ALL ABOUT PUBLIC ACCOUNTING
ARDEL I. AGLIAM
Nowadays, public accounting is often the first choice for graduates with accounting degrees. Those who have experience working in public accounting know that there are pros and cons in this industry. A survey has been conducted recently to try to understand what attracts people to public accounting, and what employment issues this industry may have. Among the “pros” is that partners feel like they are business owners with the diversity of interesting tasks they perform on a daily basis. There is also flexibility in their job. Also, partners and staff value the people they work with on a daily basis.
They also indicated that they work in an intellectually stimulating environment. While there is a lot of work that requires use of the brain, there is also a lot of work which might make one feel like they are not intellectually stimulated. This shows that public accounting is a good job for only a certain personality types.
Among the cons, partners and staff indicate they find a career in public accounting unpredictable, in light of what they may do on a daily basis and how regulations, among other things, can impact their work.
They said the worst parts of their job are regulations and stress. Regulations, or inspections, were noted as one of the reasons highly performing staff leave public accounting. This shifts work to staff who stay behind, but this results to even more workload on them.
Staff members also believe that the worst parts of their job are the long hours and stress. Audit staff may work long hours a week during the “busy season.” Some of this is attributed to the “team” mentality where a staff feels uncomfortable leaving work while others are still there crunching numbers. Public accounting may be a starting point in a staff’s career, but not necessarily a life-long one, according to those surveyed. The findings of the research seem to go back to the work-life balance issue. Research shows that the poor work-life balance, resulting from unusually heavy work load, etc. may result in (a) greater earnings and (b) poorer health of staff. What can be done to improve the work-life balance in audit firms? Suggestions include extending deadlines for public company report filing; introducing more flexible work arrangements; making cultural changes in allowing staff to leave at the end of a day before a supervisor and managers do; and having a compensation package which would be comparable to other industries for the same skill set requirements.
It would be nice to know if there are more detailed step by step instructions supported by research about how to improve the work-life balance in public accounting. — oOo— The author is from Mabalacat City