Reducing Stress from Workload Compression: Coping Strategies That Work in CPA Firms

Abstract

Workload compression is characterized by the AICPA (Padwe 1994) as a condition of excessive job demands caused by the 1986 Tax Reform Act (TRA).  The TRA severely limited the ability of businesses to elect other than a calendar year-end reporting for tax purposes.  Consequently, professional accountants find their tax and audit work compressed into the first quarter of each year.  In an earlier study Cluskey and Vaux (1997a) found job stressors, such as excessive job demands, to be contributing factors in causing job stress, which ultimately leads to degraded job performance. Cluskey and Vaux (1997b) also found workload compression to be a possible contributor to occupational stress in professional accountants.  The current study surveyed public accountants in both October (slack season) and February (busy season).  The study found that standard indicators of job stress were no greater in February than in October, indicating that workload compression does not contribute additional occupational stress in accounting practitioners.  Subsequent interviews with the participants revealed that the firms in this study have incorporated specific management practices to help their employees cope with the extremely high job demands during this period of workload compression, which may help explain these unexpected results.