[Sandro]

I read a lot of you say that the working hours at public accounting are long but nobody says what they consider long hours. For any of you who are working or have worked in public accounting what are normally the hours during busy season and then for the remainder of the year? – Thanks

[WeWillSee]

I work in corporate tax so my hours are 65-70 Charge hours (Any non-charge is extra) January – March/Mid April – and 40 hours total the rest of the year. I work at a top 25 firm, and I know at the Big 4 they work more hours with less flexibility especially in the first few years.

[Anonymous]

My firm is mid-size (~200 employees). The expectation mid-January through March is 55 billable. April is 45, May-December is 40 with the option do 9/80s or half-day Fridays in the summer.

[Study Monk]

What are 9/80s out of curiosity?

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[silverdice7]

Working 5 days one week, then 4 days the next. Typically taking a friday off. Still working 80 hours over two weeks.

AUD 94
BEC 91
REG 88
FAR 91

Done!

[impska]

I work at a top 25 firm in a smaller office and do both tax and audit. I work 55-60 January-April. 50-55 in May. The rest of the year is 40-45. Once in awhile I'll hit a 50 hour week. No flex-scheduling.

I have a charge vs non-charge % that I'm supposed to hit, but it's over the year, not per week. The hours at my firm are long compared to normal 9-5 type jobs, but my non-charge hours aren't a big burden at my level, so compared to a lot of firms, I have it easy. I've never had to work a 70 hour charge week. The day that expectation hits my desk is the day I quit my job.

REG - 94
BEC - 92
FAR - 92
AUD - 99

[kpb]

great question, i have heard some horror stories about working at big4. I'd love to know too.

BEC - 81 4/08/14
FAR - 80 8/25/14 Thank you Jesus!
REG - 69 (Nov 14),80 1/08/15 Thank God!
AUD - 70 (May 14), xx 5/1/15

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I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

[Mayo]

55-60 hours a week is a good busy season. In my experience, 60-75 become normal busy season once ou hit Senior. After buay season it fluctuates from 45 to 50.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Sandro]

Thank you all very much for your information.

[lude4life13]

In socal at a big 4 this past busy season, it wasn't rare that people (every level except partners im sure) were hitting 80 charged hours a week. Charged doesn't include lunch, dinner, breaks, etc. During “off” busy time its a hit or miss. Get more year ends and have more 70+ hour weeks, get lucky and you might get a 45 hour week once in a while. One thing is for sure; people don't historically leave after 2 years because of 55 hour weeks during busy season, it is obviously worse then that.

[Anonymous]

See…I wish there weren't such drastic differences in opinion towards this matter. I'm starting a Big 4 audit assoc. position in August and it would be nice if the general consensus was the same across the board.

Alas, I suppose that's an unrealistic expectation…

As a result of the varying opinions on hours, I'm kinda scared…but whatever, I'm going to do my best with whatever hours I end up working with regardless.

[Anonymous]

Yep, agree with lude4life. 65-85 billable hours a week are pretty normal with the average probably being in the mid 70s or low 80s. Obviously it fluctuates though – you can have higher and you can have lower. Earlier in the audit, you are gonna be on the lower side. In the last two weeks you may be working full days 7 days a week – whatever it takes to get the work done. IME most audits during busy season are going to have those 85+ weeks towards the end.

Many people from big 4 will have those horror stories where they are constantly working past 11pm or midnight every day to get the work done. I don't think I ever got it that bad although I did have periods where I was getting off every day between 10:30 and 11:30 and then working ~12 hour Saturdays and Sundays. Although that's usually towards the end of the audit when your team realizes that there is no possible way the audit will be completed by filing date unless you start getting stuff wrapped up.

[Anonymous]

@Anonny: So you worked in a Big 4? When you work on weekends do you work at the office or from home?…I assume you can't always count on having access to the client's office

[Anonymous]

Usually at the client site – you typically get your own badges – after all if you could only be at the client site when the client was actually there – the whole team would have to leave around 5pm everyday, right? We can't have that.:).

But it really varies by client, the urgency and, most of all, your seniors/managers. It's all up to them. Although if the team is working full blown weekends, it would be VERY rare for everyone to be doing it from their homes/apartments – auditing is a team sport.

For my teams, if it was just a few hours of work needed, it'd be done from home. As the audit ramps up, full day Saturdays and a few hours on sundays start becoming necessary – then Saturdays are usually at the client and Sunday's on your own from home. …to eventually 7 days a week at the client site.

Although I had one client where the senior got sick of the audit room so demanded weekends would be worked from a conference room at the office – although the norm is definitely the client site because you have hardcopies of support there.

[Mayo]

CPAbday, a lot of it depends on your industry, region, and client.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[jaredo155]

This is sort of off topic so I apologize, but does where you work (ie at the client vs at the big 4 office) differ for audit and tax?

AUD - 2/2013 - Passed!
BEC - 5/2013 - Passed!
FAR - 8/2013 - Passed!
REG - 11/2013 - Passed!
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[Author]

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