[Ganondorf]

I have been working at my job for 2 months now, and I have tons of downtime. At first I thought it was just because I am a newbie, but my co-workers have a lot of downtime too (but not as much as me since I am a newbie). I probably only have about 25 hours of actual work to do every week, so that leaves me with about 15 hours of downtime every week.

I think the amount of downtime is just the nature of my job. I work in payroll and billing at a large private company. Monday I have little to do since payroll doesn’t actually start coming in until Tuesday. If I have 3 hours of work on Monday I consider myself lucky.

Tuesday I finally start getting busy once the payroll comes in. It used to take me all day to get it done when I first started, but lately I have gotten more efficient at it since I know a lot more now than I did when I first started. Now it takes me probably 5-6 hours to actually get it done, so I am still left with several hours of downtime after it is done.

Wednesday is by far my busiest day. It’s the only day I actually work a full 8 hours. I do all the billing on Wednesday.

Thursday is less busy than Tuesday, but not as bad as Monday. Thursday I just do any late payroll/billing if any comes in and make corrections and stuff like that.

Friday I have barely anything to do because payroll HAS to be done on Thursday so everyone gets paid on Friday. Friday is again another 2-3 hour workday like Monday, but at least its a little more tolerable since it is almost the weekend. TGIF!!

One thing that particularly amuses me is when I first started the job I created a thread here stating how overwhelmed I was and thinking I wouldn’t be able to handle the job. Now 2 months later I am talking about it being boring with too much downtime. My how things have changed in such a short time. lol

I do somewhat wonder if there is a lot of turnover here too. There are 7 other people in my department. Only 2 of them have been here longer than 2 years. The other 5 have only been here 1-2 years. That to me sounds like most people get bored with this job quickly and move on to something else. I remember when I interviewed for the job, I asked why the position was open, and they said it was because of growth and expansion, but now I am wondering if that is actually true.

I don’t hate my job, even though it may sound like it. I do like the job. The huge amount of downtime is my only real complaint about it. It pays decent (although not great) but I do feel at times that I am overpaid for the amount of actual work I do.

I can’t use the company internet for personal use, but people here do use their smartphones to goof around when they have downtime, so that’s what I do too. If you have a lot of downtime at work, what do you do?

[TrackStar]

@Track55 alot of busy-work makes me more productive and I tend to fill empowered when I get off work and can retain more. My previous positions kept me on my toes so I'd study when I got off and hit the gym at least 4Xs a week. So I see why you have such high grades for the exam it's due to your wheels are constantly turning.

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with the problems longer" ~Albert Einstein ~

FAR (04/16/16)-61, (07/23/16)- Becker, Ninja Notes, Ninja MCQs
Reg (09/10/16) Becker, Ninja Notes, Ninja MCQs
AUD (11/05/16) prob. Roger, Ninja Notes, Ninja MCQs
Bec (TBD)

[tonypineda88]

I have a ton of down time at work, especially as of late since I'm working at a liquidating company. Lay-offs are happening during the summer and fall, but I've been here for over a year and really the only time I was busy 40+ hours a week was during our audit between November 2015 and March 2016(I work in industry, but currently interviewing for a tax position).

I study (a lot lately), read the news, manage my finances etc. My managers don't care…I'm definitely lucky to work here while taking my exams.

FAR: 4/15 80
AUD: 11/15 77
BEC: 4/16 80
REG: 8/25/2016 so ready to be done!!!

Lost motivation for the CPA exam for a few months after FAR, but ready to finish now!

[tonypineda88]

Oh, and I'm talking around 30 hours of down time a week for me lately.

FAR: 4/15 80
AUD: 11/15 77
BEC: 4/16 80
REG: 8/25/2016 so ready to be done!!!

Lost motivation for the CPA exam for a few months after FAR, but ready to finish now!

[livealittle]

As others have said, use your downtime to better your skills.

you are processing payroll, do you also do the quarterly 941 and SUTA and state WH reports? will you be responsible for W-2 preparation? If so, you can research the changes in reporting requirements on the W-2's coming for 2016 and beyond due to the ACA.

what software do you use to process payroll? can you watch some training videos on that?

practice Excel, pivot tables, and v-lookup. Also, you may want to track the efficiency you've built into payroll processing. If you can say “I've reduced payroll processing time by 4.2 hours, allowing me to also accomplish X, Y and Z” that looks really good for any promotion you are aiming for. It also fits on a cover letter or as a discussion topic in an interview – even an internal interview for additional or more interesting work.

IIWIYS, I wouldn't be on Facebook, my phone playing games, etc. If there aren't manuals or procedures written for what you are doing already, write them in your downtime. Take screen shots of each step and make the table of contents hyperlink to the correct page in your manual.

does that seem like you are a “teacher's pet” or “insert snarky name here” – maybe to those people who aren't trying to move up, get promoted and seen for what they CAN do rather than the pigeon hole they've been put in.

BEC - 8/8/16
REG - 66, 77
AUD - 81
FAR - 9/8/16

[Anonymous]

I'm so sorry to hear that you have ample time during the day to study and do as you wish..all while getting paid. Hang in there kiddo, things will get better! In the meantime, I will say a prayer for you and your family.

[Track55]

@ Trackstar – a person after my own heart. Yeah, I have to be doing something at all times.

AUD - 74, 99 !!
REG - 74, 92
BEC - 83
FAR - 73, 86

Studying for Ethics exam

California candidate
Business and Industry

[Author]

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