Chapter 12 - The Audit Finds Missing Payroll Taxes
Then the audit found the issue that frightened me most.
Several transfers Lucas labeled tax reserves had not gone to the
expected account.
Payroll itself had been processed.
But funds I believed were reserved for certain tax obligations had been
partially redirected and later replenished from operating revenue.
My accountants immediately reconciled the accounts and worked with tax
professionals to determine what was due and when.
I was furious.
Not because the number was the largest.
Because employees depended on me.
Servers.
Cooks.
Dishwashers.
Hosts.
People with rent and children and medical bills.
Lucas had treated Lumina like an endless pool because he never
understood what every dollar represented.
I did.
I remembered my first dishwasher breaking.
My first terrible review.
My first profitable month.
My first employee health plan.
This restaurant was not a family toy.
May you like
It was forty-seven people’s workplace.
That was the moment I stopped grieving my marriage.
