Life After Public Accounting
I am a spouse of a recovered public accountant.
I say to people,"My husband worked as a public accountant." And then they say,"Oh, so does he do taxes?" I say, no. And then we stop talking about my husband the accountant.
When I say, "My husband worked in public accounting for 4 years." I am actually saying, "My husband traveled 4 months out of the year. He worked 50 hour weeks consistently, and sometimes 60-80 hour weeks for months at a time."
I mean to say, I was alone. I think he was, too. He fought his battles at work, and would come home drained. Anything I asked him to do was added pressure.
"Can you take out the trash?" He would say yes, and then forget to do it. Not on purpose. He gave everything he had at work. There was nothing left.
Public accounting. That little segment of the world that those who haven't lived in it don't understand. I still don't understand, because I was the spouse and not the man in the trenches.
From my non-business background, I try to put together the pieces of what he did. Companies need audited for loans, for investors, for government grants. It ensures compliance with some accounting rules and fiscal responsibility of funds. That is the purpose of the audit, to show that the financial statements mean what they say.
It would be fun if he was the auditor of the Willy Wonka candy factory, like from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He would know how much money the Oompa Loompas make- well, I guess they are paid in chocolate, so he would know how many cocoa beans they were paid. That would be problematic. I think it would be a "finding." Findings are bad. As an auditor he knows how much the chocolate costs that runs through the waterfalls, and how many squirrels work in the nut sorting room. He would know how many nuts went through the sorting room, and what kind they were. He would know all about the Golden Ticket promotional idea. If the audit team did the work correctly, they would know the mathematical program that selected the randomization of the golden tickets to ensure the competition was random, and that there were indeed only five golden tickets. Ian didn't audit the Chocolate Factory, unfortunately. He audited financial institutions, retirement benefit plans, government entities, and utility companies.
I imagine that his work was full of pressure. People feeling pressure from money, and deadlines, and then the pressure gets pushed down through the ranks.
The thing with public accounting is the culture. Part of it is the nature of the job, like with a doctor. Doctors have to be on call, and work strange hours because people get sick all hours of the day. However, the 24-48 hour shifts that doctors work is the culture. Nurses work 12 hour shifts. That is culture. It doesn't have to be that way, but it is the way the business is set up, and the precedent is set.
So,with public accounting part of the job is the nature of the profession. It requires travel to get to the electric utility company in Mora, New Mexico. Someone has to go there. Then the culture requires that they work from 7am-7pm at the job site. Then they eat dinner, and work from 9-midnight from their motel rooms. It is the way the deadlines are set up, the staff managed, and the work distributed.
Ian was good at it. This job. He was good at it. And he could have stayed and made a career for himself. He even managed to be a good dad while he worked this job. His children adored him. He made sure they knew how important they were to him. He read them stories. He listened to their stories.
Family life is better now. Time is a luxury we are really enjoying. We get to have Ian home every day-no travel. He eats every single meal at home with us, even lunch. Lunch. It is amazing. Sometimes we eat sandwiches and chips. Once, I made Talapia and brown rice. We are getting to know what our family dynamic is like with two parents who aren't completely stressed out is like. Ian likes to watch "Chopped" on the cooking channel. We talk about our new house, and we are getting a dog. The girls do their homework and we all check it together. I go grocery shopping a couple of times a week without the children. Its nice.
Except for the constant onslaught of snow, life might be perfect, and if I had snow shoes, I don't even know what I would complain about.
Don't worry, I'm sure I would come up with something.
I say to people,"My husband worked as a public accountant." And then they say,"Oh, so does he do taxes?" I say, no. And then we stop talking about my husband the accountant.
When I say, "My husband worked in public accounting for 4 years." I am actually saying, "My husband traveled 4 months out of the year. He worked 50 hour weeks consistently, and sometimes 60-80 hour weeks for months at a time."
I mean to say, I was alone. I think he was, too. He fought his battles at work, and would come home drained. Anything I asked him to do was added pressure.
"Can you take out the trash?" He would say yes, and then forget to do it. Not on purpose. He gave everything he had at work. There was nothing left.
Public accounting. That little segment of the world that those who haven't lived in it don't understand. I still don't understand, because I was the spouse and not the man in the trenches.
From my non-business background, I try to put together the pieces of what he did. Companies need audited for loans, for investors, for government grants. It ensures compliance with some accounting rules and fiscal responsibility of funds. That is the purpose of the audit, to show that the financial statements mean what they say.
It would be fun if he was the auditor of the Willy Wonka candy factory, like from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He would know how much money the Oompa Loompas make- well, I guess they are paid in chocolate, so he would know how many cocoa beans they were paid. That would be problematic. I think it would be a "finding." Findings are bad. As an auditor he knows how much the chocolate costs that runs through the waterfalls, and how many squirrels work in the nut sorting room. He would know how many nuts went through the sorting room, and what kind they were. He would know all about the Golden Ticket promotional idea. If the audit team did the work correctly, they would know the mathematical program that selected the randomization of the golden tickets to ensure the competition was random, and that there were indeed only five golden tickets. Ian didn't audit the Chocolate Factory, unfortunately. He audited financial institutions, retirement benefit plans, government entities, and utility companies.
I imagine that his work was full of pressure. People feeling pressure from money, and deadlines, and then the pressure gets pushed down through the ranks.
The thing with public accounting is the culture. Part of it is the nature of the job, like with a doctor. Doctors have to be on call, and work strange hours because people get sick all hours of the day. However, the 24-48 hour shifts that doctors work is the culture. Nurses work 12 hour shifts. That is culture. It doesn't have to be that way, but it is the way the business is set up, and the precedent is set.
So,with public accounting part of the job is the nature of the profession. It requires travel to get to the electric utility company in Mora, New Mexico. Someone has to go there. Then the culture requires that they work from 7am-7pm at the job site. Then they eat dinner, and work from 9-midnight from their motel rooms. It is the way the deadlines are set up, the staff managed, and the work distributed.
Ian was good at it. This job. He was good at it. And he could have stayed and made a career for himself. He even managed to be a good dad while he worked this job. His children adored him. He made sure they knew how important they were to him. He read them stories. He listened to their stories.
Family life is better now. Time is a luxury we are really enjoying. We get to have Ian home every day-no travel. He eats every single meal at home with us, even lunch. Lunch. It is amazing. Sometimes we eat sandwiches and chips. Once, I made Talapia and brown rice. We are getting to know what our family dynamic is like with two parents who aren't completely stressed out is like. Ian likes to watch "Chopped" on the cooking channel. We talk about our new house, and we are getting a dog. The girls do their homework and we all check it together. I go grocery shopping a couple of times a week without the children. Its nice.
Except for the constant onslaught of snow, life might be perfect, and if I had snow shoes, I don't even know what I would complain about.
Don't worry, I'm sure I would come up with something.
.jpg)
Oh my, life as a public accountant (or public accountant's wife) does not sound fun. I'm so glad you guys have a new job and lots more family time! Maybe Cabela's will have some discounted snowshoes at the end of the season (any time now!) so you can be prepared next winter! I've only been snowshoeing once, but it was very fun.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is a public accountant. He's in the trenches and I am alone. Thanks for writing this, maybe lunch is somewhere in my future too. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope lunches are in your future, too. The experience your husband is getting is great work experience. Hang in there Ellie! It is a tough situation for everyone. Be patient with yourself and with your husband. You are definitely not alone, girl.
DeleteI'm so glad you guys get to eat ALL yours meals together! What a dream. Good job getting through the public accountant phase of your lives, and congratulations on a more family friendly phase of life. Sounds like things are good. Get yourself some snow-shoes, girl! ;)
ReplyDelete