A third of CPAs expect severe stress this tax season

Written on Feb 24, 2023

In a profession already struggling to recruit and retain talent, accounting often loses qualified workers to other professions with less stress.

According to WorkNest, an employment consulting firm, 42% of accountants have considered resigning due to stress. Further, Accounting Area reported “90% of people who work in accountancy have been stressed out by work, with 43% having to take time off as a result of stress. This makes accountancy one of the most stressful industries to work in.”

During a webinar, “The Value of Personal Resilience: What Business Professionals Need to Know,” hosted by the Center for Accounting Transformation recently, attendees were asked how much stress they expect this busy season and nearly a third (28%) responded that they expected this year’s anxiety to be severe.

Moderated by the Center’s Inspiration Architect Donny Shimamoto, CPA, CITP, CGMA, the webinar also included thought leaders:

Randy Crabtree, CPA: Co-Founder & Partner, Tri-Merit Specialty Tax Professionals
Courtney Deronde, CPA: CEO, FORGE Financial & Management Consulting
Samuel Kim: Psychologist, Professor, Speaker, SamuelYKim.com
Amber Setter: Executive Leadership Coach, Conscious Public Accountants
During the webinar, attendees were also asked, “How well are you doing on setting boundaries and enforcing them?” Nearly half responded, “Bad: I really need to focus on this and learn techniques for setting and enforcing boundaries.” While 23% of attendees were not from public accounting firms, 43% were from small to medium size firms, with 13% of those being sole proprietors.
The 75-minute webinar, non-CPE program, is now available on-demand and is free to OSCPA members using the exclusive promo code "oscpa-value". Participants will learn to identify causes of stress, understand how small changes can improve productivity, learn new ways to look at work-life integration and identify differences between a coach and a therapist.
Panelist Randy Crabtree reminded the group why CPAs are so vulnerable to stress.
“You ask anybody why they got into tax and accounting and they always say, ‘Oh, I want help people.’ That’s where our mindset is,” Crabtree said. “But we lose the fact that, hey, we also have to help ourselves.”

[NOTE: There is no CPE available with this webinar.]