[Anonymous]

The firm I am at now is incredibly flexible, I pretty much come and go as I please even during tax season. I received an offer at another firm with very little flexibility , but a $20000 base increase. Both firms offer up to a 10% bonus after tax season.

Given I have kids, the flexibility has been amazing, but the money sure is tempting. If you have kids, at what $ threshold does money become more important than flexibility for you?

Those without kids are obviously welcome to respond too.

[RE2PECT]

I think it all depends on your particular situation and the support system you have around you. Does your spouse work? Are your kids in school or in daycare? Will you incur more expenses by giving up the flexibility from your current job? You should make a list of the pros and cons of each and see which one is a better fit.

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[Anonymous]

If you personally depend on that flexibility right now and can still make a decent living, I think that's huge with kids. I agree with previous poster-if lack of flexibility is going to mean additional expenses I would net that against the raise…

[MaLoTu]

I think statistics show that people would generally rather have more flexibility than more money.
I am in public and have kids. My firm is flexible-ish. But, we are expected to put in 8 hours a day during off season and more during busy.
$20k increase is huge and I wouldn't blame you for going that route, but your kids are only going to be small once.
You have a really tough decision. What it boils down to is whether your free time is worth $20k because you will have a lot less of it at a normal firm.

[Jdn9201]

No kids here, but I thought I'd chime in. I agree with the others – calculate the extra expenses you would incur if you made the change. Also, keep in mind that when you factor in taxes, that 20K raise is really 12-$14K, depending on your marginal tax rate. Besides the flexibility, do you generally like where you work? It's hard to find a flexible job in public accounting. If I were in your position, I'd see if i could use the offer to get a raise at my current company. Quality of life is very important, and flexibility at work is a huge part of that. Unless you're having issues with paying your bills or there's other issues at your current company besides pay, I would probably stay if I were you. Congrats on the offer though!

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[Missy]

Depends on how old the kids are. If they're little enough that you still require childcare flexibility is everything. Once my youngest was old enough to stay home alone on a snow day or not feeling well, flexibility became less important. Yeah it bums me out if I have to miss something like a school or sports event but I still make it some of the time.

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[Anonymous]

When I was little my mother was a senior manager/director in the big four (then big six). She worked until 7pm every weekday and 9pm on busy season nights. I got to see her before falling asleep. I remember being explained that what she did was very important. That I should be proud of her, and that it provided well for us. I believed my parents and trusted my parents. That being said, my father who had his own practice set his own hours to an extent – a parent was around after 5pm or so (school or babysitter otherwise until 6pm).

As a 5 year old even, I felt very content with that answer of my parent doing something unique/important that provided something unique back for me, my little brother, and the family. Even kids I think can understand the pros/cons to scenarios. I think if you can boil it down to something black/white for a kid, you believe in it, it shows, and you present it to your child – they will completely support you. Additional costs are important to mention as somebody said previously. It sounds like it may be worth the shot.

[Tncincy]

Decide with No regrets…..give and take is the name of the game….you will have to give up flexibility to get more money and probably more expectation from the job as well. Make sure you have a good relationship with your children either way. Situations may change but decide with no regret.

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[Want2BeCPAsoBad]

I was in your same situation 6 months ago, and chose flexibility. My girl is 8 and my son 6. I want to see my kids grow, that is time and memories I will never get back. I already see my girl becoming a tween and being independent, I know that before I know it they will be teenager and will not want to spend time with me lol. I enjoy every minute of it. I was even able to go to some field trips during last busy season. I would just come after school and stay until midnight. If an appointment is urgent then I would come in at 5 am and leave at 3:30 and work another 2 hours from home. etc etc. At the end of everyone in any given company is replaceable, but you are the only mother for your kids.

Now my income is the second income in the house. My husband makes 1.5x my salary, we are very organized with our money and although those 25k (in my case) would have been nice. I really don't need it, we are doing well, take a vacations here and there, eat out, have entertainment (nothing extravagant). I knew that making the additional money would probably just me spend more on thing I don't really need and material possessions are not greater or better than time with my kids.

However, we have talked about this with my husband and in the event (knock on wood) he loses his job, then I will switch jobs and he will become the main caregiver of our kids. It doesn't matter who spends more time with kids for as long as the kids have one of us that they can count on.

Only you know your financial situation and your relationship with your family. But as someone mentioned above, whatever you decide, do not look back or have regrets.

Best of luck.

[Small4]

Tough question since i myself deal with this every so often. Left public accounting for industry for flexibility. There are many times i contemplate what I have missed out on opportunity and promotion wise (even a 25% bonus!!)…but in the end, its nice to be home by 530-6pm and not really work on weekends and have that flexibility for sick days with my kid, etc… Sure i wish to make 30-40k more, but I sleep better knowing i can always go for it again once things are more stable/my son is older. Right now, I don't mind running around fighting pretend fire around my house with my toddler…. again its a great question and it really is up to how much help you have around you outside of your spouse. For myself, its just my wife and I, that's it. As far as threshold goes, i say 40k, maybe even stock comp, and I'll re-consider everything i just wrote lol

Good luck with what you decide!!

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[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the responses. The position would not require any change in daycare. My kids are 3, 5, and 11. My husband owns his own business so he has flexibility to some extent. I have always been the one who mainly managed the kids so it would be quite a big change. My husband is open to it, but I don't want it to cause any problems between the two of us. I have until tomorrow to decide so I am going to think about everything you guys brought up.

I don't hate where I work, but I don't love it either. My boss is very understanding, I just get very lonely. There are many days I am the only one in the office. I like the work, I just miss interaction with people and am thinking a larger firm might help with that. The firm I am at now has 3 people including me. The two others are much much older than I am. This new firm has 35 employees…so still small but larger than where I am now.

[MaLoTu]

So with the new firm are you sure you will not have some flexibility?

[Anonymous]

@MaLoTo said: “What it boils down to is whether your free time is worth $20k because you will have a lot less of it at a normal firm.”
That pretty much hits the nail on the head.

For me, flexibility has a BIG value, so I've turned down bigger money that came with less flexibility. But, $20k? That's a lot of difference. Reading the first post, I would've said “kids' ages play into it a lot”; seeing they're 3, 5, and 11, I'd lean towards flexibility, but with a self-employed husband that can handle the kid getting sick at school in the middle of the day, I'd be back to uncertain.

It sounds like the new work environment is of more interest to you, though, so I'd be tempted to say “go for it”, presuming you've got enough vacation etc. to spend time with the kids, and the hours won't be too much worse overall. If you'll be home about hte same amount, just more structured and less flexible, then $20k is definitely worth it I'd think.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I am pretty sure they work all day everyday with little room for flexibility. The partner sent me my offer letter at 1 am. That kind of threw me.

I am leaning towards staying put for the next two years until all the kids are in elementary. I guess I am pretty lucky to have a firm with such flexibility and keep thinking to myself how crappy it will be to have to have three kids dropped off to before care/daycare by 7 am. They get there at 8-8:30 now. My husband takes care of the pickup so I can work late when it gets busy. What can I say…I like not having to be up before 6.

I also keep thinking man if I could put the 20 extra hours of the new firm minimum into working for myself, in two years maybe I can develop my own clients. My current firm is completely ok with me doing outsourced accounting and individual returns for my own clients just not high net worth or corporate tax work. They are a niche firm that focuses on high net worth individuals and refer other clients out.

Thanks for all the feedback.

[Author]

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