[IwannabeaCPA2017]

Hey guys,
So I dont know if I am just freaking myself out right now. I had a pep talk with a few co-workers today and they brought up my hours. Im still somewhat new to the firm but they mentioned I was low on hours compared to those that started with me. My performance review is in May and Im worried I will be let go because of my hours not being as great as others I started with.

Ill be frank, I ate some of my hours because I was afraid of going over budget but I wish I did not do it now I’m looking bad. I rather go above than under.. Im 9 months in and I really hate to find another job because of this.. I have too much bills to pay to go unemployed. LOL

For those in public accounting or have had years of experience, can anyone offer some insight? How should I explain to my partner? I probably shouldn’t tell them that I was eating hours.

[Pete]

How low are your hours relative to the others? If you're only slightly less than them, you'll be ok. If you're significantly less than them, you might have problems.

I WOULD NOT recommend telling the partner that you put down fewer hours than you actually worked. They might take that as unethical, that you'd be willing to essentially lie in order to meet expectations. They might think that if you lied on hours, you might lie on something else. In addition, you then put them in a bad position, since legally they can get in trouble, when people eat hours.

Also consider, does your firm have minimum hours for certain seasons (ie. tax season). If you're below the minimum number of hours they expect, that could be a problem.

I would wait to see what they say in May.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[IwannabeaCPA2017]

Thanks for the reply ratfus. All I am hearing is that they dont take your first year hours into consideration as much as long as you are comparable to people you started with. I looked at my time and on average people generally work for 55-57 hours per week for my level. But I had few weeks where I was only in 45-48 range. So I am thinking I may be behind by 70 hours or so total. I know that is a lot of hours. Even had I charged actual I think I may still come out below 20-25 hours behind.

I just didnt realize how important hours were. Thought as long we finish work on time thats all that matters. And you have a great point on the ethics part. Didnt even think about that at all. I did tell my coworker I was undercharging and he too didnt suggest me saying anything. Now I just feel dumb for even telling him that.

I just feel so terrible as a whole after this incident.

I was given a suggestion to just pick up as many hours as possible next week to balance out.. I guess not much I could do now except work my butt off these next few days. Maybe accounting isn't the right fit for me afterall.

[Jdn9201]

You mention coworkers brought up your hours – are these people that you report to? If yes, then at least work within the expected range until May, and wait to have that conversation if they bring it up again in May. If you don't report to them, try and let it go in one ear and out the other. You will drive yourself crazy if you become overly concerned with what everyone thinks about you. All you can do is what you can control – and that's your work (accuracy, quality, etc.). And you shouldn't base whether or not accounting is a good fit for you on the opinion of other people who aren't your boss. Ok – if you are unhappy in a few years, or not getting it, etc. then it may not be for you. Even then, you could just be with the wrong firm. As far as admitting eating hours – that's a tough call. If my boss asked me about my time, I would admit it just because on paper, it makes me look like I didn't meet expectations if my hours are way under what they consider the norm. I would also let them know if someone pressured me to eat my hours. Hopefully, they forget about it and the conversation never comes up. Good luck!

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[Pete]

They monitor hours to a T from what i've seen. I've been at several different firms and they definitely look at those hours. They also look at productivity efficiency. If you spend too long on things, they (the managers) will likely get annoyed that you're “using up all their hours” on projects. Some firms monitor the hours/productivity less than others. If it's a big firm, they likely monitor everything though.

Since you bill less than others (ie. your rates are lower than a partners), they won't be as harsh on the time it takes to complete a project; however, they won't like it if you spend 7 hours on something, which you must redo, since it was done wrong. The key might be to work a little above everyone else, then eat up the hours, which are over the average. For example, the average individual is working 60 hours/week. You should work 65 hour, but eat the 5, which are above the average.

It really depends on the manager, weather you should tell him that you're “eating hours.” Some will view it as positive, while others will view it poorly (I imagine most will view it in a negative light).

Granted, I've only last a few months within these firms, so I could be completely off base.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[IwannabeaCPA2017]

gotcha. See, I wasn't exactly sure what I should do since it was my first job and not that many people I know were in the field. I did not want to look too bad or be seen as inefficient. Those people were the ones I work with the most, they are just in their 3rd year. I guess it was a warning and a heads up. One of them just told me to come up with an explanation in may and tell the partner that I have learned my lesson etc and plan to meet the hour expectations etc. Im just hoping for the best because I like the firm culture and the people I work with. But being right out of school a lot of the stuff is new and I learn pretty slow, id say.

Thanks tho I appreciate all the insight/advice. If it ends up not working out at the end, then guess it wasn't meant to be.

[rb2017]

I ate a lot of time my first year in public too. However it stressed me out way more under-billing than it did if I went over a few times on budgets since our goal was to be 80% billable during tax season. Most management understand you're bound to go over sometimes, especially when it's the start of your career.

I'd advise to record the actual time going forward for a few reasons:
1) The people who create the budget may not realize that it in fact does take longer to complete a project.
2) If it is taking you longer to complete assignments than your peers, management may discuss with you in areas you might be struggling – they may have not found out you were having efficiency issues until much further down the road. Also if you know you are spinning your wheels, talk to a senior/mentor. Explain the situation and what you have done to attempt your issue – never say “here's the story, tell me what to do.” Attempting something shows you're trying at least.
3) Certain events may arise while you are working on a client that do require additional time and billing. Perhaps the budget is set for a project that is normally clean-cut with no out-of-the blue occurrences. It's important to log your time in detail explaining what you did during those hours.

With all this being said, I should mention worked for a firm with about 120 employees so if you're at a larger firm, it may be different. Hope this helps a bit!

[IwannabeaCPA2017]

@rb, since you mentioned you ate some time too. What happened after? I mean did management find out and say anything? Im just trying to ease my nerves a little lol.

[Anonymous]

It might not be a matter of finding more to do, but a matter of taking more time on your work. For example, more carefully documenting your workpapers, crossing t's and dotting i's, thoroughly communicating in e-mails to clients.

I had a boss once tell me even if I was in the bathroom sitting on the toilet and thinking about a client to bill that time to the client.

[rb2017]

Honestly I never mentioned it to them lol only because I've heard partners show their frustrations when people do that. I just made sure I worked enough to log the minimum amount of hours (54) when I was probably actually working 60+.
It's already April and they're just now telling you about this and it sounds like you weren't really aware of everyone else's hours before that so there's not much they can reprimand you for if you didn't know. If they do, that's pretty shitty.
Since they told you to try to pick up as much as you can in the next few weeks, I'd do exactly that.

[IwannabeaCPA2017]

Thanks. I have had positive feedbacks all this time. I know people are satisfied with my work but at times I may take longer. I guess at this point there really isn't much more I could do and just play by ear. Thanks again guys!

[Author]

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