Any time you discuss job satisfaction in the world of accounting...especially at the end of the annual year-end close ritual...expect a bad result. A recent survey suggests the level of unhappiness in the profession has gone over the fire wall. Coupling this with the fall-off in college students completing an accounting degree...we have the perfect storm of unloved book closings and nobody to administer the process in the future!

While this may seem like a dire situation and with further reforms underway to scrutinize accounting judgment, the pace of automation and speed to close has been steadily improving. That said, bots do not sign management rep letters and our controllership functions still suffer through the jungle of manual processes and spreadsheet mania. The fix takes time, energy, and conviction to invest in the back office.

There are no magic pills to solve the growing discontent in the accounting profession. Not sure pizza accounting close parties will do the trick but doing nothing is not the answer either. Hopefully, the discontent will tamper down as we go into the normal workload levels post-year-end closing. Now is a good time to thank the accounting team and celebrate another great year of working together. Take an accountant to lunch... it's a thing.

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