Many accounting and finance professionals at enterprise organizations feel that poor revenue processes and reporting is affecting their mental health to the point where literally 19% say they have nightmares about revenue data.
This is according to a recent report from payment and collections solutions firm Zuora which surveyed 500 professionals at private organizations about their revenue practices. What they found was that a lot of accountants were deeply unhappy. A comfortable majority of respondents—63%—say their company’s revenue processes and reporting is affecting their mental health.
Meanwhile, 19% reported that they have nightmares about revenue data. The survey did not elaborate on the specific nature of these nightmares, such the significance of the data to the dream (was it just a part of it, or did the entire scenario center around it?), the way the data appeared (was it a spreadsheet that was somehow dressed like your mother?), or the frequency of these nightmares (maybe just once at month end, or recurring nightly?). It merely said 19% had them.
If one is having nightmares about revenue data, it might indicate one’s job isn’t a major source of comfort, and further survey data bears this out: 59% report their revenue accounting team members feel unfulfilled with their work.
Coincidentally, another survey—this one from accounting workflow automation solutions provider FloQast—had a similar finding. Its poll of 284 accounting and finance professionals found that only a tiny minority, 5%, are completely fulfilled at their jobs, giving it an A+. Meanwhile, about 60% of accountants scored their job fulfillment at C or below. In fact, 15% of accountants polled seemed actively unhappy at their jobs, giving their job an F.
Similarly, only 7% of accountants said their job function was “everything it could be.” This is in contrast to 21% who said it was “okay” and the 20% who said their job function “needs an overhaul.”
This lack of fulfillment might explain why a large chunk of accountants aren’t completely confident in the work they do. While 58% said they were very confident in their own work, 42% said they’re not sure, which the report said should make organizations uneasy considering the sensitive information accountants handle.
The poll also asked what would make accountants more fulfilled. Overall it seems, mostly, they want to set the direction of their own work and projects, make choices that impact the performance of the organization, and have a valuable voice in strategic directions. In other words, accountants don’t want to just be cogs executing someone else’s plan or processes—they want to be active players in the organization and make decisions that matter.
Technology could either help or hurt fulfillment depending on who you ask. For those who hold an adversarial relationship with new technology, 21% said it makes their job unnecessarily complicated, versus the 12% who view technology as routine and the 14% who view technology positively.
