If I go into accounting or finance will I likely be asked to work tons of overtime? (employment, degree)

[DeeMoray]

I have an associate's degree and would like to go back to school for a degree in something business-related. I have been really considering accounting or finance, but from the research I've done online it seems that the jobs you are likely to get after graduating require you to work 60-80 hours a week. The way I see it, your hourly rate is lowered significantly when you work twice the normal number of hours, so it may seem like you're making a good salary when in reality you're just working yourself to the bone and not making much per hour.

I'm not lazy by any means, but work-life balance is important to me. I have no desire to work more than 40-45 hours a week. I want to live my life! I don't feel the need to be rich, but I do want to be able to afford to have a kid someday.

Is it really challenging to find a job in accounting or finance where you're in the office for less than 10 hours a day? What business major would you suggest for someone wanting a typical 40-hr. workweek?

I live in Omaha, NE, if that helps.

[Nell Plotts]

Sometimes, yes.

When you are hired by an accounting firm you will be a "Jr.", an aspiring CPA. You will need lots of experience, just like a Physician Intern, and may work similar hours. Once you pass your CPA and have the requisite audit hours your role will be similar to that of an Resident while you focus on an area of practice.

Much depends on the firm you affiliate with.

[Hemlock140]

It's not the degree or career, but the employer that determines the hours. Big accounting firms will get a contract that specifies deadlines, and may have financial incentives to finish the work sooner, so may work a lot of extra hours.
Our company of about 2,000 has accounting and finance departments. In accounting there are deadlines for accruals and billings but even then the overtime is limited to a day or two once a month, and for a few weeks every year-end. In finance, it's only during the budget crunch that people have to work longer hours, and that may last a few weeks or a month.

[makes no sense at all]

i worked as a trader on wall street, then as a programmer at an internet company in NYC
Often times I worked 80 hours a week and the only people who were there later than me than me were the accountants

OTOH my cousin's husband in Minnesota is some kind of accountant and his hours are fine

[DeeMoray]

Thanks everyone for the input. I think I could handle 60-65 hours a week IF it was just for a month or two out of the year, but that's about it. I really don't want to set myself up for failure if the only way to have a decent job is by working insane hours. Working 80 hours a week wouldn't even give me enough time to eat or sleep, let alone anything else. I don't understand how anyone does it to be honest!

[Spedizzo]

Public accounting is not the only option for people to make money in accounting.

Corporate accounting offers just as competitive as a salary, potentially better benefits, advancement, and about half the stress. I know a few big people in my company who came from a big 4 and said this is the way to go.

Look into Financial Analyst positions, Corporate Tax, Accounting Analysts, etc at large corporations who have their accounting departments in-house. A lot of larger corporations also have great career progression routes, allow easy lateral movements within the company if you are interested in other areas of the business, etc.

I come in at 7AM, and I leave at 4PM on the dot (actually I usually leave 12-15 minutes before that so I can catch an earlier bus to avoid traffic.)

[Suncc49]

Public accounting will see you working those hours, but eventually you will move on to a more stable role.

[macroy]

I think your work/life balance is dictated by the employer (and YOU) more so than the career you choose. Sure, certain industries are certainly known to work more hours than others. But even within the industry, there may be variations based on how the company is structured/staffed.

Also - I do believe it's also what you do with that time. In that sense, you need to weigh the cost in terms of your work/life balance with the potential gain down the road. To me, it seems shortsighted to discount a potentially promising career based on a potentially short term sacrifice.

I'm in IT, which is known to be a 24/7 job. I lost plenty of weekend and rearranged vacations back in the day. But that sacrifice has paid off exponentially for my career.

[DamageInc]

Was in Accounting for my first 15 years of employment until I got tired of the hours and went to mgmt as a carear. My brother and a few friends are Accountants. The hours in public especially big 10 are long . I did not go into big 10 but went into bank accounting and was not as bad. But did work 50ish hours a week. The Auditors who would come in would beg me to get them into the Bank as they had no life. They worked 12 hours days and weekends. Literally I would get emails from them at 1AM and they would be in my office for the audit at 9am. They were miserable but the goal was to do it for maybe 7-8 years , maybe 10 and then make partner where you had normal hours relatively speaking. They would tell me the divorce rate was high and heart attack rates etc . You could never take a real vacation. My brother also an accountant did it for 2 years before he quit and went into a different section of Accounting. Was tough on him and his family. Works better if your single. But again if you put the time in you will evetually get more normal hours but always the end of the month and year will be stressfull. Even in my more normal Bank Accounting hours I was there every end of month until maybe midnight or would just sleep over. If you can handle it for maybe 10 years then the rewards are great in the future but if not I recomend a more normal accounting job like Bank accounting or bookeeping or a small firm accounting department.

[s1alker]

"Just a job" would be something where you clock out after 8 hours and leave everything for the next shift. A career will require you to make sacrifices, including working a lot of extra time and generally not being compensated for it. It's what's expected if you want to be noticed and get promoted.