Monday 8 October 2007

The Wilder Shores of Accountancy


MrM has a lot on his mind.

The item at the top of his list at work is "Christmas Decorations"
and more specifically, "Santa's Grotto".

MrM is an accountant
and he has just been reviewing the budget of "Santa's Grotto"
and it will cost...
well, let's just say that there are
an uncomfortable number of noughts at the end.

What worries him tonight
is the prospect of sitting down tomorrow
in a Board Meeting and beginning:

"Item 2. Santa's Grotto
I would like to discuss the possibility of rationalisation.
How many elves does Santa need?
Can he downsize to pixies?
Can he manage with just one reindeer?
Have we factored in his carbon footprint?
Can we outsource the letter delivery?
Does Santa have bonus expectations?"

It gets worse
because MrM's boss is fully committed
to the whole Santa concept
so the discussion will have to be done
as a cost/benefit analysis.

It is going to be a difficult meeting.

p.s. if you know where MrM works
I would be soooo grateful
if you would not spill the beans
because being dismissed for a breach of confidentiality
about "Santa's Grotto"
is not going to look good on the CV.

5 comments:

tess said...

Oh what a responsibility, how much to spend on Santa. I can just imagine the boardroom now, all prim and proper and discussing fairy lights!

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Lovely picture of Mr M ! Can't think what sort of organisation he works for if he has to wear that sort of uniform for board meetings.
Having just got back from a coach trip to the Black forest and other parts of Germany can I suggest he pops over there (most of our Christmas traditions came from there with Prince Albert anyway)as he may well be able to pick up some bargains at one of their Christmas fairs for the grotto. If all else fails he could buy a cuckoo clock for the board room. I would suggest one that strikes every quarter hour and does not have a mechanism to silence it. That will reduce board meeting times quite dramatically.

GMS

Ali said...

I keep trying to explain Santa's budget to my son. Hope your hubby has better luck than me.

Hadn't thought of the carbon footprint rationale though - that's a goodie!

Anonymous said...

Bah Humbug, or words to that effect.