‘Ridiculous’ workloads tipping practices over the edge, expert warns

Too many small accounting practice owners are working “ridiculous” hours to service clients and need a major reset in 2025 or will risk burning out on the job, a consultant in the industry has warned.

Amanda Gascoigne, founder of Amanda Gascoigne Consulting and The Balanced Firm, said it had become “the norm” for some practice owners to clock up to 70 hours a week.

“So many practice owners are becoming overwhelmed and burned out,” she said in an interview with Accountants Daily.

“I’m seeing a lot more people are saying they just cannot keep working ridiculous hours.”

“They simply have too many clients that they’re not charging well enough for so then they’ve got to work additional hours – they’re working 60, 70, hours a week.”

While accountants typically started their own practice in hopes of more flexibility and a better work/life balance, it often made things worse instead, with work no longer confined to 9am and 5pm.

“Flexibility might mean you’re able to go to some school stuff, and that’s great, that’s exactly what I did when I had my practice,” Gascoigne said.

“But I’ve got some people that ring me and they’re working to 1 or 2am, they’re working every weekend.”

“That’s a sure sign that we need to reset that client base, reset that profitability level, reset the boundaries, and get back to how we can make this work for us.”

When it came to clients, Gascoigne said accountants tended to “take everyone that comes in the door” because they wanted to help people.

“I think the intrinsic thing that we’re made up of is that we want to help people,” she said.

“What I see is most accountants are so happy to help that it’s almost like their currency. So then they help more and more and more people, and they keep doing that, and sometimes the profitability goes lower and lower because you get invested in the client.”

“Everyone's got a bit of a back story. Someone’s got into some difficulty. They’ve got outstanding returns. They haven't got money to pay you, and then all of a sudden, all these accountants are doing other stuff for free or for a lower fee.”

But accountants needed to get more strategic and commercial, she said, recommending they analyse their client base by categorising them based on quantitative factors, like fee structures, and qualitative elements such as client behaviour and communication styles.

“Have a look at the attributes of all the clients that drive you crazy, and what are the attributes of all the clients that you love working with,” she said.

“Things like, they always bring the information late and expect us to get it done. They don't want to pay their bills. They always winge. They never followed our advice.”

Practice owners could then implement changes with clear business justifications.

“It's hard to say, hey, we're not the right people for you anymore … but with [the exercise] you can work out and craft your story, even though those clients might be unhappy with them, they actually can understand there's a commercial reason.”

“We need to be both: empathetic, but we also need to be more commercial.”

Gascoigne also advised practice owners to “religiously” analyse their own metrics and performance indicators.

“They should ask ‘What is my gross profit rate, what is my average hourly rate, what is my average fee per client?’ and compare their results with what top performing firms were achieving.”

“I don't think people are calculating that stuff anymore as much as they should be.”

“2025 is a perfect time, and it's what I do with all of my clients, to really just sit back and pause, reflect, and then design and redesign their practice.”