Feel the Burn: Tackling the Problem of Burnout in the Accounting Industry

Anyone who has worked as an accountant or within the accounting industry will be able to tell you a personal story relating to burnout. It’s something that everyone has faced in their lives, at least once, if not multiple times, in a year. It’s no secret, rather it’s an unpleasant reality - one that only seems to be getting worse instead of getting better.

Accounting, as a profession, is a demanding job and firms are often “always on”, with one or two staff members on standby, even on holidays. Particularly during the most infamous time of the year, tax season, accountants run the hamster wheel at twice the velocity for double the length of time, pulling 70+ hour work weeks, working early in the morning and well into the night.?

It’s little wonder that burnout and poor mental health plague the profession as a whole. The problem of burnout is a consistent one that was present before everything upended in 2020. Fast forward more than two years and, instead of burnout rates and job satisfaction rates improving, they’ve unfortunately worsened.?

As the barriers between work and personal life continue to dissolve, CPAs and other working professionals are struggling more than ever before to attain a healthy and sustainable work-life balance.?

With attrition and industry resignation rates only climbing, addressing these underlying issues is no longer something that firms can put off on the backburner for later - they need to address them now to prevent their firms from collapsing from the inside out due to burnout.?

The question is, what is the best way firms can approach this problem? And is there only one solution, or is there more than one way to keep burnout in accounting firms at bay?

The Data Doesn’t Lie: Accountants are Feeling the Burn

Accounting was and, to a degree, always will be a demanding profession. With profit and providing a return to their partners being key concerns, firms are essentially fighting a battle to win and keep each one of their clients every day.?

What firms often don’t realize is that they’ve been fighting is, in fact, two-fold: an external battle to retain clients and an internal battle to retain employees. Firms have been falling short on this second front for a long time without being aware of the detrimental effect it has been having on their primary battle.?

A 2019 study released by AAT found that 90% of accountants surveyed reported feeling stressed out at work. These findings are supported by the notably high average turnover rate at larger firms, pre-pandemic.?

These stress levels have only continued to climb throughout 2020 and beyond, with a 2021 Indeed study reporting that 52% of workers feel burnt out, up from 43% before 2020. It’s not hard to pinpoint why this is the case. The shift from office-based to remote work, the disruption and blurring of the once clear work-life distinction, and the isolation have all added pressure to an already overburdened, overworked industry.?

More recent studies don’t paint a much brighter picture, unfortunately. In a study of 204 accounting and finance professionals (82% of whom are CPAs), 99% of respondents reported experiencing burnout. The metrics used to measure the degree of burnout experienced were represented on an MBI scale of 1 to 100, structured as follows:

1 - 20 points: low burnout

20 - 40 points: moderate burnout

40 - 60 points: medium burnout

60 - 100 points: high/extreme burnout

Of the 99% of accounting professionals who reported experiencing burnout scored an average of 47 points. 53% of respondents were at or above this average score and 24% reported high levels (60 points and above) of burnout.??

Additionally, the study found that burnout levels directly correlated with the disruption the respondents felt to their lives during the financial close of the year.?

How Can the Burnout Problem Be Sufficiently Tackled?

This is a tough question to answer and the answer will likely change depending on who you ask. It’s clear that firms need to funnel more resources into supporting and easing the burden placed on their employees, particularly during crunch time when returns are filled en-masse. But the approach that firms take needs to be handled carefully. Feelings of burnout need to be effectively dealt with, not placated.?

Simply increasing employees’ earnings and other benefits, while well-intentioned, will only momentarily suspend these feelings and ultimately won’t prevent burnout from developing and employees eventually resigning. While better benefits can indeed cushion the blow, firms need to make major improvements to their management processes to help lighten the load that CPAs carry daily.?

Taking proactive steps to improve workflows, systems and processes can go a long way in making the jobs of your firm’s employees much easier and more manageable. Leveraging technology, automating repetitive tasks, and implementing robust training programs so all staff can effectively utilize the resources at their disposal is a necessity for firms looking to scale and grow without sacrificing employee health and wellbeing on the way.?

Extend supportive resources beyond the office for employees. Many employees are feeling exhausted and stressed - the key ingredients of burnout. Implement comprehensive employee assistance programs (EEPs) that offer mental health assistance, counseling, health and wellness consultation, and more. Encourage staff to take advantage of these resources and also to use their annual and holiday leave. Prioritizing mental health is vital to employee longevity.?

It’s also a good idea to reevaluate how you measure success within your firm. Profitability and productivity are vital, but it’s also important to look beyond these financial metrics at things like employee satisfaction, employee morale, average absenteeism and sick days, overtime worked, and monthly attrition rates.?

If you’re feeling unsure about where to start, ask your staff. Get them involved and invite them to share their experiences of what’s working and what’s not working. Not only does this give you a direct glimpse into the inner workings of your firm, but it will help reinforce your employees’ sense of purpose in their place of work.?

Ultimately, the investments and changes you make now may not be instant and only yield the results you want to see in the future. Short-term reactions and solutions are not enough. Firms need to think in the long term when it comes to devising methods to mitigate and reduce levels of burnout among their staff.