[Anonymous]

Hello all,

I have spent ~10 months in public at a mid-size national public accounting firm and am looking for a change. I have a young infant (under 2 months old) but the busy season hours have not let up. Getting home at ~8pm, which is typically the little one’s bed time, is simply not sustainable for me because spending time with my family is far and beyond more important than anything.

I have been looking into pursuing a job as a staff accountant at a nearby nonprofit hospital (~$1 billion in annual revenue) and was wondering whether I could expect the hours to be any better there. I know that outside of public, accountants get to deal with month-end and year-end work, but does the fact that it is a non-profit have a noticeable bearing on the culture and work/life balance? Also – any insight on career potential in large non-profits would be great too! I would love to find somewhere to settle down and work at for 10+ years.

If any of you work in large non-profits – especially hospitals – and would be willing to share your experiences it would be much appreciated.

[Herbieherb]

My last job was a NFP and it was good. Hours 9-5 no weekends…low stress. There wasn't any room for advancement because all of the positions above mine were filled and nobody was leaving. It depends on the hospital tho…they could have crazy hours and lots of room for promotion

NEW YORK- DONE

[StephAV]

I work at a NPO, trade association, 9-5. Although the demands of work keep growing. I'm trying to make a promotion for myself. Most likely no one is leaving. We have a hospital group in our area that I hear is great to work for. The recruiters still say it is not a 40 hour a week job. Seems like hours and pay correlate, but benefits should be looked at. I have extremely good benefits and my pay is pretty low considering my experience. Although I've looked around and without my CPA license there isn't much I'd consider. I'd try glassdoor, see if there are any reviews. Good luck!

FAR - 7/13 - 72, 11/13- 74, 2/14- 82!!! Best score ever (for me)!!!
BEC - 1/14 - 75!!! Perfect score! First Pass! YAY!!!
AUD - 8/14 - 80!!!
REG - 5/14 - 72, 10/14 - 66, 1/15 - 78 - DONE FOREVER!!!
I did 5 of the UNA and CPAExcel classes to earn units.

[jadams84]

I work at a NP 89 bed hospital, we do about $417 mill a year in revenue. Normally work about 50 hours per week but during our busy season (budget and audit) I can sometimes hit close to 70 hours. I think you will like the hours but it has other problems. This is my second healthcare job and what I have learned is you have to deal with a lot more politics in these places than you do in other jobs. Lots of drama!!

AUD-54,67,71,77
BEC-71,80
FAR-60,70,75
REG-54,69,78

Ethics- Done!

[Anonymous]

I left public accounting to become a staff tax accountant at a non-profit hospital organization and am really happy with the switch. Of course, it will always be different depending on the structure and needs of where you go, but I always think it is worth the time to look into.

[Texan_Stuck_In_OK]

I am a Controller at a county hospital with 99 beds and this is my second time working for a NFP hospital (199 beds). Usually the staff accountants are non-exempt and typically only work 40 hours per week. Sometimes, depending on the month end work distribution, you could work some overtime and usually during audit. My hosp also has a for-profit corporation that we are related to that has a different fiscal year end so we have full blown financial audits twice a year. But hospitals are a special beast-we also have the Cost Report, DSH audits annually and the Occupational Mix every three years. It really depends on how many staff are there but this seems pretty typical. I do work a lot of hours but the hospital has worked with me on being flexible. I commute an hour to work and have three kids with a hubby about to deploy to Iraq for a year so they have set me up where if I need to I can work from home.

A 88, B 76, F 84, R 76 Passed 2014

Licensed in OK

[Author]

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