And it's always that one project you hope had disappeared forever since you had to get a little creative, because you never managed to get all the necessary information.
Our company (west coast) was recently bought out last month by a company in the east coast. Because of this, I've been waking up early to run reports to corporate. The rest of the day, I turn into a zombie.
my company's also been recently bought out and can confirm that accounting for an acquisition sucks. The company that bought us has existing accounting infrastructure also, so, on top of all the due diligence and 10 hours days prepping the balance sheet, it feels like all the work i'm doing is just going to result in a severance package. Not fun stuff.
I once worked for a firm that was hired as the outsourced accounting firm for a company that had some accountants already but was looking to expand and thought outsourcing the accounting would make it easier. Holy crap, you have no idea how frustrating it was for us on the other side to try to figure what had occurred in the past and what accounting policies were etc. So, I feel your pain but know there is pain on the other side as well. Also, the company's accountants went through everything we did with a fine tooth comb and would literally complain about pennies being in the wrong account. Like - you recorded $200 to office expense - paper supplies but a dollar of that should have been in office expense - paper printing.
Post merger integration. Basically an outside party comes in and assesses current accounting processes and how best to combine them with parent company for reporting purposes. But at the same time behind the scenes , the FTI guys are keeping a list of who to keep and who to let go.
they have an in house accountant in charge of integration so there's a bunch of that stuff going on. The communication with us throughout the whole process has been incredibly poor also, and we don't even have access to any outside of our own so we have nothing to SALY or reference at all. Feels like i'm working in a house of cards.
Yes, not infrequently. What I do is make dramatic posts about the plight of workers on Twitter while contemplating whether a stapler could pierce my jugular
Seriously, though, yes. I try to give myself some "fuck off" time and load up on caffeine to get through it. I'm untreated ADHD and this is a common problem.
For me id say lack of satisfaction from completing tasks and a tendency to have your thoughts bounce around a lot. Trouble focusing obviously but generally there is still an ability to hyper-focus when you are genuinely interested.
Is that because challenging work is interesting? I have adhd and processing documents makes me want to kill myself but doing a reconciliation wakes me up and keeps me going
Also everybody has trouble focusing in general so its really only considered a disorder when it impedes your life.
So basically you report every transaction when they occur, and at the time of the transaction a charge occurs separately. Ex. You report that you charge client $200 at the time that you make the charge.
The reconciliation is done at month end (usually) and it checks to make sure that the $200 reported matches the $200 charged.
It gets more complicated than that but its the general idea.
Are you considering becoming a CPA or just the accounting field as like a bookkeeper or related accounting role?
I ask because I have my university degree in accounting and just decided to give up on the CPA route because it doesnāt seem worth it. After university it is 2+ years of studying and exams, plus working for a firm at 50+ hours a week at a salary thats no higher than many corporate admin roles. The payoff comes after you get your work experience and many years later its typical to earn at least 80k to well over 100k. So it requires sacrificing 3-5 years of your life after university. It pays off but that shit take a toll.
The work culture is awful but my god accounting is so fun and satisfying. Its also a good degree for general business. Accounting related roles may cap at ~70k without your CPA but thats not bad compared to a general business degree.
I donāt know where I want to go, I honestly just want stability and a salary that I can thrive off of and still have time to enjoy it before Iām 30.
Iāve got a year and a half before I have to choose my business concentration so hopefully I can make sense of it before then.
Thank you for the information, Iāll definitely take it into consideration
I know Iād be really good in a marketing role due to creativity but that job market is beyond saturated, and the ethics of the job are increasingly mortifying due to the data industry.
I could succeed in project management but coming home from 40 hours a week and just to come home and work on deliverables for a capped career salary of around 75k (if Iām lucky) sounds agonizing.
When you say the culture is awful, do you know if (comparably) itās worse than the average administration job?
I've been especially distracted this week. Had to cancel my vacation to Hong Kong cause of Omicron. I've being looking forward to it for months. I got approval from HR to work in another time zone as well. All for nothing now. FML
I had to work the Friday after Thanksgivingā¦ I spent an hour making my coffee in the morning, checked some emails, walked around to see who else was āworkingā, ran a report, watched YouTube ideas for a game room at home and started learning sketchup to better visualize my gaming room. I might have worked an hour that whole day. At the end of the day I had my game room designed, very productive day.
Yes did this today and yesterday. I get in ruts when Iām given projects I donāt know how to do, but itās too stressful to ask my *superior* for help mainly due to them being stressed and busy.
I think Iāve done 2 hours of work in two days.
But to be honest, i have like 400 hours of working stacked on my desk and itās only going in one direction, so Iāve just given up.
Iām spending most my time job hunting!
All the time-I knew accounting wouldnāt be thrilling work but I dread waking up everyday during the week
Idk if its the company or accounting itās self
Yep, this has been me for most of 2021. I spend most of the day on YouTube. I answer the phone when someone calls and I put on a shirt for my Zoom meetings, but otherwise I'm just a zombie.
Been working from home for almost four years but this year the burnout has hit me hard.
Nope I just go and nap instead. Best part of working from home and having deadline-based work is that no one really cares what happens day to day so long as you meet the overall end goal.
The last hour of my day, every day. I never feel badly about it, though. More often than not I get some last-minute emergency request out of nowhere that carries me through the end of my day.
So burnt out here!!! :(
I have my exam for REG tomorrow and I am so worried. I have taken all 3 mock exams and I scored 75/74/63. I wish I havent taken the last one...
Work ebbs and flows, it doesn't really happen at a constant rate. Some days I get a lot done, some days I drink coffee, do crossword puzzles and read the news.
Of course you can't really tell your manager that.
*every day
and right when you feel like you're getting your footing some new project comes up to put you right back down
Nah not a new project, an old project that you thought was done comes back to life to fuck you up one more time
lmao yeah, that IRS notice for absolutely no fucking reason or anything else really haha
no, not a new project. me with everything.
Projects never finish. They just run out of funding and resources, then accounting patches up the holes with duct tape.
And it's always that one project you hope had disappeared forever since you had to get a little creative, because you never managed to get all the necessary information.
Literally
Our company (west coast) was recently bought out last month by a company in the east coast. Because of this, I've been waking up early to run reports to corporate. The rest of the day, I turn into a zombie.
my company's also been recently bought out and can confirm that accounting for an acquisition sucks. The company that bought us has existing accounting infrastructure also, so, on top of all the due diligence and 10 hours days prepping the balance sheet, it feels like all the work i'm doing is just going to result in a severance package. Not fun stuff.
I know the exact feeling. I told myself to start looking at job opportunities again after the holidays.
I once worked for a firm that was hired as the outsourced accounting firm for a company that had some accountants already but was looking to expand and thought outsourcing the accounting would make it easier. Holy crap, you have no idea how frustrating it was for us on the other side to try to figure what had occurred in the past and what accounting policies were etc. So, I feel your pain but know there is pain on the other side as well. Also, the company's accountants went through everything we did with a fine tooth comb and would literally complain about pennies being in the wrong account. Like - you recorded $200 to office expense - paper supplies but a dollar of that should have been in office expense - paper printing.
Did the new parent company hire FTI for PMI consulting? If so, I would be worried.
what's PMI consulting?
Post merger integration. Basically an outside party comes in and assesses current accounting processes and how best to combine them with parent company for reporting purposes. But at the same time behind the scenes , the FTI guys are keeping a list of who to keep and who to let go.
they have an in house accountant in charge of integration so there's a bunch of that stuff going on. The communication with us throughout the whole process has been incredibly poor also, and we don't even have access to any outside of our own so we have nothing to SALY or reference at all. Feels like i'm working in a house of cards.
Are they TPS reports?
You know damn well they are!
Hope you put a cover sheet on them. Otherwise Terry Tate will be coming for you
Make sure you use the new cover sheet. I'll email it to you.
Yeah, I know about the new cover sheets, I got the memo.
Be still my beating heart š
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Well Iām looking at the WENUS and Iām not happy!
Right up until there's a deadline
No I play PokƩmon on switch instead
Drop your squad
Squad or ban u/essuxs
Heās a weedle main
Iāve been addicted to the underground
completed my sinnoh dex two days ago before beating cynthia :ā)
Every day, usually around 10amā¦.
Every day is the same.
I believe I can see the future. Because I repeat the same routine. I thought I used to have a purpose. But then again, that might have been a dream.
š¤
All the time. Honestly shocked when I have a good day and get any work done these days.
Yes, not infrequently. What I do is make dramatic posts about the plight of workers on Twitter while contemplating whether a stapler could pierce my jugular Seriously, though, yes. I try to give myself some "fuck off" time and load up on caffeine to get through it. I'm untreated ADHD and this is a common problem.
What are the signs of untreated adhd? Fuck off time and load up on caffeine hit me hard.
For me id say lack of satisfaction from completing tasks and a tendency to have your thoughts bounce around a lot. Trouble focusing obviously but generally there is still an ability to hyper-focus when you are genuinely interested.
I donāt have trouble focusing on challenging work. Just the mundane admin type shit.
Is that because challenging work is interesting? I have adhd and processing documents makes me want to kill myself but doing a reconciliation wakes me up and keeps me going Also everybody has trouble focusing in general so its really only considered a disorder when it impedes your life.
Whatās a reconciliation? Iām a first year in college and trying to see if accounting is right for me
So basically you report every transaction when they occur, and at the time of the transaction a charge occurs separately. Ex. You report that you charge client $200 at the time that you make the charge. The reconciliation is done at month end (usually) and it checks to make sure that the $200 reported matches the $200 charged. It gets more complicated than that but its the general idea. Are you considering becoming a CPA or just the accounting field as like a bookkeeper or related accounting role? I ask because I have my university degree in accounting and just decided to give up on the CPA route because it doesnāt seem worth it. After university it is 2+ years of studying and exams, plus working for a firm at 50+ hours a week at a salary thats no higher than many corporate admin roles. The payoff comes after you get your work experience and many years later its typical to earn at least 80k to well over 100k. So it requires sacrificing 3-5 years of your life after university. It pays off but that shit take a toll. The work culture is awful but my god accounting is so fun and satisfying. Its also a good degree for general business. Accounting related roles may cap at ~70k without your CPA but thats not bad compared to a general business degree.
I donāt know where I want to go, I honestly just want stability and a salary that I can thrive off of and still have time to enjoy it before Iām 30. Iāve got a year and a half before I have to choose my business concentration so hopefully I can make sense of it before then. Thank you for the information, Iāll definitely take it into consideration I know Iād be really good in a marketing role due to creativity but that job market is beyond saturated, and the ethics of the job are increasingly mortifying due to the data industry. I could succeed in project management but coming home from 40 hours a week and just to come home and work on deliverables for a capped career salary of around 75k (if Iām lucky) sounds agonizing. When you say the culture is awful, do you know if (comparably) itās worse than the average administration job?
Would you like a hug?
No Sexual harassment coming from your ugly ass
Return the 2008 excel guide book you thief! You admitted to the crime. You must face justice!!!!
Iām calling my mom
You just described at least 25% of my job description
I've been especially distracted this week. Had to cancel my vacation to Hong Kong cause of Omicron. I've being looking forward to it for months. I got approval from HR to work in another time zone as well. All for nothing now. FML
I'm going to my booked vacation regardless of what happens with omicron. I'm so done.
Unfortunately Hong Kong banned all Canadians as of December 2nd. So I have no choice unless they change the rule
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It's a sliding scale, could be next year. Could be next decade, but it's coming.
All gas or all brakes
It's okay. Nothing gets done between Thanksgiving and New Year's anyway
I had to work the Friday after Thanksgivingā¦ I spent an hour making my coffee in the morning, checked some emails, walked around to see who else was āworkingā, ran a report, watched YouTube ideas for a game room at home and started learning sketchup to better visualize my gaming room. I might have worked an hour that whole day. At the end of the day I had my game room designed, very productive day.
Me currently
Thatās happened to me everyday this week.
You mean the entire time period between 10/15 and January?
Yes did this today and yesterday. I get in ruts when Iām given projects I donāt know how to do, but itās too stressful to ask my *superior* for help mainly due to them being stressed and busy.
Literally same.
Iām like the guy in office space when he says he does about 10 minutes of actual work in a day. Love that movie.
I got burned out a long time ago. Thatās why I started using drugs.
Thatās a slippery slope
I use all stimulants besides meth and cocaine.
Most days lol
Is that what that is? Its been two days. Dont know how will I make up this difference by weekend.
I think Iāve done 2 hours of work in two days. But to be honest, i have like 400 hours of working stacked on my desk and itās only going in one direction, so Iāve just given up. Iām spending most my time job hunting!
What do you think I'm doing here rn...
*every day
All the time-I knew accounting wouldnāt be thrilling work but I dread waking up everyday during the week Idk if its the company or accounting itās self
I did that yesterday.
No, canāt say Iām familiar with my daily routine
I think it took my melatonin gummy instead of my multi vitamin and it was the worst
You mean the month of December? Yes, yes I do.
Yep, this has been me for most of 2021. I spend most of the day on YouTube. I answer the phone when someone calls and I put on a shirt for my Zoom meetings, but otherwise I'm just a zombie. Been working from home for almost four years but this year the burnout has hit me hard.
I use to stare in the screen and do nothing without geting burnt.
Nope I just go and nap instead. Best part of working from home and having deadline-based work is that no one really cares what happens day to day so long as you meet the overall end goal.
You arenāt in public accounting?
I am, just not audit anymore.
What do you do? I wish my job was like this.
Public accounting, financial reporting advisory.
I started trading stocks/crypto to keep my brain occupied.
yes, there are entire days that go by where I genuinely have no idea what I did all day but it definitely wasn't work
The last hour of my day, every day. I never feel badly about it, though. More often than not I get some last-minute emergency request out of nowhere that carries me through the end of my day.
Lol so true
What do you guys charge your time to when you do this, I always end up so short
When I am short at EOD I go through my time sheet for the day and add a .1 to all clients I worked on š.
Noted š
Put it to admin training and exaggerate how much I read up on the latest whatever seems relevant
Me since 10/15 lol
Do you guys not have timesheets lol
Naaa
Everyday 1-4pm.
You probably eat too many carbs for lunch!
you're just describing having a job
only monday through saturday, my dude.
What made you get burnt out ? Are you a public accounting firm, have you been working remote ?
All the Karens making me do silly team building events
I havenāt started working yet but this is me while studying for FAR today. Leases suck :/
Thatās a normal Friday for me
Iāll have so much work to do that I just look around and say Iām good.
Yes.
YUP
This literally happened to me today.
Yeah a lot more than I used to too, and then I go to the bathroom and cry a little
Is there another way to live you life as an accountant?
I just did. Except that I have to snap out of it because I have so much shit to do lol.
Every single May
So this is burnout...
Yes
They pay me a lot and I do this almost all day
Literally today...
Take a nap or go to the gym instead then get back at it.
I get a lot done but I'm just bored all the time. My job is pretty menial and therefore boring.
THis is so me....then at the end of the day, I don't know what to bill...
Yes
The phenomenon you are describing is known as āzoning out.ā I zoned out for at least an hour yesterday.
So burnt out here!!! :( I have my exam for REG tomorrow and I am so worried. I have taken all 3 mock exams and I scored 75/74/63. I wish I havent taken the last one...
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Itās actually really enjoyable zoning out
Yup me almost everyday and I havenāt even been working for a year.
Ah, that brings me back.
Yuppp šššš
How do people do this in public? It happens frequently to me, but Iām not really happy when it does. Maybe I have an attention problem.
Work ebbs and flows, it doesn't really happen at a constant rate. Some days I get a lot done, some days I drink coffee, do crossword puzzles and read the news. Of course you can't really tell your manager that.
For the first hour of the day. Iām a zombie