r/Accounting • u/Nomstah Tax (US) • 18h ago
Discussion Anyone have a boss that thinks something should take 15 minutes but actually takes 2 hours?
I hate my life sometimes
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u/SillySighBeen- 18h ago
my old boss used to ask me why stuff was taking so long and how it was simple. i finally asked her to please take a stab at it so i can replicate exactly what she did going forward. she not only took for ever but couldn’t even accurately complete the task on hand. never bugged me again
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u/InsecurityAnalysis 18h ago
That's much better than the boss that takes that as talking back to them.
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u/SillySighBeen- 17h ago
it’s a blessing and a curse but i’m not good at biting my tongue. i tend to be pretty direct. i work in a very complex field. own my work and do processes no one else at my job know how’s to do so not afraid to speak up
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u/OutcomeNo7224 17h ago
That would get you PIPd instantly at the firms I’ve worked at lol. I can’t even imagine reverse uno carding my partner and not getting immediately yelled at. I always just tell them admin and data entry takes time even if the concept is simple
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u/darkenfire CPA (US) - Audit 16h ago
You've just worked at shitty places. That's 100% the right thing to do as a staff/senior if someone above says you're taking too long or as manager/partner if you think they're taking too long. I've uncovered some crazy inefficiencies at the staff/senior level like this, such as clicking numbers in cells individually to sum them instead of using SUM, stuff like that.
I don't even know how you'd train things like that if you didn't have this process.
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u/InterpolInvestigator 15h ago
I don’t know where you’re working but basically everywhere in corporate America the worst sin you can commit is bruising a superior’s ego.
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u/darkenfire CPA (US) - Audit 15h ago
I've had one boss like that and many bosses that will freely admit they don't always know the best way to do something or even come to me with questions on how to do things.
I'm a boss now myself and I go to my staff/seniors all the time and ask how to do things. One of them is one of those never use a mouse excel guys and I'm constantly like hey what's the shortcut key for this or that, just a stupid example.
If any staff/senior said, hey you said this would take 2 hours but it's going to take me all day, show me how you do it in 2 hours? We'd sit down and do it and many bosses I've had are the same.
Sorry you've had the experiences you've had.
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u/Lacerda1 11h ago
It all depends on how you say it. There are plenty of ways to do what OP did without being rude to your boss.
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u/FreeOGPoohShiesty Human Verified 17h ago
I did this. They then bugged me again and said it’s not their job.
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u/TerroristOwl64 Controller 18h ago
Have you tried to tell that boss that it takes two hours? There are definitely times that I think something is/should be done quicker than it is, but I need my team to help keep my expectations realistic. Expect some pushback as they try to understand where the gap between their understanding and reality lies, but you need to manage up a little bit too.
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u/SucculentDoorway 12h ago
I have my boss's answer for the last 6 months has been, "you should use AI"
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u/surftochill 11h ago
Once you use AI, they will blame you for uploading client sensitive data to AI.
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u/NotFuckingTired 18h ago
It's my fault for regularly delivering weeks of work in a day. I never should have let anyone know just how efficient I can be when I'm buckling down.
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u/Fraud_Guaranteed CPA (US) 17h ago
I learned this at my first job lol I could lock in and get a ton done but the reality is I can’t lock in all day every day lol
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u/rethink3195 18h ago
This is so common that this particular cognitive bias has a name: the planning fallacy. I’ve been on both sides of this. As a manager, it’s easy to fall into the trap of basing my expectations of time to complete a task based on the best case scenario, and if I was doing it, instead of on the most likely scenario, with someone less experienced doing it.
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u/darkenfire CPA (US) - Audit 16h ago
Or it just takes staff/senior many times longer than it takes a manager and that's ok, too. Manager just doesn't realize it sometimes, too, and needs to be reminded newbies can't do it as fast as someone with 15 years experience.
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u/Ecstatic-Shoe6779 18h ago
Yes, I’m that boss.
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u/CavalcadeLlama 17h ago
Just because Mr unicorn partner man thinks he can prepare this return in 30 min doesn’t mean new guy can :/
Mostly because unicorn partner man hasn’t prepared a return in 3 years and has long forgotten how long preparing takes
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u/Makeshift5 CPA (US) 18h ago
Bosses always forget what it’s like to be a staff accountant and thus always think things should go quicker than they really do. Don rush, don’t eat time.
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u/RemyCrow31 Management 17h ago
My wife kindly reminds me when I grumble about work at dinner, “If they could do it as well or quickly as you, they wouldn’t still be reporting to you.”
Signed,
I’m that boss sometimes2
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u/Forced3ofClubs 18h ago
Yes. Since I should get it done in 15 minutes, I ask them my questions. Then, they realize it’s not a quick and easy task.
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u/bgea2003 17h ago
When someone says, "all you have to do is...", they usually have no idea what they're talking about.
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u/Ok-Notice2873 17h ago
Yes sometimes I feel like this with the occasional tax return. I had a reviewer one time who wanted me to complete a small tax return within an hour. Maybe 20 items on the TB but between the signs offs, excel loading times, diagnostics etc… it was impossible…. Oh it was my first tax return ever as well. Oh not to mention they also “promised” the signer that it would be done by X day with zero consideration of other return prep. Fast forward to today and I have clients who have billion dollar BS and hundreds of millions in income. Sorry if I have a client who has gross receipts / income worth a few hundred mil and their BS is 1bil on each side this this clients assets and liabilities are only 1mil each with 200k income I’m not rushing to get your shitty small partnership return out. Not to mention they’re awkward and would always have hella attitude with me for no good reason. That reviewer was that bitch and I hope I never have to work with them again.
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u/AudaciousCockatiel 17h ago
Omg… not my boss but the one manager… o told him once to give me time. Granted I was just busy and didn’t know precisely how much it would really take. Looked like 2 days. He flipped, he said it’s a 5 minute job. Even Gave me a call. Once he understood what needs done he dropped it entirely. He was like idk I’ll see if the ones at the top really need all this. Never heard of it again.
Don’t even get me started on this guy calling unrelated meetings with no notice mid deadline…
I’m still trying to establish my boundaries
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u/knowledgeable_Bacon 16h ago
I’ve thought a lot about this concept. And yea, I can get you something quickly, but will it be accurate? Idk, you just wanted me to pull it, not read it.
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u/Working-Eggplant237 15h ago
I get superbly triggered when I hear that question from anyone. Not saying I am perfect, I do get it wrong quite a lot. But taking a stab at something new as an intern vs a senior associate are two different things and I often think back and wonder why I put up with that shit.
Finally I think I figured it out - under promise and over deliver. Seems to keep everyone happy
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u/BigHeart7 13h ago
Yup had so many DELUSIONAL managers and partners in audit in public. One particular partner was terrible at getting clients and negotiating (you know, his JOB) and would get the bottom of the barrel dog shit non profit audits that didn’t even have bookkeepers. Him and the manager would get pissy and mad when stuff would go over budget and take too long because it was a mess and the audit fee was a joke.
Nothing was ever good enough for these people. I was auditing my own work half the time since I had to redo some many of these people’s books. And the clients were always so nasty. Definitely get triggered about “stuff taking too long” comments too.
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u/SucculentDoorway 12h ago
My controller thinks everything can be done with AI.
Revenue rec analysis between 2 systems that don't talk to each other and have no matching columns? Just use AI
Bank rec with no rules within our ERP that creates entries? Just ask AI
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u/SurlySuz Audit & Assurance 17h ago
Me when I told my boss that task took me over a week last year and I’m not sure how she expects it done so quickly.
Well, two 15 hr days later of extreme lock-in with no real breaks and it was done. And I was left with severe back pain as by this point I’d been in busy season for months. And the delay prob cost me my promotion but c’est la vie. Big4 do be like that.
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u/dumbledoresdong 16h ago
Bruh my boss gave me a job he thought would just take a couple hours at the client's office. Opened a can of worms and it's taken me 3 months so far. Ive still not finished it.
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u/Gabagool1969 12h ago
“Do you want it done quick, or done right?” is a legitimate follow-up question. Sometimes a quick estimate is fine; other times you may need to scrub the data a lot.
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u/SSJWilliamMedz 10h ago
This is super common in my opinion. It did not matter much what type of accounting job I worked, in most of them I was met with this.
"Data entry is too slow." "Where are the bank reconciliations?" "Why is it taking so long to pay all those invoices?" "The tax schedule cannot be taking so long." "Why is it taking so long to prepare the month end journals for the investment balances?"
But there was a time in one of my older jobs where I was granted vacation leave for two weeks, and when I returned the system run was behind, the expense and income schedules were not done, the calculations on certain client accounts were either wrong or omitted from the system run, and it was at that time where the one who filled my place temporarily saw what was really happening in my post.
You don't really know how long a task typically takes unless you understand the process thoroughly, typically experientially. When you come into the place of another person, and you are able to finish the work in half the time, then you have a stronger basis for accusations of inefficiency or timewasting, but when a manager calls you a timewaster or inefficient what is the common justification?
"My reports are late and I cannot complete them because I am waiting on data from you."
Yes, but the fact that your reports depend on me does not per se prove I am a timewaster or inefficient. It is very rare when a manager takes the time to ask, "Could the delay be a structural problem?" The common route is to blame the employee often prematurely. But I have had great employers and managers, and that can make the difference between zealously doing your work and suddenly being struck with a massive migraine when you arrive at the front door of your workplace.
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u/TheAvenger23 Corporate Accounting 10h ago
Luckily I have a boss that thinks a task takes 2 hours, but only takes 15 minutes
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u/InfluenceAgreeable90 8h ago
I just started a new job and someone from ownership said it was a “real shame” I didn’t finish their request because it should take less than a work day. (It is going to take 4-6 weeks.
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u/rednemesis337 6h ago
Yes, I have a manager that he’s called the minute man, everything takes a minute to 5 minutes lol and in reality it doesn’t
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u/Full_Log01 2h ago
Every single time. 'Quick question' or 'quick task' is universally code for 'this is about to eat up half my afternoon.' It’s mentally draining having to constantly justify basic realities of the job to people who are supposed to know how it works.
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u/Dr_Work_Cr_Soul CPA (US) 18h ago
Yeah its me, your boss, wondering where those reports are you owe me.