Work Life Balance in Accounting & CPA Firms

Accountants are always dealing with tight deadlines and crazy expectations from their clients. They have to meet audit deadlines, file taxes on time, and meet different client demands. Some of the pressure from their work makes it hard for these professionals to achieve an accounting work life balance.

While we can’t deny that the financial department of any business is the busiest, should accountants allow pressure from work to get in the way of living their lives?

Accountants should strive to maintain CPA work life balance. They need a clear mind and good physical strength to be productive. They can only get that if they take time off work to relax and destress.

Let’s discuss everything about work life balance in accounting and how simple collaborative software such as Basil can help.

What Does Accounting Work Life Balance Mean?

Work life balance in accounting is not just about clocking in and out on time. You might not be working extra time, but does that mean there’s an equilibrium between your career and personal life? Work life balance accounting firms promote a company culture that recognizes the need for life outside work.

CPA work life balance means prioritizing mental well-being and physical health. It means that accountants get enough time to relax, bond with family, and practice their favorite hobbies. 

To maintain a CPA work life balance, all your interests should overlap seamlessly like a Venn diagram. Your career should not get in the way of your personal life and vice versa.

Reasons Why Accountants Don’t Have a Good Work Life Balance

We can talk about the importance of work life balance accounting all day, but do accountants have a good work life balance? Well, many accountants will answer no to this question. Accountants find themselves working overtime and putting family vacations on hold to meet client demands. 

While many accountants want to achieve a CPA work life balance, many things still get in their way. They need to recognize these factors and learn how to deal with them to achieve accounting work life balance. 

Tax Season Peaks

Tax season means a lot of work for accountants. They have to ensure that all tax returns are properly filed and that the company remains compliant. They have to meet tight deadlines and handle crazy client demands.

Tax seasons expose accountants to stress and burnout. They find themselves working long hours, including weekends and holidays, putting their personal lives on hold.

Continuous Regulatory Changes

Tax laws and regulations change regularly, and accountants must keep up. They must know what changes are taking place and how they affect their specific industries. Failure to keep up with the changes means risking non-compliance, which can be a problem for their clients.

To understand and comply with regulatory changes, CPA firms find themselves with a lot of work. They must ensure all their financial reporting adheres to the changes. The sudden increase of workload throws CPA work life balance off.

Professional Development

Accountants need to keep learning to grow their skills. They must get professional certifications and learn best practices in accounting. They must learn and adopt new accounting tools and project management software like Basil for accounting firms. 

Balancing accounting work, professional development, and personal life can be overwhelming. Many find themselves sacrificing accounting work life balance for training and professional growth. 

Client Expectations

Clients need you to meet their demands and expectations on time. They need their CPA firms to always respond to queries and solve problems as soon as they arrive. Accountants have to be there when the clients need them.

Accountants who can’t say no to clients find themselves sacrificing work life balance for accounting. While agent needs can rise from time to time, learning how to say no to clients improves CPA work life balance.

How to Achieve Accounting Work Life Balance

Work life balance is a choice that any accountant can make regardless of how busy they are. The first step is to understand that both your career and personal life are important. Some of the ways to achieve public accounting work life balance include:

Automating Some Accounting Tasks

Many repetitive accounting tasks can be automated. The easiest among them include payroll processing, expense management, and bank receivables. Automation ensures these simple tasks don’t take up much of your time, so you can only focus on more complex ones.

Automation saves time, minimizes errors, and saves money that would have been spent on manual labor. But to achieve the benefits of automating accounting tasks, you need reliable software that integrates seamlessly with your existing tools and platforms.

Embrace Remote or Hybrid Work

Have you ever calculated the time you spend commuting to and from work? Balancing work and life means not spending a lot of time traveling to work. The time you spend on the road can be converted to working hours if you embrace remote work.

There are plenty of cloud accounting tools that allow you to work from anywhere and still collaborate seamlessly with your team. Get the best virtual collaboration tools for accountants and feel the freedom that comes with remote accounting work.

Delegate Work and Ask for Help

Working alone won’t get you anywhere. Training and trusting junior staff to handle some tasks frees up your schedule. You can delegate the extra workload to them so that you don’t sacrifice your life for work.

Also, talk to your colleagues for ideas on how to better manage your work and life. Your peers can share ideas on accounting for work life balance to help you find what works for you.

Prioritize Your Physical and Mental Health

Too much work without rest is equivalent to risking physical and mental health. Don’t let strict deadlines and crazy demands from your clients mess with your health.

If you get sick or too stressed, you won’t manage your accounting tasks. You can only work if your body has the strength and the will to do so. If your body can’t continue, stop and take a break so that you can come back fresh and stronger.  

Do Accountants Have a Lot of Free Time? 

Accounting is a demanding job that leaves accountants with little to no free time. Public accountants deal with several clients and are often overwhelmed with work. 

However, accountants can create their own free time by understanding how to achieve an accounting work life balance. Think about the benefits that come with work life balance in accounting, such as improved physical health and increased productivity.

Is It Happy To Be An Accountant?

Accounting is a rewarding job, and many people in that profession have good things to say about it. So, despite the tight deadlines and long- working hours, the CPA professionals are quite happy with their careers. They will be even happier if they learn how to achieve a CPA work life balance.

Let Basil Help You Achieve Your Accounting Work Life Balance

Accounting firms should take CPA work life balance seriously. You need healthy, strong, and happy accountants to grow your company. If you’re an accountant, don’t let complex accounting tasks and strict deadlines interfere with your health. 

The first step to achieving life balance accounting is understanding that you can't do everything yourself. If you can’t get help from other accountants, you can use various accounting tools and software such as Basil. 

Basil is your go-to tool for repetitive and tedious accounting tasks that take up much of your time. It is refreshingly simple software designed to help accountants and CPA professionals work smarter and better. 

Give Basil a try today by scheduling a free demo and see how much you can achieve with this software.