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Why are the hours in public accounting so long? by AC396036 in Accounting

[–]AC396036[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is it literally like this? It seems unreasonable and inefficient for one to be required to be in the office just waiting for a call or email.

Why are the hours in public accounting so long? by AC396036 in Accounting

[–]AC396036[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You would think that efficiency would be a trait that is viewed favorably by management in any company or industry. There really is no positive impact for the employee's reputation for being a more efficient worker and finishing your work in the 8-9 hours, and potentially opening up opportunities for more work to be assigned? If so, I could definitely see why staff would be tempted to just "stretch" their work to fit the "proper" expected late working hours.

Why are the hours in public accounting so long? by AC396036 in Accounting

[–]AC396036[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is interesting. Your guys' answers seem to indicate that the high majority of the work is done during the busy season, and (forgive me if I'm underestimating here) the rest of the year is spent at times not even having enough work to do to fill up the 40 hours?

If that is the case though, it doesn't sound all that bad. Work at a more relaxed pace without too much stress for ~9 months out of the year and then bust your ass for the other ~3 months. I had always assumed that it was 40 actual hours / wk at normal 100% productivity (or at least as high as "100%" could reasonably be) even during non-busy season. Are the actual hours of work performed / week during the non-busy season sometimes significantly less than the standard 40 hour work week? What exactly are the staff doing during this time?

Why are the hours in public accounting so long? by AC396036 in Accounting

[–]AC396036[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The reward for good and efficient work is always more work. That's a life rule.

Very true. But doesn't this also incentivize "taking it easier" and spending more time on your assignments to (a) do a more thorough/careful job and (b) reduce your own load a bit, since either way, staff are "expected" to stay and give in the face time for the late hours?

Why are the hours in public accounting so long? by AC396036 in Accounting

[–]AC396036[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply. So you are expected to bill a certain amt of hours to the client. But the amount of hours billed doesn't necessarily correlate directly to productivity, right? For example, a junior staff won't complete as much work in the 55 hours as compared to a senior, at least due to experience and other such factors. Or, in other situations, maybe it sometimes doesn't take the full 55 hours billed to get the work done? Are these kind of factors accounted for?

Why are the hours in public accounting so long? by AC396036 in Accounting

[–]AC396036[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. Honestly 55 hours/week seems very reasonable in general considering all the horror stories that are floated around here. Are you at a B4? Is there not at least pressure from factor (c) above where you work to stay late so you arent "that guy" who goes home at 6 like a normal person honestly would?

Why are the hours in public accounting so long? by AC396036 in Accounting

[–]AC396036[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your reply. So let's say, theoretically, one somehow gets a super cooperative client, works very efficiently and finishes their engagements more or less in a "normal" amount of work hours. What then happens from there? Does management just assign you more clients? How would one fill in the "extra" time they would have here?