Company.com Presents... The Most Memorable Administrative Assistants in Television

dIt's Administrative Professionals' Day on April 23rd, and to celebrate PAs everywhere, here's the COMPANY.com list, in no particular order, of the most memorable PAs that have graced our TV screens. 

Joan Holloway - Mad Men

"Sometimes when people get what they want they realize how limited their goals were."

Beautiful, curvy, sassy, and professional, Christina Hendricks brings a Jessica Rabbit element of danger to the queen of the secretary pool on Mad Men. Joan epitomises the kind of 60s style we remember from shows like Bewitched, but brings a sharp awareness of office politics, and the changing role of women in the workplace, to AMC's marquee period drama. Mad Men returns to AMC for its new season on July 25th 2010.

Why we like Joan: She takes no BS from anyone. Ever.

Miss Jane Hathaway - Beverly Hillbillies

"Now, Chief, in all fairness to the employees, you do not display much holiday spirit."

Miss Hathaway never did get her man, but she did get the convertible -- and in Mr. Drysdale, Miss Hathaway had one of TV's most demanding bosses. Nancy Kulp, the actress who played one of TV's most put-upon characters for eight years, served in the US Navy during World War II, and after the cancellation of the Beverly Hillbillies, tried her hand at politics and teaching acting.

Why we like Miss Hathaway: She always got the job done, despite being constantly undermined by Mr. Drysdale.

Jennifer Marlowe - WKRP in Cincinnati

"I don't get coffee, Mr. Carlson. We agreed."

Loni Anderson was catapulted to fame as the serial older-man-dating Jennifer Marlowe. WKRP's elderly general manager, Arthur Carlson, depends on Jennifer to protect him from people and situations he would rather avoid. Rather than playing into the "dumb blonde" sterotype that was almost unavoidable on television in the 1970s, Jennifer showed herself to be smart, resourceful, and sophisticated.

Why we like Jennifer: She has an extensive list of things she does not do.

Pam Beesly - The Office

"I don't think it's many little girls' dream to be a receptionist."

Dunder Mifflin's receptionist, played by Jenna Fischer is not enthusiastic about her job, and the story of her romance with co-worker, Jim, played by John Krasinski was one of the talkng points of the show's first five seasons - which might be a record for a TV show dragging out a will-they/won't-they plot line. Pam is another example of the long-suffering assistant to a semi-competent boss. There's a reason these cliches exist, though. 

Why we like Beesly: Pam blows off work to do something more fun with her best friend.

Corporal Walter "Radar" O'Reilly - M*A*S*H

"Colonel Blake's office, the colonel's in conference, but if it's important I can wake him."

Gary Burghoff played Radar in both the 1970 movie and for the first eight of M*A*S*H's eleven seasons on TV. Working first as Colonel Blake's assistant, then as Colonel Potter's, Radar always tried to do what he knew his commanding officer would want him to do -- though the rest of the cast would almost always find a way to lead him astray.

Why we like Radar: He plays his wide-eyed farm-boy role, but is really the key that makes the 4077 engine turn - that boy could get just about anything from ICOR.

Mr. Waylon Smithers - The Simpsons

"What's wrong with this country? Can't a man walk down the street without being offered a job?"

For more than 20 years, Harry Shearer has played Smithers, the simpering, down-trodden assistant to the evil Mr. Burns. Fired and re-hired numerous times, Smithers devotes himself completely to the care of Mr. Burns. 

Why we like Smithers: If you're more than 30 years old, and a guy, you probably remember Harry Shearer best as Derek Smalls the bass player in the mockumentary band, Spinal Tap. But we like Smithers because he isn't afraid to dance to Devo's Whip It while wearing chaps.

Donnatella Moss - The West Wing

"You can't just randomly tumble into a girl sideways and hope she breaks up with you soon, the way you always do. "

Donna got her job as Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff (or the Deputy Deputy Chief of staff as she calls herself in one episode), because she had left her boyfriend and wanted to work on the campaign trail. Not that she doesn't excel at her job, and through seven seasons, Janel Maloney develops the character from an uncertain personal assistant, into an independent, headstrong, and politically aware Chief of Staff to the First Lady.

Why we like Donna: She's not afraid to get into some verbal sparring with the guys, or stand up for what she believes -- but she'll let you challenge what she believes because she might be wrong.

It's not a comprehensive list, so if we missed your favorite administrative assistant, email me and let me know. 

Ten Ways to Show Your Assistant You Care

It's Administrative Professionals' Day on April 23rd (that's pronounced Secretaries' Day for those over 40). Its a day to celebrate the person who manages your calendar, does your photocopying, handles all maner of irate colleagues, clients and family members so that your day can be as close to smooth sailing as possible.

Here's a list of ten things you can do that won't break the bank, but will make your assistant feel like you respect and value them.

1.  Stop harassing them. 

Seriously, it's a cliche for a reason. So keep your hands to yourself, and keep your lewd comments to yourself for one day. ONE DAY. You can do that, can't you?

2.  Just because you're a workaholic doesn't mean they are.

You pick up a paycheck that affords you a comfortable lifestyle. You drive a luxury vehicle which is less than three years old. Your PA brings their lunch to work in a bag and drives a nine year-old Toyota. You work 14 hours a day because your position demands it. Your PA doesn't get paid nearly enough to put the same hours in.

3.  Return your calls.

Your PA is the person who deals with all the fallout when people you were supposed to call have to make follow-up calls to find out why you haven't been in touch. 

4.  Obey your calendar.

Every time you decide, on a whim, to change something in your day, it's like you're pulling a playing card from the middle of one of those carfully stacked house of cards structures. Skipping that meeting might not be a big deal to you, but you didn't spend four hours on the phone trying to align the calendars of five other executives.

5.  Remember the little things.

Birthdays, anniversaries, the kids baseball games and soccer tournaments, all those things that are important in your PA's life might not be so important to you. But they're the things that keep your PA sane (most of the time) and they're the things that have value to your assistant. So make them valuable to you, even if it's only because it gives you a frame of reference when they talk to you about what's going on in their life.

6.  Give them a half-day off.

Assistant years are like dog years. Give your assistant the afternoon off (with pay) and it will feel like you're giving them a couple of days. Why are assistants years like dog years? Because they work for you. And you work them really hard with little or no real thanks. This is a good way to show them you aren't a distant relative of Ebeneezer Scrooge.

7.  Take an interest in their career and personal development.

There's a place where you can find an assistant who would say that being your assistant is their long-term career goal. It's called Neverland. Chances are, your assistant is looking at gaining experience ad skills that they can use to advance their career. Find out what that goal is, and give assignments and projects that will be useful for your assistant to have on their resume when they do apply for their ideal job.

8.  Don't put them in the middle of your messes.

If you're having a hard time with a colleague, client, customer, friend, or family member, don't make it your assistant's problem, too. Don't ask them to do or say anything that would make them ashamed to work for you, because that's a pretty quick way to make them find someone else to work for. Don't blame them for failing to pass on messages which they have given to you, because that will do the same, only much less amicably.

9.  Their family isn't drama, get to know them.

Your assistant has a family. Probably. Family is important. And family comes with a bunch of needs like ballet recitals and snow days. When Bobby Jr. catches a fly-ball with his teeth and needs to be picked up and taken to the emergency room, that's not drama, it's family. When Little Betsy gets in a fight over whether Edward or Jacob is hotter, that's kind of drama, but it's also family. Getting to know what's going on in your assistant's life makes it easier for you to understand that their life isn't drama, it's family.

10. They are how the outside world sees you, treat them accordingly.

When someone calls your office they talk to your assistant. Your assistant is, to the outside world, you. If you abuse your assistant, it's like abusing your wait staff in a resautant. Someone's going to spit in your food, or, in this case, make you look like less than the stellar employer that you are. 

 

Five Lessons Every Small Business Can Learn from...IKEA

Swedish big-box home furnishing store, IKEA, has tailored its customer shopping experience in a way that would make M.C. Escher proud. Its goal, like yours, is to drive up volume and drive down costs. Here are some things you'll learn if you take a trip to your local IKEA store

Brand Recognition

You can't miss the big blue building with the giant yellow letters. For those who have never been inside an IKEA store, or who have been living at the bottom of a volcano in Iceland for the last two decades, the big blue building is an attention-grabber. Once you've been to the giant superstore, the link between "big blue building" and "well-designed, reasonably-priced furniture" is indelible. It's like white script on a red background, or an apple with a bite taken out of it. When you know what it is, you can't ever un-know it. The lettering is unambiguous. When you drive up, you can't mistake the name of the store. They don't try to be sneaky or cunning. It's IKEA. Big block letters proclaiming that you have arrived in the land of "shipping the kids off to college at last," or "I just moved out of my parents' place and I need a bunch of stuff without breaking the bank." 

Memorable Products

IKEA. It's Swedish for "more space." Okay, that's a lie, it's the initials of IKEA founder and designer, Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. But when your name is a Scrabble player's worst nightmare, using your initials is a pretty smart move.

The furniture in the store has names like LEKSVIG, SMADAL, EXPEDIT, and EKTORP -- and they stick in the brain, even if it's only for the way they sound. They make you pay attention to them because you have to read them a couple of times to make sure you read them right, and that's usually enough repetition for them to imprint themselves on your consciousness. 

You Only See What They Want You to See

Try going round your local IKEA "backwards" and you'll get an idea of what it's like to be a salmon in the spring, or a lab-rat in a maze. See, the stores have a path. You go in and you are guided through the warehouse in a way that doesn't allow you much, if any, freedom to wander. And it's not some European need to make you get in line driving that decision -- it's marketing. You get to see the model rooms from exactly the vantage point IKEA wants you to see them from, lit and set in a way that best shows them off. As you go around, you make notes of the locations of the pieces you like, and at the end of your browsing, you come to long rows of shelves, stocked with flat boxes of the things you want to buy. Just wheel your cart to the appropriate location, load it up, and go check out.

This method works on your website, too -- provide a path for your online visitors to follow from when they land on your front page to when they check out, because keeping them on your site is the key to making sales. 

One Size Fits Everything

IKEA wants you to buy its stuff, and you get a bag that conveys that message perfectly. There's almost nothing in the store you can't fit into it. Like everything else in the store, its design is a thing of simple beauty. A big bag with big loopy handles that allow you to wear it on your shoulder, your hands will always be free to pick up more stuff and load up your bag like it's a rented mule. While your hands might hurt carrying a gallon of milk and a box of kitty litter in a basket at your local megamart, IKEA's plan of having you literally shoulder your burden puts the weight where you barely feel it.

Price and Affordability

The real beauty of IKEA is its pricing. Nothing seems like it's too expensive for what you get, and it's this appearance of a fair price and "good enough" quality that makes IKEA furniture the choice of a great many people college graduates moving into their own place. Hooking in each new generation of newly employed grads provides IKEA with a pipeline of enthusiastic evangelists. Sure, as their income increases they might move onto more expensive furniture retailers for their increasingly large and expensive homes -- but the den, the home theater room, the basement, the guest room ... IKEA provides solutions for these rarely-used or high wear and tear rooms that represent great value. And if it's a few more dollars than you have in your pocket right now, IKEA offers its own store credit card. With industry comparable interest rates, and a special reduction of your personal rate if you spend over $1000, no annual fee, and a host of other benefits, the IKEA Credit Card makes it easy, maybe too easy, to furnish a room, an apartment, or a house. 

  

Health Insurance and Small Business

This is the health care article that has nothing (well, very little) to do with the ongoing discussions about the Healthcare Bill, whether it's good or bad, whether it's a blessing or a curse, whether it's constitutionally sound, or a blight on the pockets of future generations. This is the health care article that's about what you need to consider when choosing a medical insurance provider for your employees.

Deciding on a medical insurance provider is hard. You have to think about deductibles, when to offer it to new employees, how to make it affordable to your team, and after you narrow down the list, you still have to pick one.

Using an agent or broker will help. An agent who works with a single company will be able to get you a great deal with that one company, but a broker who sells the plans offered by multiple companies will be able to get you the best range of services. It's a trade-off, but both of them want your business, and competition = a good thing.

Your state should have a list of registered insurance agents. Before you call or sit down with an agent, make sure they're on the list. This doesn't guarantee that they know what they're doing, but it guarantees that they're licensed to sell insurance in your state, which is almost as good.

When you call the insurance sales agent or broker, they should be able to give you a basic quote for service over the phone, with numbers that reflect real life with a good degree of accuracy.

No agent or broker wants to talk to you for an hour and have nothing to show for it, so expect them to want to close the deal with you. Don't fall for it, take a day to think about things, compare deals. No reputable agent is going to force you to make a snap decision on something this important.

Coverage will vary from plan to plan, from provider to provider. Make sure that you know what's covered under each plan and that you understand what is not covered before you make a decision.

For the most part, you pay for what you get with medical insurance. If one provider is offering you some spectacular coverage at a fraction of the cost of their competitors, you might want to take a very close look at it to make sure it's legit.

If an agent or broker starts talking about “limited” or “low-cost” plans and not major “medical plans,” run.  The terms tend to mean that hospital stays and other costs are subject to a daily limit – the extra is on you. 

Protected Classes and Discrimination

Protected Classes and Discrimination

There are five laws which form the basis of Equal Employment Opportunity law. They prohibit discrimination on the basis of:

• age
• sex
• race
• color
• religion
• national origin
• disability
• veteran’s status

This protection extends to any terms and conditions, or privileges of employment. Explanations of these laws can be found on the EEOC Web site.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963, as amended.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the  

Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 and the Pregnancy Disability Act of 1978.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended.

The Civil Rights Act of 1991.

These laws were passed to address discrimination issues faced by job-seekers and employees who were being treated differently to other employees, based on something other than job performance. However, the law does not protect every kind of discrimination. For example, if an employer decided to only hire left-handed people, right-handed people would have difficulty pursuing their case through the legal system, since right-handed people are not specifically protected by any employment legislation. 

An action does not need to be intentional to be discriminatory, it only needs to produce a disparate effect on members of a protected group. Imagine that an employer decided to only hire people with naturally blond hair. Since caucasians are the only ethnic group with naturally blond hair, such a decision would discriminate against job-seekers of every other ethnic backgroud, and would be illegal.

Sometimes, people who belong to protected classes seem to get preferential treatment, and that's because they do -- sometimes. If a company is rightsizing and it lays off everyone over 50, the company runs the risk of being sued for age discrimination. If a company refuses to interview candidates who are not natural-born citizens, or never promotes practicing Wiccans, the law says that those people who are discriminated against should have the same opportunities as everyone else.

The impact on protected classes should be weighed in every hiring, firing, promotion, job creation, and downsizing decision. Creating a job in a location that does not have wheel-chair access would be discriminatory, in the same way that firing someone for admitting their homosexuality would be illegal.

Airline Quality Rating Report: Discount Airlines Are Most Consistently Reliable

For most small businesses, airline travel was consigned to the island of misfit perks a couple of years ago. Between the early bite of the recession, and the post-9/11 price increases for air travel, many companies changed the way they do business. And for some, that meant an end to sending execs to conferences in far away and exotic places.

Those travelers who are still taking to the skies have been flocking to discount providers for years now, and have been rewarded with better service levels.

According to the Airline Quality Rating Report from Dr. Dean Headley at Wichita State University, and Dr. Brent Bowen at Purdue University, discount airlines continue to provide a better level of service than their higher fare competition. The Airline Quality Rating Report surveys travelers about their experiences with 18 airlines, and has been produced for 19 years.

If you're flying into or out of Hawaii you're going to get the most accurate arrival time, with Hawaiian Airlines being ranked #1 in the survey, which takes into account on-time arrivals, denied boardings (bumping of passengers), mishandled (lost) baggage, and customer complaints.

The top five is rounded out by AirTran, JetBlue, Northwest, and Southwest. Major players such as American (9), United (13), and Delta (15) all failed to impress passengers by overbooking flights and mishandling baggage. 

The industry's best scores in each category were awarded to Hawaiian Airlines for on-time arrivals, JetBlue for denied boardings/over-booking, AirTran for mishandled baggage, and Southwest for customer complaints to the Department of Transportation.

Worst performing in each category were Comair for on time arrivals, American Eagle for denied boardings, Atlantic Southeast for mishandled baggage, and Delta for customer complaints.

Dr. Headley, co-author of the report, suggests that the overall increase in "bumped" passengers is due to the number of available seats being reduced. "The airline industry performs most efficiently when the system isn't stressed by high passenger volume." He said. 

You can download the full report here.

While most airlines saw thier mishandled baggage numbers reduce, there is speculation that the reduction is, at least in part, due more carriers charging passengers to check bags -- the reduction in mishandled baggage corresponds to an overall reduction in the number of bags being checked.

Speaking to CNN, Claes Fornell, a professor of business at the University of Michigan and creator of the American Customer Satisfaction Index said, "There are fewer flights, fewer passengers, you know airlines have been able to lose fewer bags and arrive on time more often."

None of this, however, speaks to what passengers go through in the airports, on both sides of the journey. From long lines at security, to long waits at baggage claim. Nor does it address concerns of passengers in-flight. We all would like a couple more inches of leg-room, or maybe (just once) an empty seat next to us so we can take a nap.

Even if that golden age of free airline food returns, it's not likely to be soon. In the meantime, I'll be factoring this data into my travel plans, and choosing my airline on more than just price.

How to Fire an Employee

Firing people. Once, back in the days of the Hawthorne Experiment, it was easy, and employees would thank business owners for having hired them in the first place. Then it became kind of awkward for employers, having new "human resources" rules to follow. But now Donald Trump has made it cool again -- you just sit the underperforming employee down, look them in the eye, and matter-of-factly tell them, "You're fired."

Of course, if you do that, and that's all you've done, you might end up getting sued. Not a problem for you if you're a multi-billionaire like Trump, but if your business has margins that are dangerously anorexic, it's probably something you want to consider.

First you should decide why you're about to off-load a member of your team. Is it because you're restructuring the company and a specific position is being eliminated, or is it because the person performing the task is just not cutting it?

If you're just itching to sit down and transition someone out of your company, then there are some things you should know. Hiring "at-will" is good for employers. You can terminate any person, at any time, for any reason. Not so good for employees who might like some kind of job security.

However, for the purpose of this article we're going to assume that you want to treat your employees fairly and give them reasons for why they've been downsized, even in an at-will workplace.

1. NO SURPRISES. When you sit your employee down to tell them that their services are no longer required, they should have a really good idea of what's coming. If they don't, you haven't done your job. Nobody likes to be surprised. Especially when that surprise cuts off their paycheck. If you have an employee who has been performing poorly, it is, and let me be clear about this, NOT COOL if the first they hear about their under-performance is accompanied by a box and a security guard. 

2. Is this the right reaction? If an employee has made a bad choice for the right reasons, in a position where they were expected to make that call, do you really want to fire them for doing what you asked them to do? For example, when several key personnel are out sick, a manager fails to allow employees to take legally required breaks. The manager did this because stopping production would have had disastrous consequences for fulfilling orders, and would have hurt profitability. Should that manager have taken that particular action? In hindsight, it's likely that a different action could have been taken, but should you fire them for making this decision? Probably not. Use it as a "teaching moment" and help them become a better manager.

3. Did you just give a glowing review of this employee? Did you just tell them that their presence in the office made the sun shine and the birds sing? Then it's a safe bet that having them walk the plank will catch them off guard. Firing someone for poor performance should really be backed up by a couple of performance reviews that highlight the alleged deficient work standard.

4. Did they really use up their last chance? While you don't have to give an employee a "last chance," if you have given other employees a similar opportunity you should be giving one to the employee you're about to drop through the trap door.

5. Is there a procedure for this? Do you have a set of human resources standards that ensure every employee can expect a particular escalation of disciplinary actions before being fired? If you do, did you follow them? Following your own procedures, if you have them, is incredibly important, especially when those procedures are available to your employees. 

6. Are you being consistent? Has the discipline been administered consistently, regardless of protected class? If you find yourself having a little extra sympathy for your wheelchair-bound employee, that's understandable. Or is it getting too much to accommodate the drama that the single mom in your team brings to work? If you don't make the same allowances for every employee, you might find yourself in a tight spot. Remember, you're looking at employee performance regardless of race, sexuality, gender, disability, familial status, religion, age, national origin, color, or veteran status. Treating two employees differently, based on whether or not they belong to a protected class, is illegal. You can, and probably will, be sued for it.

There are steps you can take to reduce your exposure to litigation, and they're fairly straight-forward.

1.  Have a company-wide policy which outlines the disciplinary process. Use it.

2.  Conduct regular performance reviews to let employees know they're doing well, or that there are parts of their performance that need to be improved.

3.  If an employee is performing poorly, or does something in breach of a company policy, have a disciplinary process that makes the employee aware of this problem, and gives the employee an opportunity to correct the behavior within a specified time frame.

4.  Be consistent. Do not use a protected class status to modify either your praise or discipline.

5.  Communicate that you have disciplinary policies, and that they apply to everyone. Communicate with your employees about their performance, or their progress in a performance improvement plan.

6. Document everything. Having a written record of the steps you took and the opportunities you gave to the employee to correct their errant behavior will help defend you if you get sued.

  

What to Do If You Won't Be Able to File Your Taxes On Time

with Diane Kennedy, CPA, Author of Smart Business, Stupid Business 

It's April. Raise your hand if you've filed your taxes. Anyone who raised their hand, you get a gold star, two if you estimated and paid throughout the year. Everyone else, read on.

At this point, you're probably tempted to load those receipts and log books into a wheel-barrow and tote it all down to your local One-Stop Tax Prep Store.

Don't -- for three reasons.

The first is that the wheel-barrow probably isn't tax deductible. The second is that those guys might charge you their higher rates because of the amount of work they're going to have to do -- so you have to get organized. Third is that if you file in a hurry you're more likely to miss a deduction that you are entitled to. But if you're not ready to file now, what you do first is....

E-File IRS Form 7004. It's the filing extension paperwork for LLCs and Partnerships. If you're an S-Corp, contact your Internal Revenue Service office, because the deadline for filing extension paperwork for you expired on St. Patrick's Day. If you're filing personal taxes, look for Form 4868.

Why are you e-filing? Because you get a confirmation number, and just like any other big organization's mailroom, the IRS mailroom is not a steel trap. Sometimes they misplace or lose things. Sometimes it ends up on the wrong person's desk. The e-confirmation proves that the IRS did, in fact, receive your request for a filing extension. And the courts will back you up if you have it and the IRS are claiming you never filed your extension.

"An extension to file does not get you off the hook for paying on time. Even if you extend your filing deadline, you have to pay your estimated taxes." Says Diane Kennedy, author of Smart Business, Stupid Business. I know -- you still have a wheel-barrow, overflowing with receipts. So if you need to guess how much estimated taxes to pay, then guess. But pay something as close to realistic as you can figure.

An extension can be useful in other ways, too -- since the tax code seems to change with the weather, which is to say sometimes unpredictably and often confusingly, waiting for those changes to take effect can help shape your company's approach to taxes for the next year. Also,"there's some evidence that businesses which file extensions and file later are less likely to be audited." Said Kennedy.

Kennedy advocates using a good bookkeeping system through the year, "Something like Quickbooks is easy to learn, and as an off-the-shelf bookkeeping solution, it's reliable and accurate." 

So here are your take-aways:

1.  Use a bookkeeping system to track your business spending and income though the year.

2.  If you're going to have to file in a hurry, don't -- file an extension and file before the extended due date. That means October 15th for Individual and Partnership Returns and September 15th for S Corporations.

3. Pay your estimated taxes.

When you've got your extension filed, take a breath and diligently set about doing your taxes to the new deadline.

Some things you should know:

1.  If you have a mortgage workout plan for your real estate, or if you have had a debt write-down, the amount of forgiven debt might show up as income on your taxes.

2.  If you can afford a bookkeeper or CPA to look after your money, it's money well spent.

3.  Filing after the return is due isn't ideal, but it's much better than not filing at all, which is a felony.

Unless you're amazingly lucky, your estimated taxes are going to be wrong, but pay them anyway. You'll probably have a penalty for paying the incorrect amount of tax, but it should be single-digit percentages of what you owe. 

If you fail to pay your taxes, and bring a fraud investigation on yourself, then you could be facing penalties and fines of up to $500,000 and five years in jail for each offence you're found guilty of. And before you decide that you're not afraid of bookkeepers investigating you, remember that it was tax evasion that they finally used to arrest and incarcerate Al Capone.

The absolute worst thing you can do is to fail to pay payroll taxes. Not only can your business be levied to death, if the IRS finds that you knew about it, your own personal assets are at risk.

It's still April, you still haven't filed, but guess what? You've decided that you're going to file an extension, pay your estimated taxes, and then make sure that you're getting all the deductions you're entitled to by taking the time that you need to accurately prepare your taxes.

Now you get a gold star.

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