Accountants ‘Losing Sleep’ Over Work Worries
As many as 45 per cent of UK accountants have said they are kept awake at night sometimes by worries relating to their working lives.
Many accountants agonise about the fees they’re charging their clients, while others are frustrated by what they see as the insufficient amounts of money they themselves are taking home each month.
In fact, 84 per cent of UK accountants say they are not sure they’re charging their clients the right amounts, and almost three-quarters (73 per cent) say they’re unhappy with their current income level.
Meanwhile, around 66 per cent of accountants polled recently said they find they’re not able to spend as much time as they’d like with their friends and families because so much of their time is taken up with work.
The data on these issues has been gathered by AVN Insights, which provides online learning tools and training for accountancy professionals.
The firm polled just over 1,000 accountants from across the country as part of its research and found that close to half had lost sleep as a result of work-related worries.
“Worrying about work at night is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Shane Lukas, AVN Insights’ managing director.
“Accountants are crying out for support and training to help them gain the skills they need to take control of their business and their lives.”
Mr Lukas concludes from his company’s own research that a significant proportion of accountancy professionals find it tough to grow their businesses successfully and to confidently price their services along the way.
Another big issue to emerge from AVN’s research is that accountants apparently find it challenging to manage their time well and to achieve the kind of work-life balance they want.
AVN Insight’s view is that employers within the UK’s accountancy sector should be taking steps to better support their teams in dealing with some of the difficulties its recent research highlights.
“Unless accountancy firms can find a way through the challenges they face, they will continue to struggle to recruit and retain the best talent and to fully develop the potential of their business,” noted Mr Lukas.
