Slow Seasons in Public Accounting
Everyone knows about busy season in public accounting. It is frequently discussed and is one of the bigger pain points of being a public accountant or consultant. Busy seasons generally occur because of a concentration of work related to a big deadline that may be shared among multiple clients. But what about the rest of the year? Most people who have been working in public accounting for a number of years understand that there are times when work is slower. Today, we are going to discuss what you should do during the slow seasons.
Why Do Slow Seasons Happen?
Slow seasons occur for many reasons depending on service line. Tax accountants and auditors have fairly well defined deadlines that dictate urgency and consultants might have deadlines tailored to a client engagement. Outside of these deadlines, public accountants might find themselves without urgent work. On top of deadline driven urgency, public accountants can't do the work if they don't have information from their clients. I have known many clients in my past that took vacations during the summer, and we were unable to work at our regular pace as a result. The same can be said for staff and partners taking vacations, which can result in delayed engagements until the right team is all back together. The bottom line is that slow seasons occur when work is not urgent or available.
What Should I Do During a Slow Season?
Most public accounting firms evaluate staff based on their billable hours and their activities they do at the firm. So many people have asked me the question, what do I do when it's slow? Here are my best practices:
Communicate that you are available for work - This is the most important thing to do during a slow period. Work at public accounting firms is not always evenly distributed and just because it's slow for you doesn't mean it's slow for everyone else. You may be able to help out another team member and get yourself some billable hours by simply asking for work. Additionally, asking for work and documenting that you did so shows your initiative and gives you some coverage in case a manager asks you why your hours were so low in a given week.
Professional development / CPE - Public accounting firms understand that work doesn't come in steadily over the course of the year and prepare for slow times by having CPE requirements for staff. Some firms even plan live CPE courses during the less busy times of the summer. Regardless of the method of communication, take this time to educate yourself while the client work is slower.
Studying for Professional Exams - If you are committed to obtaining a professional certification like the CPA, CMA, CIA, or CFA, then studying on the job is often encouraged when there is no billable work available. If this option is available to you, take it!
Internal Projects and Work Review - Firms have plenty of internal initiatives such as template development, affinity groups, and team development. At the manager level and above, it’s a good idea to have a couple of these ready in case of downtime or client delay.
Slow season is just a term that I made up to contrast “busy season,” and it’s important to know that these tips will come in handy during any slower period. Sometimes, there are slow weeks, and sometimes there are slow months. In any circumstance, knowing what to do when things slow down a bit will help ease your stress so you can continue performing confidently!