Rescue

It's something that happens every year and is absolutely necessary. Most years my mom is able to anticipate the sorts of questions the auditors will ask and make them a package of most of the info they'll want beforehand. That way they're in and out in about three days, after they've determined that everything's fine with the books and payroll. Usually it's pretty painless.

This year it seems that they've changed the auditing procedures completely, and on top of that, one of the two auditors does not seem to understand exactly how the office works, how decisions get made, and is in the habit of asking the same questions over and over. What should have taken three days is taking seven and mom's livid.

I caught the end of a conversation as I arrived at her office. The female auditor was on her way out with a stack of papers, as my mom was explaining to her she was apalled that as an auditor, this woman did not seem to understand how Canada Pension Plan payroll deductions worked. Apparently yesterday the same person didn't understand why not everyone in the office gets a merit-based pay raise, and the day before she didn't understand that the numbers for this year can't be the same as the ones from last year because some people got raises, as in more money, as in bigger paycheques, as in, they aren't making the same amount as they were last year so the numbers are different.

We rescued mom and took her out for lunch. Luckily this was the last day.