Money Matters Are your Books Transparent?

One of my definitions of a good day is actively learning something new, surrounding by farmers and ranchers with a good dose of laughter. That is what I experienced on Tuesday when I attended the Washington Association of Wheat Growers AMMO program with family business consultant and farmer herself Jolene Brown who discussed “The Positives of Passing it On!
In successfully transitioning a family business to the next generation, there are many aspects to consider. One element Jolene addressed was the farm’s books and the importance of being transparent in money matters.
Brown: “So how do we teach importance of money to the next generation. And I am one that doesn’t believe that one gives allowance — I think that children earn their money for jobs and work that they do. Let me show you an example of how one farm family did this with their children. When their kids got into middle school, they decided they would pay all their farm bills once a month. So all the bookwork came out and they would sit at the table. They would have their children would write in the amount of money owed and who it would be paid to and then of course the adults would sign the checks. So later that spring, dad was filling the planter with seed corn and the son is shouting at him, ‘Don’t you spill any seed, dad, do you know how much that bag of seed costs?’ Well, how did he know? It is because it was a teachable moment and they were included in the process of money matters.”