Steven J Smith
Why do I write ? I have so much to say !
What do you want to know about me ? Nothing that will compromise my personal or financial security that's for certain but just because you just like to know about people - yes ? Well I will tell you that I'm a baby-boomer, I attended a Grammar School but spent a lot of my time there not being there, if you get my drift; because I spent lots of time playing truant with the consequence that I left school at the age of fifteen with absolutely no academic qualifications. I imagined that I wanted to be an engineer and so I got a job as an apprentice motor-mechanic. It was O.K. I worked "in t'mill" weaving; that too was O.K. I tried shop-work, gardening, steel-fabricating, turning, moulding, tyre-fitting, cleaning (that was definitely not O.K.) and driving. They were all O.K. but by this point I had a wife, two sons and a daughter "in transit" and I was bored intellectually so I had a bright idea. I shall become a computer programmer ! Sadly I had no qualifications but that was no problem, up stepped Jim Callaghan with an obliging Training Opportunities Scheme and I was off, back to the dreaming spires (sadly not Cambridge but when you've seen one spire - yes?). Following that, with a pocketful of R.S.A's and a thirst for more education, I enrolled again at the dreaming spire and got myself a H.N.D. in Business Studies. Now I was ready to tackle a degree in Computer Studies and so, convinced that my latent genius could now be seen by even the dimmest Doctor of every 'Ology I had the temerity to knock on the doors of a real University. Sadly I had overestimated their perscipience (or was it my genius) anyway they said No! I was well and truly miffed, every lecturer for the past three years of my life had been lauding my genius and these daft beggars had missed it, so I couldn't be a Computer Programmer, so I became an accountant. Yes, a real one with letters after my name and all that bit, and I can tell you that it was jolly hard work.
So then I got a proper job.....
and went to work in a collar and tie, with polished shoes and a company car, that was O.K. I earned a decent salary, that was O.K. I worked very long hours, that was not O.K., and I got made redundant when the Directors went to jail, that was decidedly not O.K. (especially since I had to appear as an unpaid witness for the prosecution). So I started work for a computer company as a consultant, it was great. I travelled all over Britain in a new company car, that was great. I got made redundant when the Director fell out with his wife, that was not so great.
So then I started working for myself ......
as an agent for another Accountant in a big city far away, it was O.K. I worked long hours, but made a bit of money, so that was O.K. But then I got made redundant when that Accountant went to jail for being naughty, that was definitely not O.K. - again.
So after that ......
I did some of this and some of that, and I started writing, because I've always liked writing. I wrote some verses that got published; I wrote some stories that didn't and I'm working on my first novel which, if I ever finish it, will, maybe, someday, who knows. Anyway that's me, still working as an Accountant to earn a crust and still writing because, well I just must
Latest Articles
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Wycoller Hall Inspiration of Ferndean Manor
This article's purpose is to give the reader some feeling for Wycoller hamlet and how it probably affected Charlotte Bronte when she was forming her novel Jane Eyre.
Apr 4, 2010
- Steven J Smith
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Is it an Asset or an Expense?
This article discusses the importance of making correct entries in respect of purchase transactions in the accounts of small businesses.
Mar 21, 2010
- Steven J Smith
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Accounting for Your Bank Balance
This article describes how to balance entries in a cashbook to those in a bank account and will be useful to small businesses who use simple accounting methods.
Mar 21, 2010
- Steven J Smith
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Small Business Bookkeeping
This article explains simply the bookkeeping procedure for recording expense transactions in the cashbooks of a small business. It describes the rules that must be kept.
Mar 21, 2010
- Steven J Smith
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Luscious Yorkshire Parkin
This article is a recommendation for traditional Yorkshire Parkin. It provides a heritage recipe and baking instructions along with serving suggestion for your Parkin.
Mar 14, 2010
- Steven J Smith
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A Portrait of Collioure
This article praises the attractions of the mediterranean resort of Collioure in the south of France. It refers to its medieval architecture and its artistic connections.
Mar 10, 2010
- Steven J Smith
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Income Tax Fables Attract Grim Penalties
This article corrects four myths about the taxing of a new business in the context of UK Tax Law. It deals with employment status, drawings, early years and expenses.
Mar 2, 2010
- Steven J Smith
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SME's Face iXBRL Nightmare
This article alerts the directors of small companies in the UK of a dramatic change being made by HM Revenue and Customs to their tax filing obligations in 2011.
Feb 23, 2010
- Steven J Smith
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Boulsworth Fell Beyond Wuthering Heights
This article highlights the unspoiled atmosphere of Boulsworth Hill, the wilderness moorside across which a traveller would walk if they headed west from Wuthering Height
Feb 2, 2010
- Steven J Smith
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