On every webinar and CPE I take it seems the theme is always the same. No matter the subject, the comment panels are inundated with staffing & retention questions. Firms across the nation are clamoring to find out how to get and retain talent.
I know firsthand the desperation these firms feel. I am a tax manager at a small CPA firm. I have been here for almost six years (of a 20-year career). My email inboxes (both personal and private) are overrun with people seeing if I am looking for a new job or know anyone who is. The recruiters have even started contacting my husband (who is in sales and stays as far away from accounting and tax as possible) to see if he knows anyone looking to work in accounting firms.
Normally I politely decline the requests. But lately the salary amounts being offered for the tax manager position cannot be ignored. To say it is more than I am being paid is an understatement. We can all think of at least a few fantasies where we put in our two weeks and brave the unknown. But I am picky. Not just as a foodie but also in my career. Private firm over corporate business. Small to midsized firm over large firm.
So being the analytical accountant that I am, I turned to my trusty spreadsheet. I listed the criteria and perks of my current job. Then I listed the best-case criteria to really reach for the sky. And finally what would be the minimum to make a move.
Armed with the coveted data I needed, I started sifting through the emails and responding. The responses were fascinating. I could almost hear the thankful gasps from recruiters who read my resume and responded.
I found myself looking seriously into several firms both local and out of state, based on their job descriptions. I put on my “It’s too good to be true” glasses and started researching. But I noticed one key factor missing. If you dig under the great culture, awesome coffee machines and excellent benefits, you see the shark lurking beneath the surface.
Very few if any firms listed the required billable hours during tax season. So I started to ask the recruiters what are each firms billable hours for tax season. The answers made me fall off my seat: between 55 and 60 hours of billable time each week during tax season (spring and fall). I thought for sure the recruiter must’ve gotten it wrong. In today’s post-COVID world of enlightenment, the Great Recession, the great awakening, how could this be? People in all industries starting to shift priorities in what was important in life. How in the world could CPA firms be requiring 55 to 60 hours a week?
I went back and read through each of the firms that were actually willing to divulge the billable hours, as opposed to just saying it’s less than the industry average required. I noticed each one of them bragged about a work-life balance and how family comes first. I ask you this question: How can you have a work-life balance where you put your family first when you’re working 60 hours a week twice a year over what is usually a six-to-eight-week period?
I, for example, have a young child who has school and after-school activities. I have parents who were reaching their later golden years. Spending time with my family both immediate and extended has become a priority after COVID. I’m no different than everybody else out there.
And that’s when it dawned on me: It’s not that there’s a lack of credible, successful and even intelligent candidates out there looking for work. It’s the fact that CPA firms haven’t changed their models. OK, I’ll give them that they are willing to give you a laptop and let you work from home at least a few days each week. But those at the helm of these firms are not willing to acknowledge that a 60-hour week is not conducive to a happy, healthy lifestyle.
One firm owner who reached out to me personally to offer me a tax manager position at her firm was taken aback when I asked how many billable hours are required. It was almost like I had discovered the card that they were holding up their sleeve. Billable hours are the one thing that I guarantee made her cringe, because that’s the worst part of the job. When I told her I was looking to only work 40 to 45 hours during tax season she literally replied to me with a laughing emoji. Then went on to describe how she is a firm owner and she works 85 to 90 hours a week. But that she really loves what she does and that’s why it’s not work.
And she was not an anomaly. They all say the same thing: “We pay great pay, and you have great benefits because we’re a work-life balanced culture-forward firm.” Yet they still subscribe to the same model that you must work 55 to 60 billable hours in order to be profitable. I currently work at a firm where I work 40 hours during tax season and 35 in the month of June and July. And we get by just fine.
I decided to write this article to hopefully open at least one person’s eyes. It’s right there in front of you. We are all very analytical. We look at the facts and understand things. But stop saying there are not enough people out there willing to work. Especially in the accounting field. There are well-qualified people who were looking for a bump up in pay but not looking to sacrifice literally their lives to work 60 hours a week.
When CPA firms finally start realizing that people do have lives outside the firm, and that they do want to have a career and have a work-life balance that’s real, then the CPA firms will see the jobs start to fill.
