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I’d ask the senior as well (if there is one). I know when I was in public I made sure any of my staff did not work that much and if they had a lot of work I would allocate some back to myself so we could all work around the same amount so there was not a staff working 85 and I work 65, tried my best to be fair all around
The team is so lucky to have you as a leader.
My dad hit 120 during a holiday week doing programming for retail systems. Shit hit the fan that week. I was a kid and still remember that week. Thought he was going to have a heart attack. That week shaped me as a person - it made me determined to prioritize a career where I would only need to work 40-45 hours per week and never be on call. Industry is where it's at. There's no such thing as an accounting emergency.
I'm glad to read that folks have better hours. I've been trying to find just that. I thought about industry, but it looks like it's a hard hit every month end, quarter close, and year end especially for public companies but even private. Are your hours pretty manageable around that time, and if so, what makes things different for you? I'm asking cause I'm trying to figure out my next best step to improve work-life balance.
Pretty sure 96 was my all-time high...and I'm part-time. That being said, assuming the 100 hour week is correct, the worst thing you could possibly do right now is talk to that staff as if you don't believe them. Imagine giving so much extra to your company and instead of a 'wow, you really put in an extra effort that week' you get a 'you're lying'. If you want more information about it, I'd review their PY hours with them, and say 'wow, can you tell me what was going on that week?'. And then if it was something silly like they forgot to put some hours in the previous week, they can tell you that. But if they actually had some massive deadline and did the company a huge favor that week, you didn't alienate them and make them feel like their contribution was unappreciated.
I have hit triple digits exactly twice in my 20+ year career. It happens but it’s got to be a complete debacle situation.
Idk how people even reach 60 week after week
Taxes, end of year, easy to reach and exceed that. Especially if short staffed. If you cant see it, you have a lot if staff or too much is being done by too few
I worked 137 in one week as a Senior 2 and left after that busy season because of it. However that was by far the most, prior to that project my max was 89
@SM3 believe it or not I was absolutely not super effective 😂 funny how much cognitive function decreases on little to no sleep
Think the max I hit was mid 90s. And I've hit 80s plenty of times. And over. As a manager, time to go to bat for him/her and rectify that situation.
Rising Star
I hit 96-98 chargeable hrs a few weeks as a staff…
Oh, I believe it. During busy season, I once clocked in 105 hours. It felt like I was living at my desk. But really, anything after 80 all becomes a blur.
I read a study that found that after about 60 hours per week, the average person's productivity takes a steep dive while their error rate starts climbing. The study's conclusions were that the benefits derived from working horrendous hours are minimized by low output and high error rate, and that it's probably better for the individual and for the organization to limit the number of hours worked per week.
Sounds sensible and reasonable, but the study's authors weren't under a drop dead deadline like our profession. And good luck selling it to the old guard that's still in charge at many accounting firms; they think the business has to be run the way it was when they were coming up.
Tell them they are killing your realization and should be eating their time. This will reduce their hours..
I’ve been in public accounting for 16 years, and have only broke 80 hours 2 or 3 weeks my whole career. I’ve also probably only hit or crossed over 70 5 or so times. I start the busy season in early January and keep a steady 60+ the whole way through.
I’m lucky that way too. My clients start super early in January so I have a longer runway than most.
I definitely did at least 85hrs over 5 days when I was in audit so if the staff was working weekends then I could see them doing 100hrs
Are your work hours better now in Consulting?
Thats definitely not unheard of. Especially if you're traveling to/from clients. At a previous firm, we were allowed to enter our time travelling, and also enter any time working on other clients. All it takes is one delayed flight, and some motivation to work on other client stuff while at the airport.
I've seen more than a few 100+ hour weeks. It's usually do to a complete disaster or a manager not taking their share of responsibility.
I just worked over 110 hours last week
Was it worth it?
I would do some transaction testing if I were you. Is that person working in a completely manual system? Do you have so many approvals that they are waiting on others to get back to them for them to complete their entries? Are you drowning in technology debt where the system should have been updated 20 years ago and it is taking forever to load? Could this associate benefit from some training like teaching them V lookup or pivot tables to get the job done more efficiently? As a good manager it is more important to understand the process to help your associate be successful. You may learn that some processes and procedures are outdated and need to be updated. Good luck.
Pro
Probably a typo?
Definitely done 100+ weeks in audit, but can count those weeks on one hand. Absolutely insane busy season had us doing 8am to ~3am quite frequently
124 hours a week for 10/15 as a senior and kept 100 hours a week for 3 weeks. client kept changed their TB and found new issues. I left right after the season.