How internal documents can get you into trouble with external suppliers

My boss and the founder of a very large accounting firm went to school together. My boss often sends files up to this accounting firm when our clients need calculations/advice of an accounting nature. In return, he sends work our way.

My boss also has his personal tax done by this accounting firm, obviously. However, the principal doesn't do it. He has one of his directors do it. We call him Fat Eddie because he is ginormous. He seems to expand more every year. He would seriously need at least 3 seats on an airplane. There is no way in hell he'd ever fit into one, or even two. He is positively massive.

Anyway, Fat Eddie is rather lazy. He seems to think because my boss and his boss are friends, that we are on mates' rates or something, and therefore are not as important as his other clients. Not true. We pay in excess of $10,000 a year for our accounting (it's very complicated for a small business).

When I started here 5 years, my predecessor told me Fat Eddie was lazy, and would never get the documents in on time to the ATO, and we would have to constantly chase him up to even get started on the documents. In my time here, I have also found that to be the case. It is like pulling teeth to get him to do anything on time. We have gotten him into trouble with his boss on numerous occasions, which probably doesn't help us, I suppose.

Anyway, I have now done up a manual for my job which outlines the tax duties and what has to be sent to the accountant, when. In it, I said, "Eddie rarely gets things in on time, so make sure you chase him up."

This is an internal document. There is only one printed copy, and it's beside my desk. I haven't emailed it even to my boss, let alone outside sources. Besides which, it's absolutely huge and would well exceed the limits of most mailbox quotas.

Somehow, Fat Eddie got a copy of one page of the manual. The exact page which says he rarely gets things in on time. He has sent me a rather pointed email asking me to update that section to say if things are sent to him on time, he will have them done on time. And updated the time to send him the information to 5 months before the tax is due!! Well, of course I would expect him to have it in on time if he's giving himself 5 months to do it! But that's not the point.

The point is, how on earth did he get a copy of that page? I really do not understand how it's even possible.

My boss and I are laughing about it, however, because it could have been a lot worse. It could have said something like, "[Boss] calls him Fat Eddie, and notes he continues to expand each year. He is very lazy, and we have never gotten the tax done on time. To make sure he does his job (for which he seems rather incompetent), continue to chase him up after you've sent the file to make sure he actually starts it, so we have a chance of getting it in on time."

So at least there's an upside!

Our damage control was to write back and say, "Thanks Eddie. That extract is a remnant of [previous employee's] notes. We have updated accordingly." And then kept the document exactly the same. Hehehe.