[foreseeableCPA]

Hey guys,

I had a quick question regarding non busy season work in public accounting. I did an internship with a mid-tier firm during this past busy season and was offered a FT position starting Sept. During my internship, I was constantly asking my manager for more work as every second I worked was accounted for. For you guys that are in public accounting or had experience, what do you guys do during non busy season? Is there time to just relax and wait for work to be handed to you or is it pretty busy as well? I have heard people doing research on clients or even being able to study for the exam during work. I’d love to hear your experiences. Thanks!

CPA - Class of 2013
CIA - Class of 2016

[Mayo]

Dunno about mid tier. But at my Big 4 it's usually time for Quarter reviews, planning, SOX 404, EBP audits, and interim testing.

There was one or two times when Staff had nothing else to do, so they either went home at 3pm or didn't have to work on Friday.

Otherwise, there's stuff to do and you might leave work anywhere from 5pm to 8pm, depending on what you're doing. I'd say 6pm is a good default leaving time for my clients at least.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[barelystayingsane]

I would not recommend a “wait for work to be handed to you” mindset, regardless of where you work.

[littlenumberrobot]

My small firm does business valuations so I've been working on some of those along with my extension clients. I have a group group that I do financial statement reviews and multistage returns for. This keeps me busy through 9/15 then the shareholders' returns and whoever else comes late for the 10/15 deadline. No overtime for me just steady busy. I was super slow May and June I went hunting for projects, even brought in my own valuation client. Again small firm(5 people) so this was acceptable.

Hope this helps! Whereabouts are you located in ca?

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Ethics 90%

[Author]

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