Rebecca Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Will you please share when you/your spouse's overtime starts and about how many hours you work a week during that time? My husband is a CPA. He is currently working as a tax analyst for a tax software firm. The overtime is wretched. It is the worst we have ever experienced in our marriage- and it is bad thru the holidays no less! There is also no tax season bonus... However, we are "scared" to move to a position in a public firm if the overtime is just as bad... We have excellent benefits and flexibility for most of the year with this job. I need some info. The firm my husband worked at prior is not a good example of what a typical tax season would be... so we really don't know. Thank you so much! Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Most firms require some overtime from the middle of January to the middle of April. The amount varies by firm - some firms tell employees how much they have to work, while other firms ask employees for their hours budget and then staff accordingly. In the current environment - severe CPA shortage - the employees have a lot of power to work out flexible schedules, esp if they've proven themselves to be competent and valuable to the firm. At my current firm, I work an avg of 50-55 hours per week during tax season and 25-30 hours outside of tax season. When I had my first child, I thought I'd have to leave public accounting, but the way it's worked out, I think I have much more flexibility in public practice than I'd have in industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 Thank you so much Elizabeth! We are scared he would have to work eighty hours a week during tax season. We are in NC too. We moved here from PA two years ago. My husband's prior work experience was all in PA - public firm experience and controller experience. He is working 50-55 hours from the middle of October until the very end of February- and then about 45-50 hours until mid march or so... with scattered overtime in March and April. It is a VERY, VERY LONG season. Thanks again, Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 I can see why the software companies would be having tax season now... and then by February most of the glitches are worked out, so things ease up some. Where did you live in PA? I grew up in western MD just a few miles from the PA and WV lines, SE of Pittsburgh. My younger sister lived in Schuylkill Valley for a couple of years. What part of NC do you live in? We live outside of Raleigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 We lived in the northeast portion of PA. It is technically called the Lehigh Valley- 1 1/2 hours north of Philly and East of Hershey. I am familiar with the area you are talking about due to our traveling back to PA from NC to visit our family! We live now, in Western NC, in the mountain region. I believe my husband's tax season is at least one month longer than it would be in a public accounting position. It is just. really. hard. You are exactly right about the software companies- that is the way it plays itself out. Thank you! Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 When I worked for a public firm, we had to work 55 hours per week minimum from mid-January to mid-April. It actually worked out that I worked about 60 most of the time, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 Thank you... Sixty hours is a far cry from eighty... But it is still rigorous for the stay at home/home schooling mom! Rebecca (it is actually me who is more "scared" because we have six small children and no help but us two) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 I haven't worked for a CPA firm in nearly 20 years, but we actually had two busy seasons, for the calendar year clients it was Jan. - March and then till April for the individual tax clients, but also August - Sept. for June 30 year end clients and tax returns we had extended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Other than publicly owned companies, there are very few C corps these days, so the June 30 fiscal year end isn't really a factor for most firms. The 9/15 deadline will probably be a little worse this year though, because extended partnership and trust returns will be due 9/15 rather than 10/15. The 9/15 and 10/15 deadlines seem to vary a lot. Our firm is very proactive about contacting clients who filed extensions and getting the work in before the last minute. I worked no OT at all this year for the 9/15 and 10/15 deadlines, but I often have in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 When I worked for a CPA, we would pick up around mid-Nov., working on scheduling and getting tax organizers out, maybe a little bit of overtime. January - April 15th, I worked maybe 60 hours. My boss, the actual CPA worked an average of 80+ hours Jan/Feb. and 95+ hours per week during March/April. The only other time we were busy was right after a quarter ended. Summer was always DEAD. I don't miss that life.....Sorry for my lack of optimism. ETA: Since I quit, he has remarried (he was going through a divorce when I worked there) and I would be curious if he has cut way back on his hours, now that he has a family to go home to.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 Thanks ladies. Krazzymommy, it is hard. Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdie Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 I worked in the audit department of a CPA firm and the downside of public accounting was that once you made manager/ sr. manager the partners expected you to start bringing in new clients. So even in the summer, when the workload was lighter, will still had to attend trade meetings, charity events and dinner banquets - anything we could think of to network. Has your dh thought about a job in the private sector? The hours were much more managable and I rarely worked a weekend, except to travel. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted December 9, 2008 Author Share Posted December 9, 2008 bumping this one last time! Thank you! Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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