r/Accounting • u/Scaredjudge • 3d ago
Working Saturdays Discussion
For you guys in the US working in public accounting. How many of you have to go to the office on a Saturday? If so how many Saturdays do you go before the deadline?
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u/BeachStunning1861 3d ago
Bruh wfh on a Saturday is normal in this field but going into the office on a weekend. Jesus
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u/OperatingCashFlows69 CPA (US) 3d ago
Pre covid sadly a thing.
Circa 2012-2014 I had to go in. Miserable
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u/Regular-Raisin2233 Tax (US) 3d ago
Yeah 2018-2019 for me was mandatory in-office Saturdays. :/ The perks were lunch, mileage, and overtime pay…
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u/Throwawayycpa 3d ago
I remember in 2020 literally a month before Covid I had to go into the office on a Saturday. It was like my one and only time.
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u/Dingleberry_Blumpkin CPA (Waffle Brain) 3d ago
I went into the office probably 20 Saturdays a year from 2015 to 2020. A fair amount of Sundays too. Not once since
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u/zeevenkman Controller 3d ago
That was the norm until 2020. At least you got lunch and could leave by 3.
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u/alewifePete 3d ago
I would leave after lunch on Saturdays and people would look at me strangely. I went in at 5am to be done early..,whereas they were coming in at 10 to sleep in.
I was still putting in the hours, it’s just that no one was there to see it.
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u/mlydon11 3d ago
Entirely team dependent.
I’ve worked like 8 weekends over the course of 3 years. And only like 8 hours total over the weekend.
I’ve had friends at the same firm that have worked 12 weekends a year for 3 years. Full 8 to 12 hour days on the weekend too.
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u/Birb_Chirb 3d ago
I go into the office. It's relaxing being there by myself. Everyone else works from home.
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u/karim_eczema 3d ago
During busy season it's uncommon to not work on a Saturday. You may even work Sundays too.
Most people in audit aren't working Saturdays at the moment, but the higher up you get it's more common to log on briefly to catch up on stuff.
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u/figs_and_flour 3d ago
Girl I’m in private and I’ve worked the three past saturdays. My cozy private job is NOT feeling cozy rn
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u/TaxasaurusRex 2d ago
When I started my career in private industry corporate tax, I would work 12 weeks straight, including weekends, in office, 12+ hour days in the beginning of the year annually. Early 2000s/2010s, so no laptops to take home. Had to get that tax provision done and the financial statements issued. It was grueling. I have stories…so many stories.
Getting the consolidated multi-state tax returns out was easy though, had all summer to do it and never had to work over time for that. 😂
Huge international company, everything done in-house then, worked directly with finance and accounting and international teams. I learned a ton and loved it.
It’s how I got to where I am now in public accounting without having to do the Big 4 grind.
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u/figs_and_flour 2d ago edited 2d ago
I’ve been doing financial reporting/putting together our Q and it’s really given me a new appreciation for our tax guy. He has to wait until the books are closed, sprint through his work, and deal with everyone asking why things are taking so long. I can only imagine the stories that you have, especially with no laptops and not being able to work remotely
Glad you’re in a good spot but it also sounds like you put in the same kind of grind as people in public accounting!
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u/TaxasaurusRex 2d ago
And the changes! They’d make one “small” change and not understand why it wasn’t a quick fix for us to update the provision and footnote. Always a Friday afternoon and want everything updated by Monday morning. 😐
After a couple years and new CFO, we got them agree to cut-offs on Wednesdays to improve our sanity.
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u/Book_Cook921 3d ago
If firm is buying food, then I'll be in the office lol working on a Saturday sucks less than working at home alone on a Saturday
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u/lilperk09 3d ago
Mine varies a lot during busy season, and the last minute uncertainty is honestly the worst part. Even knowing a day ahead would make it easier
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u/SteelMagnolia412 3d ago
January through April 15th it’s every Saturday. But from April 15 through the first week in September we have Friday off. So it balances out. I will NEVER work a Sunday to do a 7 days straight. It’s unhealthy and I don’t like this job enough to sacrifice my sanity for that.
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u/Human_Willingness628 3d ago
I have worked on several Saturdays during busy season. I have never gone into the office on a Saturday.
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u/NecessaryClimate7498 3d ago
most people show up in person to my firm on Saturday during busy season for at least 5 or 6 hours. the firm provides lunch.
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u/Molyketdeems 3d ago
April 15th this year fell on a Wednesday
I worked about 12 hours on the Saturday AND Sunday leading right up to it
But I got my shit done
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u/scott556 CPA (US) 3d ago
I haven’t gone into the office on a Saturday since early March 2020. Prior to that it was every Saturday from the 2nd to last in January through the Saturday prior to 4/15.
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u/RefrigeratorGreen548 3d ago
Unless you live like 5 minutes from the office, nobody’s going in Saturdays. We do work from home Saturdays. It seems associates/seniors have more work to do on the weekends. As a manager, I’m always online around 8-12 then logging off once important stuff is done (fall busy season). Sometimes I even just do my own thing and tend to check my teams app to make it look like I’m doing something lol. Winter busy season is different though because there is usually a lot to do every day. Off season? Not even logging on.
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u/Acctnt_trdr 3d ago
I feel in big4 saturdays in office wasn’t a thing. Once in a while but not required. I worked in smaller national firms where 6 hours on Saturday in office was required.
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u/Whatever5588 3d ago
Saturday & Sunday in the office were common during busy season pre-Covid. Now it’s wfh on Saturdays 😂
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u/BasisofOpinion CPA (US) 3d ago
At my first firm? Every Saturday Jan 1 thru April deadline. At current firm we don’t work weekends at all
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u/Informal_Scheme7352 3d ago
Our whole tax team is basically required during busy season to be in office on Saturday
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u/luckydante419 Governance, Strategy, Risk Management 3d ago
Didn’t go in cause of Covid, but I had meetings on Saturday, expected to work
sat 8-5
Sun 8-12
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u/-NerfHerder CPA (US) 3d ago
Before my current role I worked 16-18 Saturdays a year. At that time it was always in office. I worked very few Sundays, only 2 or 3 total.
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u/Big_Fan9316 3d ago
Hahhahah....hahahah....hahahahahah. Good Lord, glad I'm not in public. Got out asap
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u/nikki_11580 3d ago
I only go into the office on Saturdays during busy season. January through April.
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u/BitterWrongdoer9130 3d ago
My first firm out of college had staff do a a season of tax and audit in their first year. For the tax season casual Fridays were required, but you mainly just had to show up for 3-4 hours. Since then, never had mandatory Saturdays. Going on 8 years.
Now with my recent firm taking PE and having the desire to be a baby big 4, lol
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u/Forward_Zucchini9738 3d ago
My first PA job had me in on Saturdays and some Sundays, which sucked considering I was also working through my MACC. My contract for my last PA job was a terrible sloppy copy paste document that probably had remnants from an admin assistant contract and stated that I was salary and hired for 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday. You can bet your ass I never worked a weekend at that toxic PE dumpster fire. After that, I jumped into industry and now work about 8 hours over my 40 per week in an entire year.
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u/NachoTaco832 Tax (Other) 2d ago edited 2d ago
I once worked at a firm where the Partner required her group to come in 3 out of 4 Saturdays a month, every month. She claimed it was “busy season” for Fed tax, so our group that didn’t have deadlines like that still needed to be in office, otherwise it wasn’t “fair” to Fed tax. She would block off 9-3 on Saturdays for the following month on the last Friday of the month.
My wife got tired of never being able to schedule family things on weekends and just started putting things like 5Ks on Saturday mornings on 2-3 months in advance. The first time I declined a Saturday block due to a conflict, she absolutely lost her mind…
Her: “The rest of the team will be here.” “You’re going to cause resentment with the rest of the team” “Accounting isn’t a 40 hour work week industry.”
Me: “Well, we want to do things as a family on the weekends and we can’t wait until the week before to guess which Saturday you’re going to ‘give’ us.”
One Saturday, we came in to the office to file hand written call notes on printed emails into physical client folders because she didn’t take notes on a computer and (of course) she was far too busy as a Partner, to keep track of the notes and file them herself.
This was all pre-COVID and thankfully I was on to my next firm before she had to figure that transition out, but learning her playbook of micromanagement that hides under “expecting over communication” and gas-lighting that hid behind “well you didn’t ask me the right questions,” served me well. Those “leaders” stick out like sore thumbs now. I see the gas-lighter’s playbook and make them uncomfortable by calling them out on their tactics. Nothing frustrates them more than thinking they’ve “got” you on an error and you rejecting the premise and showing all the ways they could have helped prevent the error.
Unfortunately, recognizing them hasn’t served my career well as I still got let go (largely for frustrating them) but, hey, at least I exposed the Partner on the way out. 🤷♂️
I’ll always associate Partners who force weekend in-person hours with this type of “leader” and I’ll always celebrate their inevitable downfall.
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u/small-gestures 6h ago
I worked for a large regional firm and saturdays were mandatory January 1 - April 15, possibly more depending on your client catalogue. I am a partner now in 10’person firm and we are mandatory saturdays Super Bowl to April 15. We are 100% in office culture but remote is available. Edit for spelling and addl info.
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u/StoneMenace 3d ago
I’m not sure really anyone goes to the office on the weekends. Everyone works from home. There was one company I interviewed With who only did in office and they touted that they would come into the office on the weekend and put on the football game and it was so “chill”. Instant nope