<p>Do Accountants get paid hourly or salaried? If hourly, then how does that work during tax season for example? Do all those >40 hour work weeks equal time and a half? If salaried, does it matter how much they work? Thanks! Also, how common/often do Accountants get raises?</p>
<p>Not hourly. But you practically give up your life during tax season. My sister was low pay for a long time with no overtime paid.</p>
<p>So you really must be dedicated then huh? All those extra hours for no extra pay? Thank God for good Accountants!</p>
<p>They get paid comp time during the busy season and take lots of time off on the summer.</p>
<p>By the way the best paid accountants go into business for themselves . Hire other people when they grow. </p>
<p>A CPA is generally a salaried employee.</p>
<p>Twinmom2014 explain how comp time works for Accountants :)</p>
<p>I don’t think they get comp time or get to take summer off. It’s a hard life for those big 8. My sister did have a business but she gave it away to a friend. She was not interested in it enough. She has MBA and CPA.</p>
<p>Small firms offer that. I know because I own a payroll company. They just award extra vacation days based on hours worked</p>
<p>I’ve spent my entire career in public accounting (25 years), working in firms if all sizes - solo, 3 CPA, small local (15 people), large local (100+ people), Big 4 (500+ people in tax department) . Overtime policy and expectations will vary by firm. Generally, the pay is pretty good, but you can get squeezed early in your career if you need specific experience (may not apply to your state). </p>
<p>Indeed we get crazy busy during tax season, but the good news is we know it will all be DONE (or extended) by April 15. Other careers get busy as well, but they don’t always know when it will start and end. I KNOW I can leave for vacation on April 16. </p>
<p>Bottom line, don’t let the hours scare you. Once you’ve paid your dues (got a few years under your belt) you can take more control of your career if you see fit. You can always find hourly tax season only positions if that is what you are looking for. </p>
<p>Thinking back, my first CPA firm (small local firm) was pretty much 9 - 5 hours. Almost no overtime (maybe a 4 - 5 extra hours a week if we were trying to get some thing done). </p>
<p>In 1999, when my husband and I started our structural engineering firm, our accountant’s hourly rate was identical to ours. Our rate has gone up 37.5% since then. His has gone up more than 100%. So I think I should have become an accountant instead of an engineer!</p>
<p>Some firms do offer comp time during busy season. You basically bank your extra hours, then take them as paid vacation later in the year (or cash them out depending on the policy). There usually are some limits to how much vacation can be banked, as a smaller firm likely can’t have the staff taking off for too many weeks at a time. </p>
<p>I worked somewhere where we could bank time, then cash it out after we got on annual salary increase. So that was a nice little bonus. </p>
<p>Another firm didn’t offer comp time, but we all got bonuses after tax season. </p>
<p>Big 4 hasn’t done comp time for quite a while. It is a straight salary. Some smaller CAP firms still have comp time. And yes, the hours are big a times, but it is all about building your professional credentials at the start of your career. It will pay off eventually.</p>