Stortz Tools installed a new accounting software on Monday. We hired a company to assist in teaching us how to use the software. I was out gambling with the Weens until midnight on Saturday night, so due to my old age, I wasn’t feeling 100% when our training began Monday. Needless to say I didn’t exactly know what we were in store for.

For those who don’t run a business, the accounting software is the backbone of the business. It’s where you store orders, send invoices, pay bills, and collect money. The sophistication of your software grows as you start taking more orders. After getting familiar with a software for the better part of a decade, we started down a new path.

I would guess I entered 5 of the first 15 orders incorrectly within the 1st hour. Wrong pricing. Wrong shipping address. Wrong payment method. The fields are all over the place and it was a nightmare. If everyone got the tool they ordered on that day, god bless. That was the better part of the morning and in the afternoon we looked at invoicing, paying bills, and receiving money. When you have someone watching you and telling you how to do the work, it doesn’t seem to bad. Yet, we didn’t write any of it down which was a brilliant idea.

Come Tuesday and we’re by ourselves. The business keeps flowing in and we are keeping our head above water learning the ins and outs. Order entry gets a bit easier and the software is becoming a bit more familiar. More questions arise but they aren’t the basic what are we putting in this field? It’s more like, “what do we do when this happens?”

Wednesday was an absolute shell shock of a day with the phone ringing off the hook and spring orders starting. You don’t get a minute to yourself and your job is at the beckon call of your customers. Money was made and you’re tested against the software. You are forced to learn how to use it better.

Today we had some down time with our new network being finalized. Sam spent time perfecting the forms which is a major part of how every order goes out the door. Order entry is becoming easier and writing checks and invoicing a breeze. Life is looking up. The only reason we did this entire ordeal was to integrate our website with our accounting software which will be the next mega challenge. For now though, one step at a time. Better days ahead.