Is there a culture of overwork in accounting and finance?

Accounting and finance firms aren’t immune from confronting overwork. Explore strategies to minimise this practice whilst balancing productivity needs.

In September 2022, consulting giant EY commissioned an independent review of the workplace culture and practices in its Australian and New Zealand member firms, which became one of the most detailed examinations of workplace culture undertaken in the Australian professional services industry.

Led by former Australian sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, the review included input from 4500 current and former employees of EY.

The findings were released in July 2023, and, while they show that the majority of employees feel safe in EY Oceania workplaces, excessive working hours have emerged as a key trend that affects individual wellbeing, team cohesion and employee retention.

The review found that 31 per cent of EY employees work 51 or more hours in a week, at least one week out of every four. It also found that about 10 per cent work 61 or more hours in a week, at least one week out of every four.

Excessive working hours have long been viewed as “business as usual” for accounting and finance firms worldwide, but the link between overwork, burnout and mental ill health cannot be overlooked.

Kate Hillman, EY Oceania’s people, place and culture leader, says the firm is exploring a range of solutions to the issue in its workplace, but that the challenge requires a collective response.

“I think we need to have a sector-wide conversation about working hours, because we cannot shift this on our own,” Hillman says.

It is important to note that from the Australian perspective, the need for change goes beyond an industry-wide imperative for the accounting and finance sector to change the culture around overwork. There is also a legal obligation for organisations to take action to mitigate psychosocial hazards at work.

Clock is ticking

The line between life and work has blurred as digital technology enables employees to be “always on”. The pressure of overwork has become so widespread that even governments are taking action.

In 2016, the French Government adopted a labour law that includes a “right to disconnect”, which means that employees are not required to take calls or read emails related to work during their time off. Belgium passed a similar law in 2022 for public servants.

The Australian Senate has also passed the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No.2) Act 2024, amending the Fair Work Act 2009 which, among other things, gives employees the “right to disconnect”.

However, in industries such as accounting and finance, long working hours have become deeply entrenched in workplace culture.

A 2023 survey by life insurer PPS Mutual shows that overwork affects the health of more than 40 per cent of accountants, and it cites increasing regulation and compliance as key reasons for long hours.

Phil McCann FCPA, director of McCann Financial Group, says long hours “come with the territory” and that the ongoing shortage of accounting talent adds pressure to the existing workforce.

“I would love to have a bigger supply of staff,” says McCann, who employs a team of 12 at his Melbourne-based practice.

“We would love to have a bit more flexibility from the tax system in terms of lodgement windows and lodgement processes, but long hours are currently the nature of the beast, and 10-hour days are not uncommon.”

Ram Subramanian, interim head of policy and advocacy at CPA Australia, says that market expectations and regulatory requirements add to the pressure.

“Listed companies, for example, not only have to produce their annual reports within three months after their year-end, but also have to get them audited within a window of time.

“At the end of the day, the firms that service companies, especially audit firms, must have the resources available to get those audits done. In countries like Australia, there are about 2000 listed companies and most of them have 30th of June year-end,” Subramanian says.

Another challenge is that economic margins are widely viewed as indicators of performance, which can create pressure to achieve more with less.

“There is also an issue of people not recording the hours they work, and there is pressure on those middle management layers to meet their metrics,” Hillman says.

“Excessive working hours is clearly something that is unsustainable, and I think it goes to the heart of quality of work as well.”

The impact of overwork

In some cases, overwork can lead to unpaid overtime. According to 2023 research from ADP Singapore, 40 per cent of employees in Singapore work up to 10 hours of unpaid time per week.

Research from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work shows the average Australian worker misses out on more than A$11,000 in wages a year due to unpaid overtime.

Overworked employees are also at risk of burnout. Global think tank Infinite Potential surveyed 2008 people across 43 countries – including Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, the UK and the US – for its The State of Workplace Burnout 2024 report.

The data shows that 42 per cent of women and 30 per cent of men are experiencing burnout, characterised by three dimensions – exhaustion, reduced efficacy and cynicism. In addition, 59 per cent of participants experiencing burnout produce a lower quality of work.

Clea Wallage, psychologist and founder of consultancy FirstBest, says work overload can contribute to burnout.

“We need a level of stress in our life to perform,” she says. “We need deadlines, and we need clear expectations to keep us accountable, but when we keep applying pressure, our performance starts to ebb. We get fatigued, exhausted, burnt out and our performance starts to drop.”

Matt Cowdroy, founder of consultancy Think Productive, says excessive working hours can reduce productivity. “We are not superheroes,” he says.

“We cannot just keep grinding away at 10 or 12 hours a day. If we are working long hours, we are not getting enough sleep, so our brains cannot detox, and we do not get the recharge we need. As a result, energy levels start to fall and so does productivity.”

Strike a balance

Excessive working hours affect mental health and productivity in the finance sector and are not sustainable, Wallage says.

Some efforts to improve work–life balance can actually worsen the problem, she says.

“A lot of organisations offer gym memberships and health checks, but this is just more ‘stuff ’ that employees need to fit in around their working hours,” she says.

“We need to see more managers and companies putting policies in place around reasonable workload, fewer back-to-back meetings, meeting-free days and breaks throughout the day to recharge.”

Wallage adds that leaders must be role models of sustainable working practices.

“If you can see that your boss has got boundaries and role models flexible work practices, then that is a pretty good indication that it is OK for you to do the same,” she says.

McCann says careful planning and a supportive work culture can help to alleviate the stress of long hours.

“We have a nurturing culture where we provide training and support for people and they understand that long hours are part of the job during peak reporting seasons, but we reward them for it by helping them to develop their careers.”

At EY, solutions to overwork require what Hillman describes as “experimentation”. The firm has accepted all 27 recommendations from the independent culture report and has initiated a staff-run task force to test solutions.

“We are removing margin as a performance indicator at the moment, but teams need to report every month on where they are against the estimates for the job,” she says.

“We are also experimenting with providing time in lieu, and we are focused on everybody recording their hours,” Hillman adds. “We have also engaged an external organisation where employees can access independent advice on addressing concerns in the workplace, including managing workload.”

Addressing the problem of overwork also requires a close examination of work practices and project management, Hillman says.

“We need to understand the quantum of the problem. Are we under-scoping our jobs? Are our teams lacking the capability we need? Are our clients changing the scope of work midway in a program? What is actually going on so that people are having to work ridiculous hours to deliver on an engagement?”

Technology like artificial intelligence can also alleviate workloads by taking on more of the repetitive tasks, she says.

“We need to look at non-value adding activities for our staff, so that they are not bogged down with a bunch of administrative tasks,” she says.

“We are looking at a range of pilot initiatives and I think it is really important that our staff lead the experiments,” Hillman adds.

“We have accepted every recommendation from the independent report, and we absolutely hold ourselves to account for the agreed outcomes, but it is time for the whole industry to address the issue of working hours.”