Don't quit your busy seasons until you've solved this

So, what is your worth-it-equation as an auditor or accountant?

Three things are constant in your search for a fulfilling career:

• learning;

• earning capacity;

• flexibility.

At times, you will not get all three in one project.

Exposure to multiple projects at various points in your career will help you achieve one or the other.

Your need for each of these things also changes as your level increases.

Imagine a weighing scale where on one end you have learning.

On the opposite, you have earning capacity or flexibility.

When you first enter the profession as a fresh graduate with zero experience, your learning holds more weight.

As you get promoted, the weight you place on learning decreases.

You start weighing more on the earning capacity.

As you try to fulfill other life purpose, flexibility gains more weight.

Now, at each milestone, you might ask yourself.

Is it worth it to continue doing this work in exchange for the other?

Whatever your answer to that will be your worth-it-equation.

Remember, these three elements are interconnected.

• Learning leads to increased value (your leverage).

• Increased value leads to high earning capacity (your incentive).

• High earning capacity leads to flexibility (your time investment).

You can decide when it’s your last busy season if your worth-it-equation no longer gives you any of these.

Stay or go?

Welcome to Busy Season Journals—stories and experiences to shape accountants of the future. A newsletter made especially for you by a fellow accountant, adventurer, and coach-guide.

If this post resonated with you, share and invite fellow accountants and auditors to subscribe to Busy Season Journals.

If you’re a millennial and Gen Z auditor/accountant and this email was forwarded to you, click subscribe to enjoy future stories.