[mla1169]

I’ve seen quite a few posts from candidates concerned about working 50, 60 or more hours a week and trying to study too. I’ve been under the assumption that probably about 80% of the people here are working those types of long hours and its not keeping them from getting those study hours in.

Was I mistaken?

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[kmwgrace]

Regina that's exactly what I'm looking for. Can I come work for you? lol…

~ Kate... MTX!
CPA exam on hold while I homeschool my 6 year old!

[Anonymous]

I have been a stay-at-home mom for the past 7 years. While I'm glad to have been able to do this while my kids were little, staying at home is not my thing. I'm not crafty, I hate to clean, and I miss having responsibility outside of the home. In preparation for my return to work, I decided to finally buckle down and pass the CPA. I took it 2 times – once in 2001 and once in 2002 – but barely studied. My youngest is almost 2, and I study during his naps and after he and my oldest son go to bed.

I started off at a Big 4 but only lasted 1 busy season. The crazy hours and long commute with DC traffic were just too much, so much so that I fell asleep at the wheel and was in a car accident. That's when I decided that my life was more important. I am hoping to go back to work in public accounting but for a small local firm.

[Anonymous]

A job? What a radical idea! I'd like to have one 🙂

[kandisjoy]

I usually work 40 per week, but sometimes I get up to 55 due to financial reporting deadlines. But that's only maybe 4-6 weeks out of the year. I work for a corporation and I do most of their quarterly and annual financial reporting.

So glad to be out of public accounting! I used to have to work 60-70 hour weeks for busy tax times, and for most audits. Makes me really appreciate my current position.

FAR: 71, 77
BEC: 70, 82
AUD: 62, 78
REG: 71, 68, 85

CA Licensed 11/2011

[Anonymous]

I rarely work over 40 hours a week but when things are tight I put some time in on the weekends. Thankfully I have a well set up man cave where I can VPN in to work and work from the comfort of the basement with ESPN on.

“don't you think you could further your career by working more?” – My biggest philosphy as a manager is working smarter, not harder. I can get more accomplished in my 8 hour work day then most around my office because I understand many different aspects of the accounting system here and not just the area I work in. It's just like studying for the CPA exam, it doesn't matter if you have put 200 hours of study time in if you still haven't mastered the concepts. I deal with a lot of brown nosers in my position and it's extremely easy to differentiate those who quietly go about their work killing it on a day to day basis and those who are only working the extra hours just to look important.

[Anonymous]

I work for the state. I work 40ish hours a week but the trade-off is that I probably wont get a raise for the next 5 years. I do get a ton of state/federal holiday off plus great benefits. Win!

[Anonymous]

@dporter – I agree wholeheartedly. I can get more done in 8 hours than many of my coworkers can get done in 2 days. I don't feel you have to work 50-60-70 hours a week to further your career. I do feel that if you ARE needed, then you need to be available but I don't think how many hours you sit at your desk necessarily justifies how far you will go. If work needs to be done, I'll stay until it's completed…but I won't sit at my desk an additional 10 hours a week just to surf the web and look busy.

Although I'm fairly new to the accounting world, I am not new to the corporate world. I have worked 12-14 hour days and all it did was burn me out and force me to find another line of work.

[Chantel]

I work 38 hours a week at a small CPA firm, I choose to work at a small firm making less money so that I have time to study without going crazy. I don't think I'm holding myself back at all. I just turned 23, if by 24 I can be licensed as a CPA I believe that a bigger and better job will look at that much greater than if I took on a few extra interesting projects in my previous job.

I'll have to agree it depends on what your goal is. I think I'm young enough that I have time to focus on the tests and still have plenty of time to grow as an accountant later on.

F - F ('12), 90 (Dec '15)
A - F ('12), 73 (Feb '16), ? (July '16)
R - 87 (May '16)
B -

[Anonymous]

I work 0 hours a week 🙁

Still in school though!

[jelly]

I work about 40 for my day job in public accounting, and an extra 10 or so for various side clients. It's been a little crazier b/c of many reporting deadlines at the beginning of the year for payroll, grant reports, and annual filings. I took a standardized test recently, which wasn't very difficult, but working so many hours in January really made me anxious and tired about finding time to study. I'm glad the standardized test is over with, now it's mostly dealing with the C's, S's, individuals, an annual audit, and catching up with all the January/Feb reconciliations.

I will admit that I passed the licensing exam awhiles ago, but I also only worked maybe 40-45 hours during that time as well, and it was also cut up with some unemployment in the middle. Don't ask me if I could pass it again!

Couldn't pass again!

[ReneeNC]

I don't have a job. At least not one that pays.

REG - 89
BEC - 82
FAR - 87
AUD - 81
Used CPAexcel, Wiley Online Practice, and NINJA!

[Author]

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