It is Saturday afternoon. We stopped seeing appointments a while ago. Various rechecks had come and gone. Blossom and Storm were doing fine after their surgeries. Eight boarders were tucked into their run beds for the weekend. Bella’s pancreatitis was calmed down enough that she went home. M’Kinzy has finished counting the nine dollars and twelve cents in cash that we took in. (Credit cards are easier to process and count.) M’Kinzy and Matt are making a supply run for laundry detergent, cat litter, and distilled water.
The morning was busy enough that we waited until we closed to do some of the treatments. Jasper’s bladder is large, but not enough that it was an emergency during morning appointments. Even with a now empty bladder, Jasper will remain in the hospital.
After a very busy week, Megan volunteered to stay and clean up treatment a bit. Medications have been delivered, boxes opened and paperwork and packing material have pilled up. Likewise, animals have been fed with clean bowls and put in clean cages, but there are plenty that needs to be cleaned. Tables and sinks have collected items this week.
Austin is working on the new ECG and monitoring system. “The latest advancements in surgical monitoring incorporated in to monitor which transmits data real-time.” Although it allows for vitals and/or ECG for an automatic surgical record with NIBP, C02 and anesthetic gas agents for complete monitoring, it is not exactly intuitive to set up. It is not a big surprise that tech services are not working on Saturday.
While I am supposed to be working on my article, I am actually doing accounting and paying bills. Sometimes I am amazed at how much it takes to keep Guardian Animal running. Besides payroll, payroll taxes, property taxes, insurance, office supplies and basic and advanced cleaning supplies, there are various veterinary specific costs.
Reconciling the credit cards this month, we paid for receptionist training; dog, cat and bird food in four different brands; checked bag fees for all the bargains that Becky Jo and I picked up at the AVMA Conference; laboratory fees (two companies and two outside labs); computer service fees; American Animal Hospital Membership fees; property and health insurance; and, website fees. Then there are the veterinary drugs and supplies that come from four different distributor companies and three manufacturers this month. Some months there are more. (These bills are always in the thousands.)
At the conference the credit card was used to buy books; training videos; new stethoscopes; my rabies titer and blood work for my life insurance; a new supply of thundershirts; and a new display of chew toys, kitty toys, and no-pull aides. It also paid for various travel expenses to the conference.
The second big equipment purchases were a new anesthesia warming system to help with small animal’s heat loss. A heating coil surrounds the anesthesia tube and heats the air. This means there is less heat loss while under anesthesia. Like the new monitor, it is not something that will be billed for, but something that may help to save lives.
The credit card bills also include monthly education subscriptions; phone and text services. Reconciling the accounts is so much work that we now have four credit card accounts and three bank accounts. One credit card is just for Amazon purchases. There is one for Becky Jo as she runs errands around town. One with a big limit for medicine and supplies and another for business stuff that is not drugs or lab expenses.
Meanwhile, credit cards are deposited into one account, cash into another and checks into a third banking account and ACH transactions are deposited into a separate bank account. Different bank accounts pay payroll, taxes, the credit card payments, the mortgage, and utilities. I never have time to sit and just reconcile accounts, so multiple accounts are easier to deal with than one.
However, it is enough work that even with Becky Jo and I both working on accounting and management, that it gets away from us at times. Catching up is why sometimes on a Saturday afternoon, it is nice to sit uninterrupted and reconcile the credit card accounts and pay some bills. Megan and Austin did the same thing in their areas. All of us spent some time catching up so next week would be easier.