An Actress Walks Into a Pile of Paperwork
- 12 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Being an actress and a small business owner means balancing creativity with the paperwork I'd rather ignore. Between Paco, QuickBooks, the IRS and piles that keep returning to my floor, I'm discovering that running a business requires a little more than acting like I have it all together.
Confessions of a Creative Mind with an Accounting Problem
I'm busy. I am so fucking busy, surrounded by little pieces of paper on the floor. Some are whole, some are in pieces. When my cat Paco is looking for attention, he starts scratching and gnawing away at them.
Usually, I put them back in a pile on top of stackable drawers that house my exercise gear. I also have a file folder from Staples, which sits half empty, and a larger one in the back that has older papers.
Periodically, I bring my pile of papers down to the floor so I can look at them and separate them into piles: one for my healthcare statements, another for my scenes, Paco's vet bills, one for credit card statements, and so on.
Then, at the end of the day, I put them one on top of the other and place the pile back on the drawers. I use the shredder quite often, so the piles go down, but they never completely disappear.
An Actress Pretending to Be Organized
I feel like Penelope, who weaved during the day and then unraveled her tapestry every night so she wouldn't have to pick a suitor. In my case, I don't have to admit my sense of organization is in shambles.
I am a small business owner, but somehow my actress brain wants to, strives to, longs to just be a playful, creative fairy, darting around to different acting classes, sipping lattes in a café and creating. All while not owning up to the fact that my business needs attention if I want to have lattes and go to acting classes.
Hi, my name is Pilar and my business is a mess.
Exit QuickBooks, Stage Left
I owe money to the IRS, and I am trying to get my business taxes done before September 15. My own accountant had to remind me. We spoke yesterday, and I admitted how far I've fallen.
QuickBooks is meant for a brain that is not mine. That's where I went off the rails. I was fine submitting my summaries on Quicken. But noooo. I had to try to be like other voice actors that boast about having their accounts on QuickBooks.
My accountant just laughed and said I could go back to Quicken, but in the meantime, I have to produce all my W-2s. He tells me I'm missing a few, so the papers are going back on the floor.
Better feed the beast before I start my paper unraveling again. Otherwise, Paco will reorganize everything for me.