[leglock]

Went on an interview and was told the hours are 8-5 but another member of mgmt said that he feels accounting is not an 8-5 position and that often you have to stay later esp at month end and tax time.

So I’m wondering what your official hours vs.what you end up actually working.

[solescpajourney]

I'm in state government and work 8-5 M-T and 8-3 F (8-12 on Fridays May – July). We used to be off every Friday during the summer, but it's changing this year. When we are preparing financials at the end of the year, I may work late a few days, but not very often! I don't miss CPA firm hours 🙂

[Tripp11]

I work for a small CPA firm (30+ people) and we are typically 8 hours per day, and we are paid for every hour we work. When our work picks up and deadlines loom, we may have our staff work additional time; however, they are paid for every hour they work.

AUD - 93
BEC - 80
REG - 86
FAR - 83

[ruggercpa2b]

I work in healthcare and our hours are 8-5 however when we travel we work till the work gets done. Last week I was traveling and we started work at 730am and stayed till 7pm-8pm. When its not travel week I have to say my schedule is somewhat flexible. Some days I can leave at 4pm if I am going to the gym after work.

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[Gabe]

I work in industry…730am-430pm every day. Half day Fridays in the summer. We had one big project last fall, and I worked a max of 50 hours. Definitely don't miss public 🙂

CPA, CFE
CISA- Experience will be completed by August 2016

[Mamabear]

I manage the accounting department for a public company and my hours are 8-5, but I work more whenever I need to. I have been here at midnight before when something went wrong during a month/quarter/year close out, but it's rare now that we aren't acquiring as many new companies as we used to. I feel the same way that your potential boss does–if you have to stay late, you have to stay late. My job is to make sure our financials are on time and accurate so if the marketing department doesn't get us their co-op or rebate information until 4:45 then I will be here until it gets analyzed and entered into our general ledger because I know the Controller and the CFO will be looking at the numbers first thing in the morning to see where we are with close out. And my opinion is that no matter what department you are in, if you are a salaried employee then regular hours are just a guideline and you work whatever you need to work to get the job done. When I hear “I'm so busy. I can't seem to catch up.” from any of my employees the first thing I take note of is whether they leave at 5:00 on the dot every day or if they stay late to get the job done. However, the flip side to all of that is I am more likely to be lenient for the other 3 weeks of each month if someone wants to take long lunches or leave a few minutes early because we aren't under the same time crunch during those weeks that we are during close out.

Don't let statements like those scare you in an interview. That is basically just telling you to be prepared to work extra if needed.

CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
BEC (08/10/13) 80
AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
FAR (04/12/14) 81
REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

[Anonymous]

My official hours are 8-5 Monday through Thursday and 8-3 on Friday. I work late when it is required to get something done on time, but I try not to make it a habit. The thing is, when the people you report to know that you are willing/able to work late all the time, they will give you more work to do, including things that are not actually within the spectrum of your job responsibilities.. When you establish clear boundaries with your time, that doesn't happen. Same thing with taking time off. If you respond to emails and participate in conference calls when you're on vacation, it will be expected that you are always open to that. If you let people know before you leave that you will not be attending to anything that isn't an absolute emergency, people will miraculously stop bothering with you.

Some will say that if you really care about your job and your company, you will work as much as necessary. There is this insane glorification of working late and making your entire life about your job, but, 10 years into my career, what I have come to understand is that I am better at my job and more excited about my job when I make time for other things. When it gets to the point that my boss is taking note of how often I stay late, I no longer want to work there. I'm damned good at what I do, and if my work product doesn't speak for itself, then being seen at the office outside of normal working hours isn't going to help.

[Mamabear]

I agree with what CaseyTX is saying to a certain point. You definitely don't want to be taken advantage of and you need to realize when that is happening, but it can backfire if you draw too hard of a line on what you are willing to do and what you aren't. I have seen many people get passed over for promotion because of their unwillingness to bend…stay late if necessary, pick up an extra project if necessary, etc. When I look at how late my employees stay it is as a result of them either complaining that they can't finish their work or that they can't take on anything else. It's necessary to look at the whole picture of an employee's day before you evaluate whether or not they have too much on their plate or whether they are trying to push work off on other people.

CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
BEC (08/10/13) 80
AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
FAR (04/12/14) 81
REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

[hasy]

I have TWO places to give an opinion of.

I recently finished an audit internship, where even interns were asked to do overtime (not as much as you think though). It was a mid-sized firm about less than 200 employees and growing. Before busy season started, the auditors actually got to work at 830 and left at 500. So I guess that's like a 37.5 hr work week? However, once it hit February, we started at 800 and left around 6ish (they might have stayed a little longer because we got dinner comped if you worked past 6), MAYBE 8, depending what part of the audit engagement it was. If it was a week before filing, then I've seen that most people left closer to 8.

Unfortunately, they don't know if they have an opening for me this fall until AFTER busy season. So I got a job somewhere else in the meantime as AR.

The accounting dept at this company is fairly small, like 5 people. AR, AP, Staff Accountant, Accounting Manager, CFO. I think we might be looking for another person if the workload gets too much, but at the moment, we're not hiring anymore. My hours are very normal, 8-5 M-F. However, I was told that I might need to work overtime near month-end. They predicted 3 days working until 8PM? Ehh, I still get overtime since I'm on 90 day probation period. So that's really a 40 hr workweek and the work isn't very hard that you carry the stress home. But my supervisor who is prob on salary, WORKS a lot. I'm told that she gets here 630-7 am and doesn't leave 630 pm. The CFO is around the same, I think, since I receive emails from her at 730 am, assuming she prob gets here before that too.

Accounting is definitely a career that requires you to work more than normal. Public Accounting (busy seasons, Jan-Apr/Jul-Sept) and Private Accounting (Month-end)

To be fair though, any job will require you to work as needed. Even engineers at Google are on lockdown when you have to complete a job project.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

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BEC 80 (10/23/15)
FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
REG 52 (4/28/15)
AUD (9/9/16)

Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

[Author]

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