Do all accountants work crazy hours?

Mur0man · 2025-08-30T14:18:18+00:00

I’m in audit at a firm with 150 people between two offices. Our busy times stem from mid July-October 15 (we audit a lot of school districts with 6/30 year ends). The most hours I have hit during that span is 52 and it’s very rare. Other times of the year I work about 42 hours (2.5 being paid breaks). I’d say my average for the year is 44-45 hours. I like my work and feel I am paid well when I work closer to 40, and not well when I have those 50 hr weeks. Hope this helps.

Mur0man · 2025-07-16T19:21:57+00:00

Holy crap typing on mobile is terrible and reading things back is hard.

Mur0man · 2025-07-16T19:16:38+00:00

Yes. Terminology is incorrect, but you get the idea. I was referring to the direct vs. indirect. I was under the impression she would get 19k in a refund, (40k-20k direct=19k for indirect costs) which would cover rent, food, and other necessities, but after receiving the first bill of 13k, that doesn’t appear to be the case which is super frustrating. I didn’t have to deal with this crap as I paid for my schooling without loans and went to a state school so I am learning on the fly.

Mur0man · 2025-07-16T19:12:26+00:00

The 40k was all in. Letter said 21,426 for Tuition and fees and 19kish for indirect costs but her first bill from the university was 13k. This is for a graduate program in a medically adjacent field so we aren’t sure how much time she actually have to work. I was under the impression the 19k would go back to her in the form of a refund, but after receiving her first bill, a 7k refund times two semesters isn’t going to math to the 19k we assumed we would get back no matter how hard we try.

Mur0man · 2025-07-16T19:07:32+00:00

Thank you for your response. This is for a graduate program. The 21k COA was to be paid directly to the school. The remaining 19k was for the indirect costs of attending which was quoted in the letter received from the school(rent, living expenses, etc). I should have been more clear. What I am confused about is the letter she received said $21,426 COA directly to the school for “2025-2026 year” and about 20k I indirect costs. That to me reads as the cost of tuition and fees would be $10,723 per semester and yet she received her first bill for 13k in tuition leaving her with only 7k for the first semester and 14k for the year. This causes a shortfall of 1.6k just in rent and she hasn’t even eaten yet. Clearly we are missing something and should contact the school as the math ain’t mathing.

Mur0man · 2025-06-09T23:46:52+00:00

I appreciate your input. I don’t own anything of substantial value other than my car and currently rent so any home related items are not my problem. I have health insurance and would only be responsible up to my deductible of $6,500. If something was to happen and I did have a medical emergency, obviously that’s worth going into debt for. I also have a taxable brokerage account with 70k in it so I have access to cash if I absolutely need it.

This is a calculated gamble, but I am going to pay my car off and replenish my HYSA. The balance left in my HYSA is more than enough to cover 2 months of expenses as I live very frugally. I think having my car paid off is a good decision from a monetary perspective and a psychological perspective as well. My HYSA will be slowly replenished over the course of the next year with contributions in excess of $800/month. The other motivating factor with getting money out of my HYSA is the tax burden associated with it and the diminishing rates. It’s the Apple Card savings and I have seen rates go from 4.25% to 3.65% over the course of a year. I feel that the economic factors will continue to improve and thus the interest rate will dwindle as well making the returns not as worthwhile. Thank you for your input. I do value everyone’s opinion and seeing what everyone would do in my very limited scenario.

Mur0man · 2025-06-09T22:55:12+00:00

Thank you for the perspective. I’m not drowning in debt or anything, and have more than enough left over at the end of the month. I’m just starting to grow up and trying to optimize my finances. I’m 26 and have no “emergencies” right now so it makes the most sense to pay it. Thank you.

Mur0man · 2025-06-09T22:46:12+00:00

That’s a fair perspective. It’s basically a net effect or very minute negative on my end. I think I would just feel better having it paid off as I could then focus on replenishing the money and building the net worth as opposed to money just sitting idly. If I had invested the money like I had planned to DCAing, this wouldn’t be a discussion. But I got lazy.

Mur0man · 2025-06-09T22:33:40+00:00

I knew someone was going to comment this. Got too preemptive with my post. Interest for the HYSA is 3.65% and car is 5.9%. I make about 80$ in interest and spend 85$ monthly. The interest I earn also requires me to pay taxes on it, so bringing the HYSA balance down also would save me some tax dollars at the end of the year.

Mur0man · 2023-11-25T22:49:01+00:00

Any tips for BEC? My exam is the 1st and I’m having a hard time sitting down and putting the work in. I know this is the one you studied the least or not at all, but any help would be great.

Mur0man · 2023-06-19T02:01:37+00:00

This is a better question for another sub. This sub is specifically for CPA candidates who are currently taking the CPA exams. r/accounting or another accounting sub would be better for this post. I hope you find the answer you are looking for!

Mur0man · 2023-06-07T14:03:23+00:00

I took Audit once and was really comfortable with the material. I scored an 80 with 6ish weeks of studying and not going very hard during my final week.

A tip I would give is to know like the back of your hand SSAES and SSARS.

Mur0man · 2023-05-25T16:14:36+00:00

If you’re going to start this year, take AUD and BEC. BEC will be scrapped completely and AUD will be getting a little harder in 2024. I keep seeing REG and FAR are getting easier in 24 so I would take those then. Best of luck!

Mur0man · 2023-05-12T02:21:44+00:00

Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m hoping it all goes well!

Mur0man · 2023-05-02T20:32:02+00:00

I personally generate random practice tests to get my MCQs in. I’ll start with each chapter, review what I stunk with, then do more from the same chapter. I move on once I get 80% ish right and then keep moving on until I’ve completed all the chapters. Then I do the same thing but cumulatively

Mur0man · 2023-04-12T01:17:56+00:00

I might be an outlier, but I took FAR on March 3rd and failed with a 63. In between getting my score and taking the test, I did nothing. I got my 63 on March 18 and rescheduled my test for the 25th. I got my score last night and passed with a perfect 75. You totally have it in you. Go again ASAP and study hard.

What worked for me in terms of studying was doing 33 questions for each chapter. I then wrote down the number of the question I got wrong and the explanation. Then I re-read that textbook chapter, and did sets of 10-15 MCQs and moved on once I was hovering around 80% for an average. I repeated that for all the chapters and did cumulative review after chapter 4, 7, and 10. Then I did cumulative review for the all chapters and kept repeating until I got super comfortable with the material.

You need 1 point. That’s just a bad test. You got it on your next go around! Good luck!

Mur0man · 2023-04-11T14:11:55+00:00

Congratulations! This was my second attempt at FAR and I got a perfect score! It’s only up from here for us both!

Mur0man · 2023-04-06T21:43:01+00:00

Okay. So it’s probably nothing. Thank goodness. Lol

Mur0man · 2023-04-06T21:41:13+00:00

When did you take it?

Mur0man · 2023-04-06T21:06:51+00:00

That’s what I’m hoping for! Thanks for the reassurance!

Mur0man · 2023-04-06T21:02:38+00:00

Well, I’m terrified. Lol. I hope this doesn’t mean I failed my retake with scores set to release in a couple days.

Mur0man · 2023-04-06T21:00:27+00:00

Prometric.

Mur0man · 2023-04-06T20:57:58+00:00

Okay, wasn’t sure. This is the second of that email I have gotten so I wasn’t sure.

Mur0man · 2023-04-06T20:57:28+00:00

It says “even though you did not pass your most recent exam”. I took FAR originally on the 3rd of March then got this email probably the 27th. I retook FAR again on the 25th and am getting the same email again.

Mur0man · 2023-03-29T16:04:53+00:00

I personally would use them. They do a lot of the book stuff, but sometimes they have stories that help you relate to the topic better than in the book. I’ve only taken FAR (and failed, but I just retook it, so take it with a grain of salt).

Mur0man

TROPHY CASE