[Abby]

I am so ready for tax season to be over. I cannot focus anymore, I still have a wedding in June to finish planning, and I need to take at least one section of the CPA in Q2. I work at a 15 person firm and am the only staff accountant in our main office. My coworker quit in December and still has not been replaced. Instead they hired two part time interns who come and go when they want while I work 55 hours 6 days a week. I have been handling the business returns with very minimal training and I am starting to think my bosses (the two main partners) just work their staff to the bone then hire new every few years. The only positions at my firm are staff and partner. I did receive a 5.2% raise this year but I somewhat feel like I am underpaid. I do like the paid time off I am accruing from tax season though. I guess the upside is my bosses really do truly care about me and my family. I just don’t see how people can work these hours AND study for the CPA exam and perform well at both.

I am just at a point where I don’t know if it is time to move on or if I am just exhausted from the overtime. So far I have accrued 132 extra hours of time off but I had to use part of it to pay for three sections of the CPA. Anyway I guess I just need general advice and to know if public accounting is worth it for the long term.

[Anonymous]

Ouch, hopefully you don't have a long commute on top of that!

[Recked]

The struggle is real but hey, only 3 more weeks.
I made the mistake of going full bore 7 days a week on the CPA starting Aug 28th, mixed in with extension season ending, and right on through my last test on Feb 16th and jumped head first into tax season that was already in full swing.
I am very much looking forward to the next 3 weeks being over as soon as possible.

This too shall pass!!!

[Tncincy]

I know what you mean, I am so ready to be finished so I can have more time to study. Or less time to worry about tax season. I was belly aching about it starting slow, but now I think I'm really ready to be done. Good luck gang.

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[MIsconnie]

I had the brilliant idea of taking REG in the middle of busy season. Bad idea, good result. Hang in there.

[Nate]

Only three weeks left! I know how you feel, my firm just merged with another firm, and a full time person left right before tax season because her dad was diagnosed with cancer. They increase my minimum hour requirement from 60 hours to 70 hours, and we're closed on Sundays so I have to do it in 6 days. It's rough, but we're so close! Of course as soon as I'm done I'm going straight to studying for REG which I plan to take June 10th, but even that isn't too far away, and once I finish REG, well then it's onto the ethics exam and the application and essay/letter to show I meet the core competencies. I guess someday life will be normal. But busy season is over in 3 weeks! We can do it!

[Kat]

I feel your pain. Used to do that in NYC and I had a long commute on top of it. I took REG twice when I was working there and never passed it because I never had adequate time to study, not even on off season. I eventually quit that job and worked at a firm that is much better at it's work/life balance, studied for a month, and finally passed REG. I do think it's 10x harder to pass at firms like the one you're at and I'm sure people will tell you it's still possible, but it's possible only because sometimes we get “lucky.” I think I could have taken REG about 5 more times at my old firm and still not pass it. All I had time to do was, eat, sleep and taxes. If I had time at all to study, I was so completely burned out that my retention level was shot, so it was a pointless cycle. I'm very glad to have gotten out of there and focus on passing the CPA now.

The upside – they paid extremely well. But it still wasn't worth it. I was so frustrated from the sleep deprivation and not being able to do anything else with my life that they could have offered me a million dollars to stay and I would have rejected it. You have to do what is best for your mental health and your progression in life. If you don't think you will be able to pass the CPA at that firm, and your goal is to pass the CPA, I would say to move on from there. Find a company that makes life manageable.

[aaronmo]

I work 75-80 hours a week during tax season…7 days a week…and the partners both work more than that, and push me to stay longer.

HOWEVER…I did NOT prep the CPA during tax season, and don't know how I could have done that. My GUESS, having prepped the exam and done the work, is that it's more the exam causing grief, and before you judge…do a busy season “normally”. I think if you can survive this, you'll be ok. First season is always the worst as well.

Hang in there.

[jenpen]

I would always skip studying during tax season. There was no way for me to juggle the hours necessary to study, work, and survive with that in there.

@Recked I am with you. I started studying again after tax season last year, and did that through my final pass in January with very minimal time off in between exams. I'm happy to be done, but since I went right into tax season I feel like I haven't felt the relief yet. I normally really enjoy tax season, but this year I'm just done and counting down to the end.

AUD - 56 - 68 - 61 - 9/8/16
REG - 75
FAR - 7/15/16
BEC - TBD

Wiley CPAexcel and NINJA 10 Point Combo

[megan]

I feel you @Abby, it's been a tough tax season for everyone..but we are almost to the point that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I was getting burnt out because I was studying for FAR (my last test) and working 6 days a week – all while maintaining a household with 2 small kids and a husband!! It wasn't easy, but I was done with allowing these tests to take up any more of my time, so I buckled down for 5 weeks working during the day and studying at night and I actually passed FAR and it feels so good to be done. Point is, hang in there, just dream of a nice beach vacation that you will go on after you pass the test and use some of that accrued vacation time! Luckily, in our line of work, it's really only crazy for a portion of the year, otherwise it's pretty quiet – at least at my office. That's what my take on public accounting is…it does allow for some downtime – and can be quite lucrative if you are willing to put the time in!

AUD – 82
REG – 81
FAR – 82
BEC – 78

[Abby]

Thanks everyone for the advice!! I think you are exactly right @aaronmo, the past two tax seasons I have enjoyed because I was still in my bachelor's then master's programs and didn't have much to worry about. Now I am getting ready to begin married life with the added stresses of planning a big wedding and trying to get the CPA exam out of my life. I agree that tax season should be easier to handle next year when all of this is off my plate. @Kat, I believe that is what I am going through right now. I have no time to study but luckily I will have a lot of flexibility and time off later in the year to get the exams out of the way. @Jennifer, I made the mistake of trying to take BEC March 9th. I completely bombed it as I didn't finish half the modules in Becker. But I plan to do like you and go right into them after tax season and finish by the end of the year. @megan, I admire your ability to juggle all that AND pass a section!! My goal is to get these exams done before I have kids, hopefully I can get that done. Thanks for sharing your advice. I am trying to remind myself of the nice 40 hour weeks the rest of the year where I am not insanely busy and can just enjoy life.

[aaronmo]

Abby – if you can do that…WITH tax season…you can do anything! Just gut it out…painful as it is. We're almost done (and congrats!).

[suzieemac]

Hang in there, we're almost finished! Our computers went down Sunday, I spent an 8 hour day fixing them (we're a very small firm so no official IT), 14 hours on Monday trying to catch up, eventually I missed my alarm and slept in on Wednesday… oops. We're human, burnout is inevitable. We're not made for this kind of pressure. Its been a rough tax season especially with the new laws but you will feel so great once its over 🙂 This is my 8th tax season and each year I've thrown something extra into the mix (school, wedding, cpa exam, etc). If I can do it, you can DEFINITELY do it!

AUD - 8/12/16
REG - 10/7/16
BEC - 11/18/16
FAR - TBD

#300before30 - Pass the CPA exam before my 30th Birthday.

[megan]

Hello – I thought this would be a good thread to post this question…we are just about a week out from the END OF TAX SEASON!! What do you guys (or your firms) do on the last day? Are you open late or close early? We are closing at 3 to celebrate. Any other exciting plans?

We are almost there guys!

[Recked]

Some years I have worked late to get all my extensions e-filed.
These days I typically stop production somewhere 5-7 days out from the deadline to do all my zero extensions.
If I get them all done in time I get back to local file production, or returns that can be emailed and timely filed.

I handle all extensions for my firm and typically do about 200-250 zeros due personal extensions (batch filed) and maybe 10-15 direct debit extensions a year.

My goal is to never have to work late on a tax filing deadline again in my life.

[Tncincy]

Wow an few more days and 2017 tax season is in the book. I am hoping to get all my drop offs done and not looking forward to holding stuff in my office until October. As bad as I need money I am not really interested in the extension season and getting clients to bring in the proper information. Just don't want the one receipt at a time thing…..lol Well, I hope you guys have a good study summer. I know I need one.

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[Author]

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