Taking a Leave of Absence
Oct 1st, 2009 by pfi
Accountants effectively work for less than minimum wage, interns excepted. When they aren’t working large hours, accountants are taking vacation in large chunks. Even if an accountant has used up all their vacation to study for their CPA license, they can still take a leave of absence (“LOA”) to take more time off.
As much as accountants love their jobs (they don’t), they love their leave of absences more. A LOA is a good chance for accountants to do something that non-accountants enjoy, such as travelling throughout Europe and/or Asia. Note that a LOA would be equally valid if spent all day on a couch avoiding exercise and sunlight through the television.
As you can imagine, it’s painful for accountants to return to work after an extended LOA. In fact, it’s a testament to the iron willpower accountants possess every time they return to work after a single day holiday. Like non-accountants, accountants dread returning to work – only more so as they are accountants who spend everyday performing magic tricks in Excel. This is why a 3 week LOA travelling the world often results in the obvious revelation that accountants do not want their crazy hours. After a LOA, many accountants never actually return to their positions because they’ve remembered what it feels like to have a life.
This post, besides bashing the accounting profession, is a good way to segue into my own LOA. It’s important for everyone to do what truly interests them. Frankly, as many haters and fans as this site has welcomed, it’s no longer interesting for me. Who knows how long this LOA will last, but hey, busy season is coming up. Workpapers need to be prepopulated. Coffee needs to be consumed. Etc. Etc.
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