Build a Business That Doesn't Need Your Memory
Your brain is the processor of your business. It receives information, works out what that information means, compares it with what you already know and helps you decide what needs to happen next.
Your brain is doing something extraordinary every day you run a business.
Customers speak to you. Money moves through the bank. Bills arrive. Staff ask questions. Emails appear. Deadlines approach. Numbers change. Problems need solving.
It has to work out: What is this? Is it important? Does it need action? Where does it belong? Who needs to deal with it? When does it need to happen? Have we already dealt with it? Is there something unusual here?
That is already a significant amount of processing.
We Ask It to Remember All of the Information It Is Still Trying to Process.
Each one may only be a small thought.
But your brain is now being asked to receive information, understand information, remember information and process information all at once.
The Processor Is Getting Busy.
As more unfinished information competes for attention, your brain has to keep switching between remembering what is pending and thinking about what is in front of you.
That matters because you need that processor for the difficult work.
The Antidote Is Not: βBecome Better at Remembering Everything.β
We are going to do something much more useful.
We are going to help your brain process the information you already have.
We are going to give the information somewhere to go, give repeated information a process, give future actions a trigger and give your brain back the space it needs to think.
A Computer Processor Doesn't Work Alone. Neither Should Your Brain.
A computer has infrastructure surrounding the processor. Different parts of the system hold information, store information, provide instructions and bring the right information forward at the right time.
Your business needs the same idea.
We do not want your brain trying to be the processor, storage drive, reminder system, filing cabinet and procedure manual all at once.
Processor
Processes information and performs the work.
Your Brain
Understands information, notices patterns, solves problems and makes decisions.
Working Memory
Holds information that is needed right now.
Tasks & Workflows
Hold what needs attention now or later so your brain does not have to keep remembering it.
Storage
Keeps information safely until it is needed again.
Business Records
Keep documents, approvals, evidence and history somewhere reliable and retrievable.
Operating System
Coordinates what happens and what needs attention.
Business Systems
Coordinate people, information, timing, responsibilities and next actions.
Instructions
Tell the processor how a particular operation should work.
Processes & Procedures
Tell people what the repeatable steps are rather than requiring someone to remember them.
Automation
Performs predictable, repeatable actions.
Automation
Handles repeatable work so the human processor can concentrate on exceptions and decisions.
Your Brain Should Be Doing the Thinking.
It should not also have to be the calendar, filing cabinet, reminder system, task list and procedure manual.
Let's learn how to process the information you already have.
Move across each stage below. Hover over a step β or tap it on your phone β to see what your processor is actually trying to do.
Receive
What information has arrived?
Hover or tap to exploreSomething has entered your world: an email, payment, document, conversation, request, number or problem.
Understand
What does it actually mean?
Hover or tap to exploreBefore you do anything with the information, work out what it actually represents and why it matters.
Decide
Does something need to happen?
Hover or tap to exploreDoes this need action now, action later, somewhere to be stored, or no further action at all?
Act
Who does what next?
Hover or tap to exploreThe next action needs somewhere to go and somebody responsible for moving it forward.
Record & Check
How do we know it is finished?
Hover or tap to exploreRecord what happened, check that the expected result occurred, and make sure nothing has been left hanging in your head.
Notice what is happening: the brain receives and processes the information, but it should not automatically become responsible for remembering every unfinished action forever.
Then ask one more question:
Where does this information belong now?
The information needs to remain available as a record, document, approval or piece of evidence.
Something needs to happen later, so the system needs to bring it back at the right time.
The same kind of information arrives repeatedly and should follow the same sequence of steps.
Someone needs to know how the work should be completed without relying on another person's memory.
The information needs a review, approval, reconciliation or checkpoint before it can move forward.
Something is unusual. Now the processor needs to compare, question, investigate or decide.
This is the shift.
Instead of asking, βHow am I going to remember all of this?β start asking, βWhere should this information go next?β
A personal note from the Director
There is something I want you to understand before you work through the exercise below.
I can explain the same principle to a client several times, but sometimes the easiest way to really understand how information should be handled is to first see how you naturally handle it yourself.
This is not an exam.
I do not expect you to already know the answers.
In fact, if you already knew all of this, there would not be much point in us building the exercise.
What I want you to notice is what your brain naturally does.
When information arrives, does your brain try to remember it?
Do you leave an email sitting unread because you are worried that once you mark it as read, you will forget about it?
Do you make yourself a note?
Do you deal with something immediately, even when it is not the best time to deal with it, because you do not trust yourself to remember it later?
Do you put something somewhere safe and then find yourself trying to remember where that safe place was?
That is what this chapter is really about.
Your brain is an extraordinary processor. But processing information and carrying unfinished information around indefinitely are not the same job.
The exercise below is one of our giveaways to your business because I want you to understand something that sits behind almost everything we do.
Information needs to be understood, given somewhere to go, and brought back to a human when a human is actually needed.
That applies whether you are dealing with customers, employees, suppliers, paperwork, appointments, money or your bookkeeping.
As you work through the scenarios below, choose what you would genuinely do today.
Do not try to guess the answer you think we want.
Once you choose, we will show you another way of looking at the same information and explain why.
You are going to learn seven questions.
You will not need all seven questions for every piece of information.
The point is to start recognising what the information needs next, instead of expecting your brain to keep carrying it.
By the end, I do not want you to know how to become a bookkeeper.
I want you to have started looking at information differently.
Once you understand that, many of the systems we may ask you to use in your business will begin to make much more sense.
From our side of the desk
You do not need these to complete the learning exercise. Open them if you would like to see how the same information principles affect the way we work on your books.
Why might my bookkeeper be stricter with me?
Sometimes we can work quite comfortably around the way a client already operates.
If we understand your process, appropriate records are being kept, the figures can be reconciled and there is a reliable trail behind the information, there may be no reason to make you change something simply because we would have designed it differently.
With another client, we may need to be much stricter.
That is usually because we can see that the current way of handling information creates a risk.
If important information is relying on memory, records are missing, transactions cannot be followed, or nobody can explain how a number was produced, stronger systems may be required.
It is not really about your bookkeeper being fussy. It is about making sure the information can still be understood later.
What if Albert ever comes looking?
If your records are ever questioned, we do not want to be saying:
βWe think that is probably what happened.β
We want the information itself to tell the story.
The important point for this chapter is that none of that should depend on somebody remembering the story months or years later.
The information should carry the story.
Does everything really need a complicated process?
No.
This is another reason we want you to understand information rather than simply follow rules.
If appropriate records exist, the information can be reconciled, the treatment is appropriate and the required result can be supported, there may be circumstances where a practical catch-up approach is perfectly appropriate.
The difference is that we first understand the information.
Then we decide how much process it actually needs.
Practical is not the same as careless.
A shortcut is: βJust make the numbers work.β
A practical approach is: βWe understand what happened, we have the supporting information, and this is the most efficient appropriate way to produce the required result.β
Why might today's records matter later?
Because today's information may have another job later.
Right now, you may only want your books completed so you can get through the financial year.
Later, the same information may need to support finance, due diligence, a business sale, another accountant or adviser, an audit, a dispute, compliance work or management decisions.
You may not be looking that far ahead today.
Sometimes we are.
That does not mean every business needs a huge administrative system.
It means that when information may matter later, we need to consider whether today's treatment will still make sense when somebody else needs to understand it.
And that brings us straight back to the processor:
What does this information mean, what does it need now, and what might it need to do later?
π° Now put your own processor to work.
Start with the first scenario below. Choose what you would naturally do β then we will show you another way to process the same information.
π° Start the 7 Γ 7 Learning JourneyForty-Nine Scenarios. One Different Way of Looking at Information.
The point was never to memorise forty-nine answers.
The point was to start recognising what the information needs next.
Sometimes it needs a home. Sometimes it needs to come back later. Sometimes it needs a repeatable process, an owner, a control or human judgement.
Processing Information Is Not the Same as Carrying It Around.
We still want your brain involved.
We want it understanding context, recognising differences, connecting information and using judgement.
Your Brain Stays Responsible.
βI need to remember Friday.β
βI need to remember where I saved that.β
βI need to remember who was meant to deal with this.β
βI need to remember to check that strange number.β
Your Brain Decides What It Needs. The System Carries It.
Friday becomes a trigger.
The document has a reliable home.
The next action has an owner.
The strange number becomes an exception for investigation.
What Is Your Own Processor Still Carrying?
Write down the things you regularly find yourself telling your brain not to forget.
Put each one on a new line. Then use the same seven questions you have just practised to work out what that information needs next.
Give Your Brain the Work Only a Human Can Do.
We still need the human processor to understand, notice, question, compare, investigate and decide.
We just do not need that same processor carrying every unfinished task, date, document and reminder after it has already worked out what the information needs.
Is Your Bookkeeping Still Relying on Somebody's Memory?
Good bookkeeping should help information move clearly through the business without requiring one person to carry every unfinished detail in their head.
π₯ Explore Our Bookkeeping ServicesEvery Piece of Business Information Has to Go Somewhere.
The processor becomes overloaded when information arrives, but the business has no reliable way to carry it forward.
Follow what happens to the information. Turn each card to see the Antidote.
Receive
Something enters the business: a bill, receipt, customer message, staff instruction, number or decision.
The first question is not whether you can remember it.
Capture It Where It Arrives.
Do not make the processor responsible for remembering that the information exists.
Give it an agreed entry point so the information can start moving without needing to live in your head first.
Understand
What is it? What does it relate to? Is anything missing? Does it make sense?
This is where the human processor can be genuinely useful.
Let the Processor Interpret.
Understand the information before deciding where it should go next.
The brain should be used to understand the information β not to permanently store it.
Decide
Does this actually need judgement, approval or a decision?
Or are you repeatedly making the same decision because no process exists?
Do Not Re-Decide Routine Work.
If the same answer is needed every week, it may belong in a rule, process or workflow.
Save your judgement for genuine decisions.
Act
Something now has to happen.
Who owns the next step? When should it happen? What tells them to do it?
Give the Action an Owner.
βSomeone should do thisβ is not a workflow.
The next step needs an owner and, where appropriate, a trigger or due date.
Record & Check
Where is the evidence?
How do we know the process actually happened and finished properly?
Close the Loop.
Good systems leave a trail.
The information is stored, the action can be checked and the processor is free to move on.
Before You Add Another App, Ask These Seven Questions.
Software is not the system.
These seven questions are the structure underneath it.
Understand
What exactly is this information and why does the business need it?
Understand It First.
Do not automate confusion.
Know what entered the business before deciding how it should move.
Store
Where does the information live once the processor has seen it?
Give It a Home.
An inbox, desktop, glove box or ownerβs memory is not necessarily a permanent record system.
Trigger
What brings this information back when something needs to happen?
Stop Using Anxiety as the Reminder.
A due date, scheduled review or workflow stage should bring the item back.
Process
What normally happens next?
Make Routine Work Routine.
If the next step happens repeatedly, write the process instead of reinventing it each time.
Owner
Who is responsible for the next action?
Give It a Person.
Shared responsibility can easily become nobodyβs responsibility.
The next step needs an owner.
Control
How do we know it actually happened correctly?
Build the Check.
Reconciliation, review, approval or another appropriate control should tell you whether the process worked.
Exception
What happens when this one does not fit the normal process?
Exceptions Need a Path Too.
Strange things happen.
The answer should not be: βIβll keep this in my head until I work it out.β
How Much Unfinished Information Are You Carrying?
Tick anything that is true today.
This little check stays on the page. It is simply here to show you how much ordinary business information is currently depending on your memory.
Nothing is ticked yet. Start checking the statements that sound familiar.
π° Show Me How to Offload the ProcessorWhat Happens When Ordinary Information Stops Living in Your Head?
These are ordinary business moments.
The difference is what happens after the information arrives.
A Supplier Bill Arrives
Old processor: see the bill, remember it exists, remember when it needs paying and remember where it was saved.
Put the Bill Into the Process.
The invoice is captured, processed and becomes visible in the bills workflow.
The owner can make the payment decision without reconstructing the paperwork first.
βIβll Pay You on Friday.β
Old processor: carry Friday around in your head and hope you remember to check.
Give the Promise a Trigger.
Record the follow-up where the customer process lives.
Friday should bring the information back. Anxiety should not have to.
Payroll Information Changes
Old processor: someone tells you verbally and you promise yourself you will remember before payroll.
Change Information Needs a Record.
Put the instruction into the agreed payroll-change process.
The processor can review the information rather than store the conversation.
A Number Does Not Look Right
Old processor: βI need to come back to that.β
Then the exception becomes another memory task.
Exceptions Need Somewhere Visible to Wait.
Flag the issue in the agreed review process with the information needed to investigate it.
The processor can move on without losing the exception.
A Staff Member Tells You Something Important
Old processor: βYep. Iβll remember.β
Conversation Is Not Storage.
Decide where that type of information belongs and put it there.
Your brain can understand the message without becoming responsible for carrying it indefinitely.
Make the Next Step Easier to Remember by Removing the Need to Remember It.
Supplier Bills
Process the invoice before the money leaves so the payment decision can be made from what is actually owed.
Card Purchases
Capture the receipt while the transaction is still in front of you.
Follow-Ups
If something needs attention later, give it a trigger instead of carrying the date in your head.
Exceptions
Unusual items should be visible until they are investigated, resolved and closed.
Give the Processor a Better Job.
Your systems should not make business decisions for you.
They should carry the routine information far enough that your attention can be used where human judgement actually matters.
Tell Us What Is Still Sitting in Your Head.
You do not need to know which software, workflow or bookkeeping service will fix it.
Start with what feels messy, confusing, unfinished, repetitive or simply not working the way you would like.
Professional scope: My Great Bookkeeper provides bookkeeping and Registered BAS Agent services within our professional scope. Where a matter requires tax-agent, legal, insolvency or other specialist advice, the appropriate professional may need to be involved.
So What Happens When You Keep Making Your Brain Carry the Business?
You have just learned the Antidote: understand the information, give it somewhere to go, let systems carry what they can, and bring it back when human judgement is actually needed.
But what happens when you do the opposite?
That belongs in our other series.
Let's go back to How to Sabotage a Business and see what relying on memory can do.
π₯ How to Sabotage a Business: Rely on Your MemoryKeep Following the Story.
You can keep exploring the things that quietly sabotage a business β or head back to the Antidote Series and learn what to build instead.