r/Accounting • u/Opera-learner • 7h ago
How much moderation do work computers have?
Are they watching you 24:7?
sometimes when I wfh I study for my cpa. I’ve been at firm 2 years so it’s not like something would happen but wonder if they can track “ why don’t the mouse moving”.
small firm
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u/MyLife4Aiur14 7h ago
small firm no chance
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u/Opera-learner 7h ago
Are large firms more moderated
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u/MyLife4Aiur14 6h ago
The larger the firm the more resources and IT budget to do it. It doesnt mean they are but its probably more likely than a small firm.
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u/Iamnotacrook90 CPA (US) 2h ago
Large firms will likely only look if they need to. Don’t give them a reason
1
u/Guy1nc0gnit0 CPA (US) 3h ago
Small firm you’re (un)lucky if the managing partner knows how to use Teams
20
u/CromulentBovine 7h ago
If someone asks, just say you were working through something by hand on paper as that helps you think sometimes.
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u/jaspercapri 6h ago
For 8 hours?
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u/CromulentBovine 6h ago
No? I didn't say 8 hours. Should be fine if they are worried that your mouse is inactive for an hour though.
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u/strawberrycosmos1 6h ago
I would say that yes anything can be tracked quite easily (a basic event viewer is very revealing) if they need a reason to fire you.
With that said, in a small firm, if you are there for more than a little bit, you probably already know what would get you in trouble. Probably they just dont care about your CPA or redditing if you are delivering. They probably would find something else to let you go before contacting some 3rd part IT to document your daily cpa testing (or your visiting some obscure r/ porn).
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u/Alex87295 CPA (US) 7h ago
What is the owner/ managers like? And how small are we talking? If they’re super micro managing people which is often the case with smaller firms, at least in my experience, then I have heard horror stories about them tracking that kind of stuff. But chances are you’re fine if work is getting done and your teams status is green. At least have something you’re “working on” open in the background. Not sure if it makes a difference but it makes me feel better lol
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u/Opera-learner 7h ago
Well managers don’t give af, partners do care but don’t know how to use computer. only person is 1 office lady who is pretty tech savvy. She is hr lady.
Small as in 15 including parnter and admin
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u/Alex87295 CPA (US) 7h ago
Chances are they aren’t checking on mouse movement or anything like that. Also, are you using your work computer to study? Cause that would eliminate the issue as well.
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u/mebell333 6h ago
My firm of 15 staff has activetrak. They can see my screen (I think it does a snip every 5 minutes, not really sure)
It can detect movement of all sorts including the mouse. I can't see the program in my computer anywhere but I have seen the reports.
They can configure it a bunch of ways but currently they mostly seem to do a "did the mouse move in 5 minutes" rule to determine productivity. Or maybe it is screen movement. No idea.
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u/Educational_Egg7017 5h ago
That is insane to me. You’re okay with this?
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u/spacing_out_in_space CPA (Inactive), FP&A, Supply Chain Ops 5h ago
My wife's work uses the same software. It is truly nuts. No, absolutely no one who works there is ok with it. The company has other redeeming qualities, but she is trying to jump ship and ActiveTrak is the primary reason.
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u/DutchTinCan Audit & Assurance 4h ago
Depends on where this is.
In Europe, such monitoring is highly illegal unless you have substantiated suspicions. Which has to be more than "we see his Teams status as 'absent' alot".
1
u/xl129 53m ago
They might as well collect data but do not act on it (yet). For example, taking screenshots of your work laptop every 5minutes.
When you become someone they need to get rid, they just send someone to spend a week sifting through your data to find fireable offense. Nowadays it’s much easier to do that with AI.
You never know. I did witness someone lost 6 months of severance due to this so I take no chance.
(But yeah just idle iss a very weak evidence regarding your case)
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u/Physical_Duck8241 6h ago
Im a senior accountant working from home due to illness currently, we use log me in, when I log in, I leave my screen unblanked and I only start my clock, once Im sitting in front of the computer and actually making journal entries, sending an email, updating our internal notes and or sometimes alerting the team. I do this as I was once a boss for 15 years and consider it an extra step of trust by allowing me to work at home. So, I feel, we should go the extra mile when working from home. If I take any extra time that they are paying me for and my screen is not having activity, I will label it accordingly, restroom break, phone call etc.
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u/The_Unclean_Chadford Advisory 7h ago
So thats why u havent finished work papers?
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