Stress, burnout and Covid-19: Accountants' wellbeing hits rock bottom
The need to help everybody at the peak of the coronavirus was one reason why 47% of accountants rated their mental health bad or worse in AccountingWEB’s wellbeing pulse survey.
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Fantastic article! I have just had two weeks off - despite a workload as I really needed to have a break. My stress was not being able to recruit like I normally would to support the larger workload. Covid of course meant we could not work in an office to train someone!
I am now preparing for the winter, and making sure there are watertight systems in place to take pressure off myself this tax season (and whatever the future may bring).
The next 12+ months will be the real challenge where we need to step up and support our clients through the recession.
Thank you and keep up the good work accountants! Please remember to take care of the biggest asset you own (yourself)!
That means 53% of those asked don't have problems. Accountancy has always been a challenging profession. We are the nurses, doctors and surgeons of the business world. So look at the stress levels the nurses, doctors and surgeons had to endure (and still are) during covid and we probably haven't fared too bad.
For many of us our world revolves around 31 January. It is a Herculean challenge in a normal year with many of us working extended hours throughout January and earlier. I often work 17 hours a day every day of January: and I've not been taking it easy in the months leading up to January. But 2020 we've lost some months because of the support we've needed to supply (and continue to supply) to our clients. Yet 31 January deadline has not moved. How are we going to fit all our SA workload into 5 months instead of 10? It's not just a case of risking missing the SA deadline. Many of my clients are on Tax Credits and if that deadline is missed they've had it. This is going to be a massive challenge assuming everything is back to normal. But it is not normal. And what happens if there's an increase in cases as we go into autumn? And many of us have not had a break. I managed a few days away but had to take files and phone clients. Like most of us I won't be getting a 'proper' holiday this year. HMRC must relax 31 January deadline for SA and Tax Credits.
But despite the huge challenge that lays ahead I feel I am far more fortunate than so many other people.
The replies so far point out one thing: most have taken on as much work as possible and have no work/life balance.
I've managed to deal with the crisis and am expecting the usual mid- December to end of January workload. Which is fine with me as it's way too cold then to play golf!
Then again, I took the decision many years ago not to build up a practice with staff and to only have a certain number of clients to ensure I don't die an early death from the stresses that would have brought.
Use this opportunity to review your life and decide what you really want out of it- lots of money, big house big car and endless hours and stress and an early exit or less money, a moderate size house a decent car and a long easier life.
I agree with Ian too. Although I sometimes suffer from pangs of regret as to what might have been had I pursued the high flying career. Other times I think it might have been more money, more problems.
It was a difficult few weeks in supporting clients, so many updates to keep track of, so many stories of businesses going under. But I didn't have to work weekends or work late into the night, thankfully, because the practice is of a manageable size. That's not to say I didn't wake up in a cold sweat some nights or suffered anxiety about what is going to happen to my loved ones and the world at large due to the pandemic.