ask stupid questions early

late queries give a poor impression.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

one time i was working for about a month at a client who was a stockbroker. throughout the office were signs that said p&s with arrows.

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when i got started on the account, i did not pay much attention to the signs. instead i concentrated on learning what to do and then doing it. after a couple of weeks i looked at one of the signs and had no idea what it meant, never coming across anything referring to it.

after about a month, my boss met me at the client and wanted to discuss my work and go through the work papers. i had kept him informed of my daily and then weekly progress and he felt i was on track, but now he wanted to do a thorough review.

while he was with me, i asked if i could ask him a question and he said ok. i asked, “what does p&s mean?” he replied, “purchases and sales.” at that point i felt really stupid and told him so. he told me, “you shouldn’t feel so bad. it could have been much worse. i just asked the client that question!”

this taught me that early on you can ask as many questions about the business and operations as you want, and it won’t reflect poorly on you. it might even enhance your reputation for thoroughness. however, when you ask a question about something you should know, after you have been working on
their records for a period of time, you look foolish, amateurish and/or stupid.

the takeaway is to ask about everything you can possibly think about when you first get the client and ask right away whenever something new arises.

posted on april 22, 2019