Accountant Hours Realities: The Stats & How to Bill More

Ah, accounting and those long accountant hours.

A profession where “9 to 5” is more of a myth than an actual work schedule, and “just a quick number adjustment” can turn into an all-nighter.

So, let me ask you this: do you know where your billable hours actually go?

I’m not talking about the busy tax season. I’m talking about your regular, daily billable work hours.

Between endless email threads, client “emergencies” (like finding a missing receipt from 2014 🙄), and spreadsheets that seem to multiply overnight, you—and probably your entire firm—work more than you bill for.

It’s time to change that.

In this article, we’ll share cold, hard numbers and the truth behind accountant hours: what’s considered billable, what’s not, and how to ensure you’re getting paid for the time you spend keeping clients’ neatly balanced books. Plus, we’ll help you start charging what you’re truly worth.

Enough of chit-chat, let’s roll.

How many hours do accountants work?

On average, accountants work between 40-70 hours a week, some even reaching 100 hours during busy seasons, depending on the sector, company, and position.

That’s the most straightforward answer I could give you. But things vary.

Before we consult available statistics, let’s check what your colleagues had to say on this topic.

A Quora user asked the question, “Do accountants usually work a lot of hours?” and here’s how Laura, an accountant, answered:

According to Laura, back in 2021, 40-50 hours a week was a standard work schedule for an accountant. Some accountants work up to 70 hours per week and a couple of times in a busy year-end, Saturdays are also considered work days.

Another user, Chris, suggested that workers at public accounting firms work anywhere between 55 and 100 hours during the busy season.

Most Quora users agreed that the number of hours varies depending on the sector, position, and company culture. Sounds reasonable.

In practice, working 8 hours per day, 5 days a week, probably won’t get you the respect from your colleagues or the promotion.

According to a thread in r/Accounting posted 3 years ago, standard hours for a year, 2,080 hours (40 hours/week x 52 weeks/year), are seen as “basic”. The company requires working 2,250 hours per year at this user's accounting firm, which is 170 more hours than a standard job.

Not only that, the user’s firm used to offer a couple of weeks of extra time off if employees met their 2,250-hour requirement, especially if they spread the workload more evenly throughout the year instead of piling work hours during tax season. But the reality is that even though they still work 2,250 hours total, they only get 1 day of extra time off instead of the previous couple of weeks.

Interesting.

And here’s what articles and statistics say:

• When it comes to the average weekly hours, accountants in the US work around 40 to 45 hours per week. Professionals in India often work longer hours, averaging nearly 47 hours per week. 
• Workloads intensify during busy periods, such as tax season or year-end audits. Accountants typically work between 60 to 80 hours per week during these times.
• Accountants in public firms often work longer hours, especially during peak seasons, with reports of 60 to 70-hour workweeks. On the contrary, those in private or corporate accounting roles may have more stable hours, though they can still face extended hours during reporting periods.
• Some accounting firms, like Whalen & Company CPAs, allow staff to choose their working hours, no more than 40 hours per week, and offer an additional overtime pay.
• Remote and hybrid work models are finding their way into accounting, giving accountants greater flexibility so they can manage workloads more effectively.

Typical working hours for different accountants

I think we can agree that your working hours as an accountant depend on your specialization, employer, and the time of year.

Many accountants enjoy a structured 9-5 work schedule; others like more demanding periods where long hours become the norm. They usually put in extra time from tax season to year-end reporting to ensure financial accuracy and compliance.

Here’s a look at how you and other accountants manage your work schedules and overtime, as well as what factors influence your hours from Memtime’s perspective. Hopefully, we didn’t miss a thing.

Accountants with fixed schedules

Accountants working in traditional corporate settings typically work around a fixed-hour schedule, within standard business hours, 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday.

Such a schedule aligns with the standard 40-hour workweek that most businesses (clients) follow.

Independent accountants

Independent accountants and tax professionals have more control over their schedules.

Some choose to work only during peak tax season, practically working only a few months of the year. Others maintain a year-round schedule but set their own hours based on client demand. 

These professionals usually work less than 40 hours per week outside peak seasons.

Work hours during the busy season

The reality of an accountant’s work schedule often depends on the season.

The busy season typically runs from January to mid-April, coinciding with tax deadlines. Public accountants’ workloads increase, and they often work 50 to 70 hours per week, with some even reaching 80 hours per week, to meet client demands.

Overtime and compensation

Overtime is common in the accounting industry, especially in public accounting firms.

As mentioned before, during peak seasons, public accountants can log up to 50-60 hours per week, with some exceeding 70-100 hours. Compensation for overtime varies; some firms offer additional pay or bonuses, while others consider extended hours as part of the job expectation, especially for salaried employees.

How to bill more for the same amount of work

Now it’s time we get to the juiciest part of the article: explaining how you can bill more without working more.

But to do that, we need to first talk about why you are not diligent about tracking your hours.

Why your hours go untracked (and probably unpaid)

In accounting, just like in any profession, time is money.

This means that if you don’t track your work hours properly, you’re not getting paid for all the time you put in.

This issue often comes up when we talk about billable hours—those hours spent working directly on tasks that clients are charged for.

But there’s also a lot of behind-the-scenes work that doesn’t get billed, and that’s where things can get complicated.

So, let’s first define what billable and non-billable tasks look like.

Billable tasks are exactly what they sound like: work that’s charged directly to a client. Clients expect to pay for them because they directly contribute to their financial needs.

Non-billable tasks are crucial to running the business and staying on top of client needs, but they don’t generate revenue directly. Because they are not seen as “important”, they often get overlooked when tracking time.

A report by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) found that about 17% of an accountant’s time is spent on non-billable tasks. That’s more than you would expect, right?! So, if you are not tracking time accurately, those 17% of hours can get lost in the blink of an eye.

Untracked hours are the problem

When you’re answering client emails, researching a complicated tax issue, or getting ready for a client meeting, you don't always log this time (in a timesheet).

These untracked hours pile up, and before you know it, you might have spent a lot of time on work you can’t bill for, which goes unpaid. All those non-billables eat up your time and are just as important for delivering quality service.

Why tracking your hours matters

When hours go untracked and unpaid, you miss out on income and get pretty frustrated or burnt out.

If you’re working many extra hours that you can’t bill for, it can feel like you’re doing more work without compensation.

From a macro perspective, not tracking your hours means that firms have no clear understanding of how resources are being used. If the time spent on non-billable tasks isn’t tracked properly, firms can miscalculate project costs or underestimate how long particular tasks take. This can lead to overworking employees and unrealistic timelines for clients, which ultimately harms the firm’s reputation.

How to fix the problem

To fix the issue with untracked hours, you need to implement a strong time tracking system that will “catch” all those billable and non-billable hours. No hour can go uncounted.

Your firm will better understand where resources are going, leading to more accurate billing and healthier work practices.

So, please remember it’s not about time tracking per se; it’s about being fairly compensated for all the work that goes into delivering excellent service.

How to track time as an accountant

Glad you asked.

My suggestion: with Memtime, as it’s the perfect time tracking app for accountants.

It’s not a basic time tracker like the ones you see in accounting and bookkeeping software like FreshBooks or Zoho Books.

Memtime offers passive time tracking that logs your time in all programs in an automatic timeline. It runs quietly in the background and captures every second of your work.

You don’t have to use a Start/Stop timer or remember where your time went. All you need to do is turn on your computer and start working on tasks and projects.

Here are some Memtime features that make it worth your time:

Sounds better than a perfectly balanced balance sheet? Try Memtime for yourself for two weeks; it’s on us. It takes less than 10 seconds to create a Memtime account and download the app. No credit card info needed.

If you like it, you can book a call and request a team trial. We’ll answer your team’s questions and give you a tour of the app so you can see just how seamlessly Memtime works.

To conclude

By tracking your time more effectively, you’ll boost productivity and ensure you’re getting paid for every minute of hard work.

Memtime is here to make that process as seamless and stress-free as possible so you can focus on what matters most: delivering excellent service to your clients.

Please don’t let untracked hours slip away. Try Memtime for free today and experience how easy breezy time tracking can be even in the busy season.