Accountants Drowning in Workload & Stress
22 posts across 5 communities in the last 90 days; 82% from r/Accounting.
“Why do you guys insist on staying so late to complete tasks that don't really matter in the long run? Why does Gen X in accounting insist on working ridiculous amounts of hours? Gen X accountants will accuse you of not focusing on the work enough if you simply leave at 5. So…”
“You’ve gotta be psychotic🤣😭 I’m trying to enjoy it but literally can’t. I have to have a couple of drinks sometimes before starting because i hate it so much”
“Same. Fucking useless ERP in a cheap ass place. Being a damn cost center sucks. They blame us for being inefficient yet, don’t want to spend a damn dime expanding the damn team (always a bunch of turnover on the team aswell). I’m not shitting on the career but it is what I have…”
Many accountants are experiencing intense Sunday scaries and overall stress due to increased workloads, constant pressure for efficiency and billing goals, and a lack of true downtime. The feeling is exacerbated by longer weekends.
SOURCES (38)
“Just trying to get a feel for how miserable or unmiserable everyone is. submitted by /u/Birb_Chirb [link] [comments]”
“Why do you guys insist on staying so late to complete tasks that don't really matter in the long run? Why does Gen X in accounting insist on working ridiculous amounts of hours? Gen X accountants will accuse you of not focusing on the work enough if you simply leave at 5. So ridiculous. They will say your paying too much attention to the time. They are stubborn. Thats right I said it. You people from Gen X and baby boomers are so stubborn. With your ways. submitted by /u/Historic”
“Starting my new job next week. First accounting job outside of audit. Nervous about what is ahead of me.”
“You’ve gotta be psychotic🤣😭 I’m trying to enjoy it but literally can’t. I have to have a couple of drinks sometimes before starting because i hate it so much”
“Servicing M&A and so far all those horror stories about going to dinner at 9pm then having to run back to the computer is not what I have experienced. When I have weekend work usually it’s just 3-5hrs and I can still go out at night. I bring my phone just incase but never get bothered. When I do its never urgent. Is the whole you need to run back home on a friday night to answer emails accurate for some people? I was expecting a lot worse because I heard this is the norm. Weekday nights on t”
“80 hour weeks July through October. Week of filing 110 hour week with a 20 hour day following, 130 hours in 8 days. I developed legitimate depression and anxiety that took a few years to normalize from”
“I live every moment of every day in unimaginable pain, followed by brief moments of less pain.”
“I was just so tired. I made a comment that I wish we didn't have to work on Sunday. The manager on the team heard me and told me that he was missing his child's birthday party to be on site, like it was a flex and not a thing that is actually just sad. He left a comment on my performance review saying that I'd have a successful career as an auditor if I would just shut up about the hours. I guess he was right bc I did not shut up about the hours. I cut my audit career short and baile”
“Shitty small offices competing against each other for resources. Check. Dysfunctional hour goals. Check. Shitty pay. Check. Tell me it's CLA without telling me it's CLA.”
Yeah I agree. The Monday black cloud ruins my Sunday evenings.
“I’m not a doctor, and I’m definitely not your doctor. But you should be checked out for anxiety.”
“the slow weeks stress me out so much that I still hold on to my full-time job even though my ecomm is already earning quite decently overall. I'm too afraid of the slow weeks becoming more and more frequent! Following this thread because I have no clue xD”
“Freaking every month end are brutal opening month are bd days After just recovering look there is q end now and there is always year end pressure silently waiting for you”
“I totally get this feeling. Working in accounting, you keep expecing things to calm down, but there is always more work rolling in. It feels like work is endless.”
+1 Getting thrown on a 6/30 YE main client and having to help on 12/31 YEs
“For you guys in the US working in public accounting. How many of you have to go to the office on a Saturday? If so how many Saturdays do you go before the deadline? submitted by /u/Scaredjudge [link] [comments]”
“Nobody does cost accounting for construction. Everything is late and over budget by millions /s”
“Just wondering, I just kick off my VBA code to run all my reports so now it’s time to babysit and hope it doesn’t have a tantrum. submitted by /u/BCBB89 [link] [comments]”
“I would get to work at 6 or 6 30 to beat traffic and study until 8 30 or 9. Then study a couple more hours in the evening. This was before busy season started.”
“Is this from anticipating a public speaking engagement or important presentation...totally normal. If this is a routine feeling on sunday because monday is approaching, that is going to destroy your well-being rather quickly and you will loathe most of your waking life. If your work life balance is not where it should be, maybe you can have a conversation with your leadership. If they are not open to discussing, then it may prove to be a worthwhile investment in looking for something related but”
“1) Working extra hours is a scam 2) Most Cheif Accounting Officers/CFO's are so detached from reality they don't know what their group needs to succeed nor do they care”
“Same. Fucking useless ERP in a cheap ass place. Being a damn cost center sucks. They blame us for being inefficient yet, don’t want to spend a damn dime expanding the damn team (always a bunch of turnover on the team aswell). I’m not shitting on the career but it is what I have experienced so far. Anxiety and always putting out fires. The name of the game in this damn career. They want data but hate to pay for it. That’s has been my experience in public plus industry.”
“Join your local NABA. I’ve gone and participated in events, very helpful for networking”
“There is no longer a true "slow season," and any spare moment is filled with stress - Growth! Efficiency! Billing goals!”
“Ooh, what firm if you're willing to share? I come from business management background. Currently trying to transition out, but I'm always interested in learning about black or poc owned firms!”
“I only care when when I'm at work, once I step off work premises I flip that part off like a light lol”
“The longer the weekend the worse the dread is. I had to do so many chores today it is just misery.”
“Hello I’m looking for other black women or black people in general for advice or even encouragement. I’m a 38 year old woman that’s trying to get back into the working world so I’m attending a university this fall to work on my bachelors in accounting. I been looking up stuff and it looks like in this role we are just quite a small percentage of the community. Is it still worth getting into? Now I’ve worked in banking in my early 20s to early 30s and I was use to being one of two in that area bu”