Max Messmer Chairman and CEO Robert Half International

Today’s accounting and finance professionals are used to having a lot on their plates, but a new survey shows that growing to-do lists could be taking their toll. More than one in three (35 percent) chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed cited heavy workloads as the number-one workplace concern for their financial teams. Job security ranked second with 19 percent of the response.

The survey was developed by Accountemps, the world’s first and largest specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals, and conducted by an independent research firm. It was based on telephone interviews with more than 1,400 CFOs across the United States.

Executives were asked, “Which one of the following do you think is the greatest source of work-related concerns for finance and accounting professionals?” Their responses:

Heavy workloads .... 35%
Job security .... 19%
Corporate governance mandates/compliance issues .... 17%
Personnel issues (e.g., coworker conflicts, office politics) .... 14%
Work/life balance issues .... 11%
None of these .... 2%
Other/don’t know .... 2%
Total .... 100%

“The combination of compliance mandates, traditional projects and shifting priorities has challenged accounting and finance professionals to keep up with their growing workloads,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International and author of Human Resources Kit For Dummies®, 2nd Edition (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). “The problem is further compounded by a shortage of highly skilled candidates in many specialties.”

Messmer continued, “Managers should closely monitor employees’ workloads to right any imbalances and maximize the productivity of the entire group. This might include realigning responsibilities, reprioritizing assignments and bringing in temporary support during peak activity periods.”

The national study was developed by Accountemps, the world’s first and largest specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on more than 1,400 telephone interviews with CFOs from a random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees. For the study to be statistically representative and ensure that companies from all segments are represented, the sample was stratified by geographic region and number of employees. The results were then weighted to reflect the proper proportions of the number of employees within each region.

Accountemps has more than 360 offices worldwide.