Everyone has always heard the nightmare stories about working at an accounting firm during the “busy season,” meaning the months of January to April. Being an accounting intern currently at a big firm I can say it definitely can be a stressful job at times, but the finished product of the work is so rewarding and you are able to learn a lot during your time at a public firm.
Depending on what size accounting firm you are working at, your schedule and hours may differ. From my personal experience a normal work week ranges from 20-40 hours a week. Being a student, it can be a challenge to fit a job, classes, and personal life into a 7 day week, so it is important to begin the internship or job with a set schedule to keep yourself accountable and on time. I was able to plan accordingly and schedule my classes for night classes and on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then I am able to work full days on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. My biggest advice for making sure you are able to keep a good balance between work and all of your other priorities is to try your hardest to schedule your classes for only certain days. Another big responsibility for an accounting intern during a busy season is that working on Saturdays is a normal thing. As surprising as this might sound because there are certain deadlines given, sometimes you have to work into the weekend to get everything done. However, this also means that you can work over time and for me personally that can motivate me because it means I can enjoy myself a little bit more on the days that I am not working.
In terms of what kind of work you would be doing that just depends on if you are doing an Audit or Tax internship position. I am personally in the Audit and Assurance department at my company. I would say that if you are a tax intern your busy season can feel a little bit more intense because there is a federal deadline in April. For audit there is still a decent amount of pressure on you to get work done before deadlines. It just depends on what position and department you are in.
Even though it may seem like being an accounting intern can be overwhelming at times, you have to remember why you are doing what you do. You are working towards your dream job and working towards possibly becoming a Certified Public Accountant, CPA. The work can become cumbersome and overwhelming at times, while also being a student, however when you realize how much you are learning from your managers and seniors it makes it all worth it.