Personal discipline, a good working environment and the right technology seem to be driving seem to be critically important to CPAs’ success whether working from home or in a traditional office environment.

And, clearly, an increasing number of CPAs are working at home. By our count in an ongoing survey, eight in 10 accountants work at least five hours a week at home these days. And almost half of all CPAs put in at least 21 hours a week from home (see related story on Deducting Home Office Expenses in this issue).

Understanding how best to juggle work and life, family and job, seems more important than ever.

So far, our soundings show that the three most important ingredients in the work-at-home recipe are:

1. The right technology setup
2. The right attitude and self-discipline
3. A quiet, dedicated workspace

So say accountants, and not just any accountants. That’s the advice from those who work for themselves at home after their day jobs. They are mostly in business and industry, but as many as 10 percent of all accountants operate a side practice at home. They generally work as many as 20 hours a week.

“Working at home is not for everyone, but if you can discipline yourself and have the ability to be productive for a number of days without maybe seeing others, it can be very lucrative,” says Richard B. White, a public practitioner in Roselle, Ill., who works one to 10 hours per week.

“Treat it as a real job with a boss who you have to respond to,” advises Frank Giarratano, a government sector senior officer who runs an accounting practice out of his home in Ellicott City, Md.

More seriously, Philip Laube, a nonprofit senior executive who moonlights as a tax preparer during busy seasons, warns, “If considering this as a second career, be prepared for the loss of family time or sleep.”

In Canada, the land of chartered accountants, Terry Walsh of Ottawa, who moonlights after hours from his day job in education, professes, “One has to discipline oneself to work in the same manner as one would work in an office, i.e., scheduled hours, self-imposed deadlines, no coffee breaks, no TV, radio or video distractions. And be available for clients.”

That means no makeshift at-home working arrangement for Julie Tucker, a public practitioner-moonlighter in Phoenix, Ariz. She advises, “Set aside a place to work, the kitchen table isn't going to work. It helps to get in the proper mindset and buckle down to do the work when the time comes.”

Mike Ennis, a senior staffer in the government sector in Tulsa, Okla., advises other moonlighting CPAs to “dedicate an office for your venture that is quiet within the home.”

Mike Keenum, a business and e-industry senior staffer in Moss Point, Miss., says the setup should keep the moonlighter from getting distracted
by television.

Eighty-three percent of moonlighting CPAs surveyed by Bay Street Group identified “the right attitude and self-discipline” as among the essential elements of success, which made it the number one most cited element. The right technology setup and having a quiet and dedicated place to work ranked number two and number three, respectively.

Although standard technologies like powerful computers and good Internet access are vital to almost all types of moonlighters, tax preparers working from home also need state-of-the-art application softwares for tax preparation and research. A bank vice president who moonlights in tax preparation says, “A part-time, at-home CPA can easily take on as much work as they want. The biggest issue is accessing tax research.”

Meeting clients ranked low when moonlighters were asked to identify the essential elements for success, but scored at the top of rankings when they identified their biggest challenges.

“I thought that my 17 years of experience and a Yellow Pages ad would result in a steady stream of phone calls. But after six months, I did not receive a single call,” says one business-and-industry senior executive about his moonlighting experience. “You need to target your market and go out and talk to them.”

That just goes to prove that everyone must market.

HOW DO YOU LIKE WORKING AT HOME? Are you getting the most out of it? Could you do better? Take the survey, get the answers, join the discussion.

COMMENTS: Questions, rants or raves? Write Rick Telberg.

Copyright © 2007 Bay Street Group LLC. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.