Accountants would never say they'd rather work hard and make less money.
But...their actions say otherwise.

Especially during tax season.

The typical accountant works anywhere from 55 hours per week to up to 100 hours per week during tax season. Let's assume they put in 50-hour weeks the rest of the year.

And, if the average pay for an accountant is $70k then the effective hourly rate is...

$24.00.

That's it.

So, why do we as accountants do this? Why are we working hard (especially during tax season and the 'month-end close') for such a paltry wage?

Well, for three reasons:

#1. It's safe
Accountants will always have a job (theoretically).

#2. It's comfortable
Compliance work (e.g. taxes, bookkeeping) are what accountants are really great at. They can do it and do it well.

#3. It's what's they've always done
If someone is trained in a thing and spent a good chunk of their profession doing that thing they usually want to keep doing the thing.

These three reasons are precisely why accountants are getting paid so little.

Most people want a job that's safe, comfortable, and is something they're used to.

If there's more people who want a particular job the less that job will pay.

It's why the average actor, musician and minor-league sports player gets paid so little (and why you'll more likely see an actor waiting your table than on TV).

So, how can you go from working hard and making less money to working not as hard and making way more money?

By being indispensable.

The average actor earns a paltry wage while Dwayne Johnson earned $42 million last year.

The average musician earns a paltry wage while Taylor Swift earned $80 million last year.

The average athlete earns a paltry wage while LeBron James earned $96.5 million last year.

However, you ask the average actor, musician, and athlete and they'd all say they worked incredibly hard last year.

So what gives? What does Dwane, Taylor and LeBron all have in common?

They were indispensable.

More specifically, they were indispensable to the people paying them.

So, again, how can you go from working hard and making less money to working not as hard and making way more money?

By being indispensable to the people paying you.

Are you a replaceable accountant or an indispensable accountant?

What's the difference?

A replaceable accountant is focused on doing things that, ultimately, don't matter to the client. Therefore, they're not going to be a top earner (and their clients won't have loyalty to them).

An indispensable accountant is focused on helping their client accomplish the thing that they care about. And, to business owner clients, that's helping them have a growing and more profitable business.

If you can do that - help your business clients - have a growing and more profitable business you will become indispensable.

You'll command loyalty.

You'll command respect.

And if you're indispensable you'll command way more money.