I don't miss working in public accounting.
During tax season, the hours are horrendous; we accountants had no personal lives from Jan. 1 through April 30 because of income and corporate tax returns; W-2 preparation; required state and federal year-end reports; sales tax returns; and quarterly returns thrown in for good measure.
Once April 15 passed, then we could concentrate on sales tax returns as well as employer quarterly returns and preparation of income tax returns for those who filed an extension.
Many large companies have a payroll company that provides some of these services, but many smaller companies use their CPA firm to prepare these required filings.
I always worked six days a week during tax season, and sometimes even had to work after church on Sunday to get everything processed and finished for clients.
We put in 10- to 12-hour days — it was grueling; one of the reasons I went into the corporate world.
Of course, there also were the inevitable "you're an accountant, can I do such and such" conversations at social gatherings.
I quit preparing taxes and keeping up with tax laws years ago, so I can truthfully say I don't know.
I have found that, these days, most professionals work well more than 40 hours per week. My engineering husband certainly does — engineers work until the project is complete; my insurance agent friend works well over 40 hours; many teachers work very long hours; and our newspaper editor works long hours.
No professional I know of only works eight hours a day, five days a week.
Times have certainly changed.
Hats off to North Okaloosa's accountants, CPAs and other workers who put in long hours — you perform a valuable service for us, and I thank you for it.
Janice Lynn Crose lives in Crestview with her husband, Jim; her two rescue collies, Shane and Jasmine; and two cats, Kathryn and Prince Valiant.
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: CROSE: Hats off to North Okaloosa accountants, CPAs