Accounting firms have long sought to make the most of their employees' time, down to the last billable hour, but more and more are discovering the value in giving hours back to their staff, whether by closing the office during slow periods, increasing the amount of PTO they offer, or even — brace yourself — reducing their billable hour requirements.
Offering extra vacation days is one of the most common methods of giving the gift of time. At Maryland's E Cohen & Co., for instance, "We want employees to spend more time with their families and friends throughout the different seasons, so we give them additional flex holidays to specifically enjoy during summer, spring and holiday time."
And in Las Vegas, Fair, Anderson & Langerman increased its base paid time off to six weeks, plus approximately two-and-a-half additional weeks of vacation. "For a new hire or entry-level person, this amounts to approximately two months off per year," the firm explained. "Our people work hard, and we want them to enjoy life!"
Actually taking all that time off during busy firm can sometimes be difficult, though, as staff worry about overburdening their colleagues, or that managers will note their absence and doubt their commitment. To counter that concern, a growing number of firms are closing their offices more frequently, so everyone can feel comfortable taking the day (or days) off.
Washington's Opsahl Dawson, for instance, is closed from Christmas through New Year's, "so that employees can spend time with family at the holidays."
That last week of the year is a common choice for firms to close their doors, as is the week of Thanksgiving. Others spread the time out across the slow summer months, closing their firms every Friday through Labor Day.
More radically, a surprisingly large number of the Best Firms have implemented a policy that doesn't limit staff to a set number of days off or a particular set of holidays. Fifteen firms on this year's list give staff unlimited PTO: As long as they get their jobs done, they can take as much time off as they like.
"Our firm offers unlimited vacation to our team members," explained Colorado's TaxOps. "We hire smart, experienced, passionate professionals who respect their commitments both at work and at home and are self-disciplined enough to make it work."
Unlimited PTO can be a great benefit, but only when staff feel comfortable taking the time, and when their workloads permit it, which can be an issue at accounting firms that are struggling to staff engagements, and have more work than they can handle.
California's Johanson & Yau offers a different approach to making it easy for staff to find free time. "Our billable hour goals for associates and senior associates are among the lowest in the industry," the firm reported. "We successfully eliminated firmwide minimum work hours during tax season. These are examples of our ongoing commitment to work-life balance."
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