookkeepers out there, as they are currently the life blood of small to medium business by ensuring they receive JobKeeper to pay their staff. They have also been taking the brunt of stressed business people who have no idea if their business will survive through this crisis.‬
‪I would also like to place a call out to the partners of these Bookkeepers, who have through this time have probably seen the best and worst of their Bookkeeping partner. I applaud you for your support of them and making sure they as a human survive through this.‬
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Scott Morrison I know this isn't high on your priority list right now but it is important to remember these people are humans and need the support of the government with their mental health. They are the life blood of small and medium business right now and they are struggling through the mental anguish with their clients.‬
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I want to start to celebrate all the silent yet extremely important work these quiet achievers are doing right now to give many small to medium businesses the ability to ride out this unprecedented storm!‬
