How NOT to Get Left Behind
CPAs put in long hours and they know it.
by Rick Telberg
for Career Insider
In this competitive economy, if CPAs aren't working more than the usual 40-hour-work week, they could get left behind.
An astounding 94 percent of CPAs in a new Career Insider study say they routinely put in more than 40 hours or more a week. Indeed, 40 percent work up to 59 hours and 14 percent work more than 60 hours per week.
And don't blame tax season. One managing partner of a local CPA firm says, not atypically, he averages "50 to 60 hours a week in non-tax-season, and from 70-to-100 hours a week during tax season."
As another managing partner griped: "Being a CPA pays pretty well, but it's not much better than working two jobs anywhere else."
And for members in industry, worldwide telecommunications has made the days even longer.
One middle manger at a relatively small company suffers through "frequent meetings in the early morning or late evening hours due to global meetings." Another commutes 2,000 miles every other week.
There are also indications that the CPA's work life is getting even tougher.
A similar study about the same time last year showed, for example, that 87 percent of participants were working more than 40 hours a week, a full 7 percentage points lower than this year.
This year's study also shows that 78 percent of participants spend time working out of the office or "off-the-clock," i.e.: working at home, commuting, or otherwise away from the primary workplace. Almost one in five, or 19 percent, work more than 10 hours on their own time.
When asked, "How often do you work on evenings, weekends or holidays?" fully three in four, or 75 percent sacrifice scheduled time-off on a regular basis. Some 38 percent do it "frequently" and 27 percent do it "sometimes."
Four in five, or 79 percent, for instance, say they work "somewhat" or "much" more than their colleagues. Last year, when the same question was asked, 11 percent fewer, or 68 percent, held that viewpoint.
CPAs know all too well how hard they work and they don't have to be reminded.
