As a former Economics student, I strongly believe in the power of incentives.
In countless classes and readings, I had it drummed into me over and over how pervasively incentives influence our every action and how important it is therefore to align them tricksy incentives properly.
That’s why people are paid for performance, why CEOs are given partial ownership of their company. It’s to give them incentives to act in the desired manner. In this world of self-interested individuals, you’ll be constantly run over if you expect people to cater to your needs out of the goodness of their hearts.
I’ve experienced incentives in various shapes and sizes over the years, but it’s only this year that I’m being smacked in the face by incentives so perverse that merely thinking of it is making my eyes bleed in frustration.
When I was considering options to start a company in Vietnam (read: VISA), one of my key requirements was that I must have 100% control of my company money. I’d say that’s a reasonable requirement. It’s my company earnings, I own the company, so it’s my money to manage however I wish… That’s how it should be, right?
When I had the first introduction call with my would-be lawyer, this was one of the first questions I asked. My lawyer, who’s sharp as a fiddle, immediately sensed how important this was to me, and quickly replied in the affirmative: Yes, I can manage my money however I like. Yes, my client doesn’t have to pay directly into my company account, it can go into your “cash reserve.” Yes, you can split your money between Thailand and Vietnam.1 Yes, this is all perfectly legal.
Thus I proceeded with our legal arrangement, my company was set up, all was well and dandy until… entered Anonymous Accountant.
Anonymous Accountant made my life a living hell (I may be exaggerating a bit, but you get the picture) from the moment they entered my life. No, you cannot do this. No, you cannot do that. Your company doesn’t have a physical address in Vietnam (yes it does, you bucko) so you can’t do that either. This is not your money, no it’s not your cash reserve. It’s an advance to you from your company that you have to repay at the end of the fiscal year. Sure, you’re sending it to Thailand but this is money owed to your company so you may be fined if you don’t pay it back.2
Anonymous Accountant led me down a rabbit hole of questions generating further questions and documents that “confirm” my services to my client (despite already having a contract and an invoice) and others that require my client to agree that they will not “wonder” about my service. (Seriously, what the heck does that even mean?)
This, as you can probably imagine, was a massive headache, and one which I did not need in my first months settling into a new country.
At first, I chalked it up to incompetence. Anonymous Accountant simply didn’t know what they were doing, had subpar listening skills and inadequate English.
At one point though, I had a mini epiphany while lunching with a friend, and realised that everything my accountant is trying to make me do is completely at odds with what my lawyer had said I could do when we started this whole endeavour.
So I scheduled a call with my lawyer to express my frustration and, basically, to get him to fix it. The call took seven minutes, and it opened my eyes.
I knew I could rely on my lawyer to be straightforward, and he was. Bluntly, he stated that Anonymous Accountant didn’t give a flying f*** about my business. They didn’t want to understand what I did. They didn’t want to cater to my needs. All they wanted to do was to minimise my risks so they can minimise their risks.
At no point did Anonymous Accountant actually try to help me manage my money in the way I want to. Neither do they care. All they want is to make me do things their way. Which works great for them, but does f*** all for me.
Apparently, my lawyer had been trying to persuade Anonymous Accountant to come around to his more flexible worldview, but to no avail. So my lawyer, the fixer that he is, offered that he’ll try to find a new accountant for me.
And that’s pretty much where we left it. I should have called my lawyer much sooner, at the first sign of trouble. But often, we get sucked into things and forget the big picture. Blast Anonymous Accountant who led me down the rabbit hole to nowhere and wasted a few weeks of my life.
So, there you have it: perverse incentives.
My lawyer wanted my business so said I could do anything I wanted. My accountant wanted to save their ass so said I couldn’t do anything I wanted. And me caught in between, teetering at the edge of despair.
Until next Friday… Stay cool, stay safe, stay thoughtful,
Val
p.s. I wrote this email a few hours after my call with my lawyer and my emotions were running pretty high. Now, in the cold light of the next day, I’ve calmed down and realised that, hey, it’s probably a good thing to have an accountant who sticks closely by the book and says no to what they consider risky. I guess we can all agree that “risk-seeking” isn’t really a quality you want in your accountant. Nevertheless, I have my non-negotiables which I’ve been reassured are perfectly legal, so the search for an accountant who’ll make that happen continues…
p.p.s. The search for a new accountant who will accommodate my needs within legal bounds has been successful. Here’s to a brighter future with less confirmation and more wonder. *clinks glass*
Trust me, you don’t want all of your money in Vietnam. Apparently it’s extremely difficult to transfer money out of the country. And I’d rather not find out.
Technically, they’re correct on some of these. But legality comes in many shades…