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#27 Office Perks, What are your favorites?

Mar 9th, 2009 by pfi

sodaFree beverages are just the tip of the iceberg. Try health-conscious snacks, gourmet meals, and espresso machines – all for free. Any office has pens and staplers, but does your office have a nickel vending machine? Every office has a break room, but does your office have a nap room?

Accountants are experts at abusing office perks. Even if something is not for taking, chances are an accountant has already helped themselves to it.

A good example of perk abuse is training. Locked into training rooms all day, accountants binge on coffee, mineral water, and themed snacks to help them put on more weight, err, to help them concentrate. Accountants will sneak water bottles, lunch sandwiches, and hotel pens into their room. They don’t really need any of these things, but it allows them to save up Per Diem. While training is not technically an office perk, accountants abuse it nonetheless.

Office perks (of the food variety) are important in an accountant’s career. It allows an accountant to get a head start on gaining and keeping weight while on the job. Accountants live in front of their laptops eating company meals. Combined with no exercise (moving binders doesn’t count no matter what an accountant says), the weight gain is inevitable.

Feel free to post your favorite office perks. Anything from a free Starbucks in the building to a dusty coffee pot that nobody ever uses.

Tags: #27, Free Food, Office Perks

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No Responses to “#27 Office Perks, What are your favorites?”

  1. on 09 Mar 2009 at 10:43 pm1Big 4 Auditor

    Flavia coffee machines, free sodas and breakfast ordered for meetings (usually by other departments)!

  2. on 10 Mar 2009 at 5:23 am2Katy

    Free catered in lunch on first day of monthly financial close.

  3. on 10 Mar 2009 at 5:42 am3ach

    Free donuts, 6th floor.

  4. on 10 Mar 2009 at 5:53 am4Anonymous Poster

    I worked at a client that had a soda fountain and ice cream machine in the break room. Their inventory process was all jacked up, but still…

  5. on 10 Mar 2009 at 7:40 am5I

    Gym in a building that I use once every two years, and free parking in the building (life saver when attending NHL games played nearby).

  6. on 10 Mar 2009 at 11:59 pm6j

    the piece of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory that we normally wouldn’t order if we had to pay for it.

  7. on 11 Mar 2009 at 3:37 pm7anon

    All these free perks are disappearing or are already gone at my company (B4)

  8. on 11 Mar 2009 at 5:49 pm8Erin

    Free cereal at the client for breakfast and dinner – and free lunch catered everyday

  9. on 12 Mar 2009 at 2:46 pm9Seattle CPA

    Auditor: “Bartender, I’ll have a PBR tall boy.”
    Bartender: “You got it.”
    Auditor #2: “Dude, there’s a card down.”
    Auditor: “Sorry, can I change that PBR to a double Citadelle and tonic.”

  10. on 14 Mar 2009 at 4:06 pm10Big 4 Slut

    Free lunches at the client’s site… and occasional afternoon cakes.

  11. on 15 Mar 2009 at 9:24 pm11Anon

    We’ve lost any and all perks at our office (big4) 🙁

  12. on 17 Mar 2009 at 7:01 am12Reno CPA

    We are lucky enough to have a fully stocked kitchen. Our admin person goes grocery shopping once a week, and we tell him exactly what we want 🙂 In addition to the food, we always do fun activities like river rafting, bbq’s, and lake days. Also, afternoon meetings sometimes include wine and hors d’oeuvres. We are definitely spoiled 🙂

  13. on 17 Mar 2009 at 12:14 pm13gonowheresystems

    We used to have a lot of perks, now all we have is free coffee, and they’ve even cut the variety of flavors on that. I think they realize that without coffee, accounting doesn’t happen.

  14. on 18 Mar 2009 at 12:22 pm14Mike

    What Perks? They take away your individuality in exchange for free flavia coffee?

  15. on 19 Mar 2009 at 1:16 pm15ATL CPA

    Diet Dr. Pepper on Tap!

  16. on 20 Mar 2009 at 4:26 pm16top ten tax

    we don’t get anything now. they blame it on the economy. we’ve gotten 5 free meals since the start of busy season and one of them was a promo from a local restaurant.

  17. on 23 Mar 2009 at 9:36 am17Frmr TX Auditor

    The firm where I worked for two and a half years always had cheap vending machines and plenty of free food from all sorts of occasions. But the kicker was the Nintendo Wii they installed in a new “Break room” just as I was leaving. I would like to know who had the balls to play Wii while at the office.

  18. on 23 Mar 2009 at 2:37 pm18gonowheresystems

    Maybe this should be under “Stuff Accountants Liked.”

    They have not cut everything, but they’ve cut a lot.

  19. on 25 Mar 2009 at 6:20 pm19Idontdotaxes

    I used to work for a small firm that took everyone in the firm on an all inclusive 3-day trip to mexico in april each year after busy season, fully paid for by the firm. The firm that I work for now, cancelled all the perks, including dinner in busy season and on weekends due to the economy.

  20. on 29 Mar 2009 at 3:02 pm20DougFresh

    Chair massages on saturday mornings, occassional free food, open bar at worke events. Our coffee is so terrible its an anti-perk. I gladly walk across the street and pay $1 for a decent cup of coffee.

  21. on 04 Apr 2009 at 7:54 pm21AuditDawg

    The office space one of my clients leases is owned by Coca-Cola. We have free Coca-Cola products on tap and is definitely the best perk I have.

    @top ten tax – I feel you on that BS with no free meals during busy season. We started cutting “unnecessary costs” which apparently include meals when you’re working 15 hours a day.

  22. on 15 Jul 2009 at 5:18 pm22Taxasian

    When I left Big 4 I may or may not have helped myself to a 2008 copy of US Master Tax Guide………………………………….

  23. on 07 Aug 2009 at 8:36 am23Jessica

    Fresh fruit in front of the CEO’s office 😀

  24. on 21 Aug 2009 at 4:30 pm24IKP

    One of my company’s clients is a soft drink giant and they give free soda to all the offices in the area. There’s always a fully stocked mini fridge.

  25. on 04 Sep 2009 at 1:28 am25Stuff Accountants Like » Blog Archive » #48 Free Wi-Fi

    […] Accountants also tend to have a college student mentality guiding their decisions. If it works and it’s free, so much the better. This also fits in well with company provided alcohol and office perks. […]

  26. on 24 Sep 2009 at 9:26 am26FMLImAnAuditor

    Expense Reports! and P-Card!

    Got to make up for the crappy salary so way!!!!

  27. on 07 Nov 2009 at 7:35 am27cpastories

    I love nice pens. I am cutting down though. I have reduced my pen-count (pens, pencils, highlighters etc) from 30+ to 7. I feel more organized 😉 and less xthing. I guess when pens count as perks then you are truly an accountant 😉

  28. on 17 Jan 2010 at 4:01 pm28iheart busy season

    @24 IKP – RE “one of my company’s clients” I assume you are trying to say one of your firm’s clients? If that’s the case, how does your client providing mass amounts of free soda to your firm not impair the firm’s independence?? I’m just saying.

  29. on 28 Feb 2010 at 1:04 pm29Cal Culator

    Re: #28: How do you know it’s not a non-audit consulting or tax prep client (i.e. one that would not require independence?)

  30. on 28 Mar 2010 at 9:05 am30awdit

    free shoe shines twice a month

  31. on 11 Jun 2010 at 9:00 pm31Perkie

    Free alcohol at the client’s expense, per diem, travel miles, overnight bonus, all-you-can-eat busy season kitchen, massages,,, the list goes on… Don’t forget free gym and weight loss program after the busy season 🙂

  32. on 26 Jul 2010 at 1:27 pm32employed

    When I worked at a private real-estate investment company, they provided lunch every day + various coffee and espresso machines, snacks and sodas galore, monthly cake day for all the month’s birthdays, free parking, incredible supply closets/drawers, after work events (such as plays/comdey/etc), and cheap weekly yoga classes on an empty floor. Within the accounting department, we would always go out to eat on the accountant’s birthday on their actual birthdays or if someone was leaving.
    During my public internship, pretty much all that except the daily lunches and no yoga 🙁

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