Take a break from your practice and client demands
After the year the profession has had, many accountants are craving a well-earned rest. Alistair Hayward-Wright talks taking a break in your practice.
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Can someone tell my clients !
Genuinely had one who questioned me taking time off as "you can't go anywhere and I need this for a CBILS application".
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
We're leaving forever
Its certain farewell.
And maybe we'll come back
To accounting, utter hell?
I guess there are clients to blame.
We'll see them around (see them around).
Will things ever be the same again?
It's the final countdown.
The final countdown.
If there's no news, let's make something up. I'm sure Meghan and Harry need a well deserved rest.
Good article Tallula.
A week off at Christmas ... cant remember when I had one.
And especially not over the past months.
Some of my clients have had and are still having a bad time and I felt it was unfair to tell them to 'get lost' even for a few days when they were so worried.
I do draw a line at Sundays and try to finish at 6pm every day. I have to do the ironing at some time (and feed the cats!)
As Jennifer says, you have to make time for yourself however you can. It's hard when you have a personal relationship with the clients (as we do) but I have found that clients can be more understanding than you might think.
For me, part of the solution was educating clients to understand that I was not available 24/7. Eventually I stopped using a mobile phone simply because I was receiving calls and texts at all hours of the day and night, which is not a good thing. After I got rid of the phone there were a few raised eyebrows but now clients know that they can email me any time or call during office hours, and they're fine with that. Killing the phone was a bit extreme but it had a very positive effect for me.
And, as we like to say in our office - "nobody died".
I don't have a mobile phone either - I'm following Prince Charles and not answering ANY of my children's phone calls!
(they only ever want my money........)
You never give me your money
You only give me your funny paper
And in the middle of negotiations
You break down
I never give you my number
I only give you my situation
And in the middle of investigation
I break down
My work mobile has an off button for such purposes. I might answer it half an hour before I start work or up until around 6pm (although by then, I would probably look at who was ringing and let them leave a voicemail if I thought it was going to be a stressful call). I am extremely good at ignoring it at other times and even on my lunch break - they can leave a voicemail and if they have a problem with "sorry, you caught me on my lunch break" then so be it.
Equally, I may or may not take it on holiday with me so I can keep an eye on the bank accounts but it would most certainly live in the room safe and come out once a day at the most.
Anyone who has an issue with me taking holiday needs to think about what is going to make their accountant more effective and efficient in the longer term. If they've left it right to the last minute for a loan application etc and not even done me the decency of informing me that they're applying for one and may need some information then c'est la vie.
I've always worked between Xmas and New Year, it's one of my most productive periods.
Taking time off is easy. Just sort out your life/work balance.
If you can't find the time to have off, then you have taken on too much work/are very inefficient/have other issues.
Clients work on levels of expectation that you have built up- if they expect everything instantly and expect you to be available 24/7 then guess what? They will leave things until the last minute and expect you to be available to deal with it.
Just let clients know you will be taking a week or two off, and give them sufficient notice. Tell them you will be contactable for emergencies (if you are the only one that can deal with it) or tell them who to contact otherwise- and make it clear it had better be a REAL emergency, not just something they left until the last minute because they are used to you dealing with things that way. Missing a deadline due to them leaving it until the last minute is not an emergency!
My clients respect my time off- even if I am just on the golf course (the 'sorry I can't speak right now' button is very useful!) and they will generally send an email if they don't get through.
Train your clients and don't take on more work than you can comfortably handle whilst maintaining your life/work balance.
Oh it's after 2pm, that's enough work for me for the day:-)