[Stibbs]

Hello Another71
I’m an early bird and was wondering as a CPA how would firms respond to my desire to start work at 5AM? A 5AM-1:30 schedule would be ideal for me. Is that really plausible? I’d be perfectly happy in private or public practice.
Thanks in advance for your responses.

[Anonymous]

It'd depend on what level you were starting out at. If you were brand new and needed a lot of training, that schedule would not be ideal because you would need to be in the office when supervisors or managers were around. That schedule would not really work if you were in an assurance capacity. Even with experience. For tax, with experience, that schedule would probably be fine.

I'm not sure about private. I think it would just depend on what your duties were with fellow co-workers and if that would work for them since you would technically only be around for half the day if they all started at 8-9.

[Anonymous]

The policies will change from company to company. Phrased differently, this is a great question to bring up during an interview. “What is this company's normal working hours? Is that strictly enforced or is it flexible?”

[Missy]

Its a rare position that you don't need to be available to clients or peers after 1:30pm.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[diabloargentino]

I can only speak to the work culture of NYC but I doubt many firms would be willing to let you leave in the middle of the day, especially as a new Associate. I would look at it this way: your work week isn't about fulfilling a certain amount of hours but rather to be around when you're needed. You may accomplish a 10 hour day by working 5AM – 3PM but if your team or your clients are around until 6-7PM and there are calls/meetings throughout, you wouldn't be adding any value in that scenario. Also, not sure if the hours in your post were just for example purposes but 5AM to 130PM isn't even a full work day and in many public practices, the team is working through the evening.

Someone before mentioned this would be a good question to ask during an interview and while I agree that it's important to understand the type of hours you are signing up for, I'm not sure I would personally advise on making hints/suggestions at the type of hours you would like to work as opposed to coming off as a team player who is ready to do the job at hand regardless. This is especially true for most public practices and the major firms – it's well known that busy season hours are long and in today's landscape, you may find yourself busy throughout the whole year. If you're looking to stand out and get recruited, especially with no work experience (I don't know if this is your case specifically), I'm not sure probing into how much control of your own schedule you will have is the best way.

Leaving at 1:30 every day is the ideal situation for any professional but you have to bust your butt and pay your dues to put yourself in a position like that. Maybe in different markets of the country it's more common to have command of your schedule off the bat and not work the afternoons but if you're currently looking to land a job in Accounting, I think the responsibility is on you to be willing to work the hours necessary as opposed to the employer to be flexible to what you find would be ideal for yourself.

[CPAcandidate3]

I have a hard time seeing a 5-130 as even plausible. Your working hours aren't specifically just to get a set amount of work done it's to be available to clients and other staff as well. I just can't see it working in either private or public especially as a new employee.

[shawn in VA]

as a new associate why would they even bother with hiring you if you want to leave at 1:30 PM ? Yes you put the 8 hours in, but your not around when clients need you and managers and seniors need you.

There are probably another 100 resumes they have of people who want to work normal business hours (i.e. 8 to 5).

The schedule you mentioned would have to be “earned” as you paid your dues with the company. There was someone in our firm who worked 6 to 2pm but she was there for 10 years.

good luck–i would not even bother bringing this up during an interview.

[rb2017]

I don't blame you but I don't think that would fly in public accounting, especially during busy season when clients are calling at all hours of the day. I work with someone who comes in at 4 so he can leave around 1 but he only does that on Saturdays. Private might be different if you don't have to interact much with people outside of your company. The only way I could see it being somewhat negotiable is that if you agree to check your emails periodically after you leave and you can receive calls after you leave for urgent matters.

I don't think it'd hurt to casually bring this up in an interview, but don't make it seem like it's a deal-breaker for you.

[SeattleCPA]

I let someone do this last year in my firm. Total disaster…

And for the reasons people note above.

[Missy]

In industry its unlikely those hours could work, but I suppose if you're on the west coast and deal with offices/customers on the east coast its not so bad.

Thing is from an HR perspective nobody wants to deal with a staff who each has their own hours. Usually there are “core hours”, 7am-5pm and flexibility within those core hours (ie you can choose whether to work 7-3:30 or 8:30-5) but always within those core hours. If you don't telecommute nobody wants you to be alone in the office from 5a-7a daily, it can be a liability and a safety issue. The job may be in an office that simply is locked until 7am. If you hope to ultimately supervise the work of others, its not going to fly that you're not there after 1:30pm and if you're staff or entry level your direct supervisor will expect you to work a similar schedule as them even if you leave at 5 but they stay until 7.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[muhfreedoms]

It's possible but not probable. Availability to respond to clients, supervisors, and partners is paramount. So if your clients or superiors don't have that schedule, you probably won't either. You gain a lot of leverage if you're a manager or equivalent, but won't have much as a staff.

[TommyTheCat]

ya good luck with that request. If I were to get asked that by one of the candidates during an interview I would put their resume in the circular bin and forget about them.

No starting associate or senior should have any realistic expectations of having a “set” hours schedule. Doing so is a recipe for disaster or subpar performance. Not saying you need to let your career control your life, but we are in the service business and our job is to respond to the needs of our clients. If you tell your manager who just comes to you with an urgent tax planning project at 1PM that you have 30 mins to work on it and then you are out that manager is going to find your replacement pretty fast.

Good luck getting the set schedule you are striving for, but its likely not going to get you very far in this business.

[x260bm]

Several of the women that worked at my old firm came in at 3 during tax season so they could be home when their kids got out of school. More places are adopting flexible hours all the time to the point it's becoming common. I'm kind of surprised everyone is telling you there's no way it could work.

[I’mAGoingConcern]

I'd echo what most people are saying. This isn't likely to happen in audit, especially at the Big 4. You need to be able to walk to the Controller's office to ask them a question, or to get coffee for your managers… Whatever the case may be.

However, I actually have had a partner that would do this. I would get emails at 4:30AM and he'd be offline (out of the office) by 3:00 PM everyday. But I have never heard this done at the staff/senior level.

As others have said, you might be able to negotiate other hours, such as 7:30 – 3:30. But even that is rare, in my experience.

[TommyTheCat]

@x260bm – a mother with a child that they need to get home to is one thing, especially if they've been at the firm for a while and have established credibility and trustworthiness with their partners/co-worker and clients. A new hire wanting to set their hours outside of normal business hours…..and at a fixed 8 hours a day to boot…is not at all the same.

[x260bm]

I'm assuming they have an actual reason for wanting to do this. The original post is quite vague. The last two jobs I have had I was given the opportunity to set my own hours from the start. There's all kinds of jobs out there. Just because your firm is completely inflexible doesn't mean all of them are.

[Author]

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