Correcting Clients-One for a Friday Afternoon

Correcting Clients-One for a Friday Afternoon

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Just wondering what you all do when you see clients repeatedly using incorrect spelling or wording. Do you cringe and ignore it or put them straight? I have one client who has just sent me his annual list of "deptors", another with a "petite cash book" and several who present me with a "Balance Sheet" which is actually a bank reconciliation.

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By Steve McQueen
07th Sep 2012 17:13

Me...

...I'd forget it and get on with getting the bill out and the cash in! :-)

 

 

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Image is of a pin up style woman in a red dress with some of her skirt caught in the filing cabinet. She looks surprised.
By Monsoon
07th Sep 2012 17:19

I want a petite cash book!

I'd cringe/ smile and ignore.

The cashbook one is cute :)

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By George Attazder
07th Sep 2012 17:21

If I were a cashbook...

... and got called petite, I think I'd be very imprest.

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Image is of a pin up style woman in a red dress with some of her skirt caught in the filing cabinet. She looks surprised.
By Monsoon
07th Sep 2012 17:27

I see...

.... what you did there....

Lousy spelling though ;-)

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By Paula Sparrow
08th Sep 2012 07:31

It depends
On whether you want to keep your client or wind them up and annoy them.

Pulling up school age children and junior members of staff on what is in reality a minor problem is one thing. Trying it with a grown adult who is paying your mortgage could be considered rude.

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By FreddieZonko
08th Sep 2012 08:48

Not usually but...

If for instance, as this week, I've been the independent reviewer of a charity who have prepared their own accounts and I've then included my report then I would correct the spelling and ensure it is up to standard in all respects (down to missing dashes for zeros!). My reason is any user/reader won't know I didn't prepare the accounts so I don't want it to reflect badly on me.

However the client who continually wrote 'stationary' in their cashbook did get on my nerves but that's my issue to get over!

BWs

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Replying to why always me:
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By Paula Sparrow
08th Sep 2012 10:36

Agree with Freddie

FreddieZonko wrote:

If for instance, as this week, I've been the independent reviewer of a charity who have prepared their own accounts and I've then included my report then I would correct the spelling and ensure it is up to standard in all respects (down to missing dashes for zeros!). My reason is any user/reader won't know I didn't prepare the accounts so I don't want it to reflect badly on me

Yes. In that instance, you are doing what the client is paying you for. A professional set of accounts

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By taxhound
08th Sep 2012 12:01

stationary

Stationary always irritates.  I also have a client who claims subsidence for his lunch.  But I just try to make sure spellings are correct in the final accounts and ignore the others.

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Stepurhan
By stepurhan
09th Sep 2012 07:50

Claiming subsidence

What the heck are they eating that causes buildings to shift position?

As everyone else is saying where it's internal, correct.I had one junior tell me we needed to ask for a "stock figuar". Sounds like some sort of wild cat to me. With customers, you just risk annoying them for no benefit (since you'll correct any mispellings in the final accounts anyway)

I expected this thread to be about correcting clients on "man down the pub". You know, like claiming that NIC paid by a foreign worker using false papers to work beyond his visa should be allowable for calculating state pension entitlement. Oh, hang on. That one is true. (Thanks to Giles Mooney at the SESCA tax conference this week)

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Replying to SteveHa:
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By The Limey
10th Sep 2012 09:19

Deliberate decision by HMRC

stepurhan wrote:

You know, like claiming that NIC paid by a foreign worker using false papers to work beyond his visa should be allowable for calculating state pension entitlement.

Interesting link, cheers. Reading the judgement, I think that the root of the bit you're referring to is on illegality not impinging on the requirement for an employer to pay NIC. My guess is that was a deliberate decision by HMRC as part of looking at the bigger picture. The tribunal says "HMRC have not argued that this illegality takes the employment outside the scope of NICs. Indeed, they have specifically accepted that the legality or otherwise of the employment has no bearing on the question of whether NICs arise from it.".

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Scalloway Castle
By scalloway
09th Sep 2012 17:25

Performer Invoice

I saw this requested in an email recently instead of Pro Forma.

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Chris M
By mr. mischief
09th Sep 2012 20:28

careful

I have a very bright client who is very successful in business but also dyslexic.  I never correct his spelling or grammar, nor for any other client.

Whether a client can spell Pro Forma is irrelevant.  All I care about is whether he or she can run their business well.  I have some excellent spellers who consistently make bad decisions and throw away money, I'd take the dyslexic guy any day thanks!

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By jjswjjsw
09th Sep 2012 22:10

Is it only Clients?

One Accountancy firm used by my clients produces a one-page summary comparing performance with other similar businesses and year on year, it always bugs me that "Depreciation" is spelt incorrectly. 

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By George Attazder
09th Sep 2012 22:16

So how is it...

... that they incorrectly spell depreciation?

@ Mr Mischief. My "Sex Lydia?" always gets me into all sorts of trouble. I think I've mentioned my trouble with the words Jojoba Hand Cream.

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By Moonbeam
10th Sep 2012 16:52

Dodgy spelling

I worked with someone years ago who told me she and her husband didn't get much consumation from their new car.

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Replying to Manchester_man:
Red Leader
By Red Leader
10th Sep 2012 17:52

spelling no, incorrect terms yes

I agree that it's not a good idea to correct clients' spelling. However, sometimes they call debtors creditors or vice versa. So that I don't end up as confused as the client, I do correct them in that case so we can at least use the same terms for the same thing.

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By asillahi
14th Sep 2012 10:40

If in doubt

I've learnt in life that if you are not sure as to whether to do something or not, and that usually relates to saying something, then it's best to leave well alone because in a scarily high proportion of cases you will regret it.

This applies very much in deciding whether to say something to your wife or not. Leave well alone. You have been warned!

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By KH
14th Sep 2012 11:08

infantry instead of inventory

One of my clients always sends me an infantry list for his closing stock levels! But I like subsidence/subsistence best of all. What always surprises me, though, is fully qualified people who can't spell the name of their profession ... like me once putting accuntant's report!

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By tonygrant
14th Sep 2012 11:43

Wot it meanz

its the sme as tlking, so long as u no wat they meen, then ther aint a problm. it is rude to korekt sumwons talkin gramma rong, as it is to korect there riting.

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By djbrown
14th Sep 2012 12:08

I liked...

 

"The accounts have been prepared without carrying out an adult"

 

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By tonycourt
14th Sep 2012 12:24

I wasn't going to, but...

.....I couldn't resist.

It's not only clients that misspell (do it myself, although more often than not it's a typo rather than a misspelling). On with the story...

A good many years back a secretary was typing a set of accounts (that gives you an idea of how long ago it was!) and included the word:

"Adminiftration"

The audit bod reading through the accounts noted the error, marked it for correction and wrote alongside the misspelled word:

"There's no F in administration"

Ironically and unintentionally she had pinpointed what was wrong with the company and probably why it made such horrendous losses.

The note was left in place for the review meeting with the client. He was a decent chap and saw the funny side, but more than that, perhaps he understood the important message it subtly but clearly conveyed.

The moral of the story is that it ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it. Perhaps misspellings have their place!

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By duncanphilpstate
14th Sep 2012 12:39

I can see the risk in correcting clients but...

...incorrect spellings from people who should know better really irritate me - particularly when I take trouble to get things right myself.

Here's another twist though, derived from doing a lot of foreign communication over email.

If they are spelling it wrong or using bad grammar with you, then they will be doing it to other people as well. In some cases that might hinder the communication (it's an extra hurdle if the two people aren't native English speakers to start with). In others and perhaps more importantly, it might even hurt their business: suppose, to pick up a few examples from the comments, they produced a business proposal for their prospective customer:

"The power consumation of our equipement is better than the industry-standard so keeping your running costs down. Our prices include all subsidence costs for our installation engineers so you need not worry about hidden extras.

"We always maintain high infantry levels so we can service your stationary order immediately.

"We do however aim to keep out deptor levels under control and so do ask for 50% payment with your order."

Possibly off-putting? I know it's extreme in order to make the point.

Maybe you could ask the client politely if they'd like you to mention mistakes to them? Present it as proof-reading and pretend you're picking up on typos and not on ignorance?

If they say "no" that's fine; if they say "yes" then discretely put them right.

Think about it, particularly that last sentence.

 

 

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By dwgw
14th Sep 2012 12:51

That last sentence ...

Did you mean "discreetly" and were thus making a subtle point?

Or was it something else?

[As I read recently, whoever put the "b" in "subtle" was one sneaky b*****.]

 

 

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Replying to bboy201:
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By duncanphilpstate
14th Sep 2012 12:53

Yep, got it in one.

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By David Winch
14th Sep 2012 12:58

Won seas maw earned maw ...

There's spelling errors, typos, Malapropisms and homophones.  The first two annoy me but I base my decision on whether to say anything on the individual circumstances.

The other two are either cringeworthy or humorous, and I tend to make a note of the funny ones. Saw in a magazine once that a captain of industry had "calved" out a great career!

As for correcting those whose first language is not English, I was asked by my Arab boss when I worked in Saudi Arabia to always point out even the slightest error he made, as how else was he to get better at English, so I did.  He was already pretty darned good when I first met him! 

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By dwgw
14th Sep 2012 13:00

You fist met him?

How did he take that?

I came across a lovely correction letter from a lawyer years ago clarifying that he hadn't meant to say that he would have to "cudgel his secretary" but had dictated that he would have to "cajole his secretary".

I always wondered whether it was the same secretary that took the dictation. 

 

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By dwgw
14th Sep 2012 13:01

Too fast for me with the correction Mr Winch!

The moral must be that it's not just spelling sometimes!

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By David Winch
14th Sep 2012 13:16

Nothing like ...

... hitting the Send button to make you see your own misteaks!

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By KevCol
14th Sep 2012 13:24

As long as they know what they mean...

I remember a client where the aged bookkeeper kept what she called a cash book and a debtors book.  The "cash book" was a list of sales (for which she therefore expected to receive cash or cheques in setllement) and the "debtors book" was a list of bankings when those funds were received.

This client was never going to be convinced to switch the names that they were used to and, as the ledgers were neatly written and accurately totalled, I saw no point in "educating" them; I just learnt to use their language.

 

 

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By Brend201
14th Sep 2012 15:16

And beware of the dangers of Autocorrect too.  A couple of years ago, I received an email from a client saying "I apologise for the incontinence."  I guessed that it might have something to do with Autocorrect in Microsoft Word.  Sure enough, if you typed "inconvience" (as many do), it was corrected to "incontinence".  Needless to say, I circulated it around the office - although, mercifully, I removed the sender's details.  

I have just checked what happens in Word 2010 and it offers "inconvenience" and variations before "incontinence".  The danger still lurks there.

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By Democratus
14th Sep 2012 15:37

I am thinking of refusing expense claims for poor spelling and..

I am thinking of refusing expense claims for poor spelling and the use of wrong words.

I am really fed up with claims for "access baggage". If someone tries to claim for subsidence, given that I work in construction I'd be on to the Insurance broker straight away.

I'm a silly old pedant.

D

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By sue.hill
14th Sep 2012 16:23

Other quotes

Householder, when showing us round his property, was proud to point out his dodo rails.  And my neighbour telling us about his hyena hernia.  Probably got that from laughing too much.

Bless 'em!!

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Replying to DJKL:
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By ugdiv
15th Sep 2012 19:27

Not dodo

sue.hill wrote:

Householder, when showing us round his property, was proud to point out his dodo rails.  And my neighbour telling us about his hyena hernia.  Probably got that from laughing too much.

Bless 'em!!

 

Better than calling it a [***] rail like I once did!

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By taxhound
14th Sep 2012 16:36

The good old days

I recall when I was a junior and we used to write up accounts, send them for typing and then spend afternoons calling and casting.  One of the partners corrected the spelling of accommodation (1 m? 1 c?) every time on the hand written version  - I think we all got it wrong but I am sure his secretary knew how to spell it and wouldn't have copied the spelling from the junior accounts department week after week.  We still continued to spell it wrong though! 

He should have made us write it out 20 times each....

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By User deleted
15th Sep 2012 21:03

The big problem to me ...

... is when an e-mail comes in with spelling errors and when I go to reply my spell check kicks in, bringingthe eternal dilema - do hit hit change or ignore?

A few I get quite often that I don't think have been mentioned yet are accurals, sundaries and dividents, and a clerk at my old practice had problems with reconcilliations.

I wont mention the variations of misalanyus!

 

 

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By daveforbes
17th Sep 2012 12:35

petite cash

I believe "petty cash" is derived from "petite monnaie" meaning "loose change".  Perhaps it is intellectual snobbery. 

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By lockie50
17th Sep 2012 17:22

Typos

One of the best typos I have ever seen was years ago when a colleague had not long joined the practice, she was audio typing and produced a sentence about 'a crude interest'.  It still makes me smile but maybe I'm just sad.

 

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By User deleted
17th Sep 2012 17:41

Had one many years ago ...

... where a foreign supplier attached a letter to their statement with the line "we are telling to you your account" - except they omitted the last "o".

It caused much mirth at the time but to this day I don't know if if was a typo or not because..!

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Stepurhan
By stepurhan
19th Sep 2012 21:44

Further typo and dictation errors.

I have seen a set of records in which the client believes they made a "defecate" for the year.

A couple of interesting ones arising from dictation. Enunciation is so important. Otherwise you get letters saying someone's accounts are "in her ears" (she was a bit behind) and asking how much was paid to "seagulls" (girls that only work on Saturdays).

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By User deleted
20th Sep 2012 10:04

Thanks Stepurhan ...

... reminds me I must start my Save the "T" campaign, this unfortunate letter seems to have fallen out of favour and is largely ignored when used in the middle of words, par example:

water is a fluid essentail to life, not to be confused with armed conflict;butter is a dairy product delicious on hot toast, and not a place to buy alcoholic beverages, nor is it a prickly seed case or flowerhead that clings to animals and clothes (depending in your regional vowel sounds)When you exercise you become fitter, you don't become a negative emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or is a threat.;When you have been ill, hopefully you will get better, and not acquire an ursine mammal;And when the postman calls you receive a letter, and not the place where the acquisition in (4) might reside; etc, etc!

 

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