Tax Accountant Office Work #8: My-Way Tax Accountants

*This article is an episode essay based on events the author actually experienced.
The names of the characters are pseudonyms, and there is no intention to criticize any specific individual or organization.

I thought that working at a tax accountant's office would involve more manuals and
be a job of quietly and silently handling numbers.

However, the reality was a series of unexpected events every day.
There was so much to do, but no one taught me "how" to do it,
and everyone had different methods and rules.

Honestly, right after I joined the office, I thought,
—Is this place just a "collection of sole proprietors"...?

Working at a tax accountant's office was a completely different world from corporate accounting.
Every day was a series of firsts.

Even just taking the method of assembling tax returns,
it felt like, "Huh? Doesn't anyone teach you things like this...?"
As expected, my boss, Mr. Koishikawa, was a Showa-era craftsman type who believed in "learning by watching."

The concept of "teaching" didn't seem to exist in his dictionary; it was strictly a "steal with your eyes and learn with your body" method.

During my time in corporate accounting, I had never even seen a tax return.

When I first saw "corporate tax returns," "consumption tax returns," and "local tax returns," they looked like code and I was completely lost.
Furthermore, assembling the returns was a struggle.

Because...
For every tax accountant in charge, the order of assembly and the attached documents were all subtly different—?!
"Hmm? Is it just this company that's different?"
"No, is it because the person in charge is different...?"
"Wait? Then what about this one?"
"Oh... it's different again... *sob*"
I asked myself.
...It was pure chaos.

Back in the heyday of paper filings, at the office where I worked,
it was standard to make three copies: one for the tax office (for submission), one for the client (for their records), and one for our office (for our records).

Depending on the client, we sometimes even had to prepare one for their "bank."

And during tax return season, there were a surprising number of places that needed stamps.
The office cabinet was lined with cases of so many ready-made stamps you could sell them.
Stamp, stamp, just keep stamping...

Sometimes, if I was zoning out, I would stamp it upside down
and would be devastated, thinking, "Noooo!? I have to print it all over again..."

It's a skill that's completely useless now, but...

My speed and accuracy at stamping are amazing!

One day, I asked at a meeting,
"Why don't we standardize the way we assemble tax returns?"
Then Mr. Koishikawa cut me off flatly.
"This is my way of doing it."
...Yes, end of discussion.
The other executives chimed in, "Well, I'm the same."

My way...? Are you Ochiai!?

By now, this place was less of a tax accountant's office and more of a gathering of sole proprietors.

Since I had no choice, I diligently created my own manuals for each person in charge.
Efficiency? I don't know it. Change? I know it even less.
"It's working as it is now, so we're not having any trouble, right?"
"Honestly, changing things is a hassle."
—That kind of atmosphere hung in the air for a long, long time.

With electronic filing becoming mainstream and the increase in providing records as data, the number of clients requiring paper sets decreased, and as more junior staff joined, the voices on the ground gradually changed.

By the time I finally retired, the methods were finally standardized across the entire office.
Seriously, that's too late... *sob*.

Nevertheless, in that chaotic environment, I gradually honed my "adaptability" and "planning skills."
Perhaps the days that seemed like a waste might actually pay off later on.
Even so—
Let me say it one more time.

My way... are you Ochiai?! Seriously!!!