Accounting and finance professionals are used to deadlines. Month-end closes. Quarter-end reporting. Tax deadlines. Audits. There has always been another date on the calendar that requires the team to dig in and deliver.
What’s changing is everything happening between those deadlines.
AI and automation are reshaping the work. Regulations continue to evolve. Expectations from the business are changing. And when teams lack specialized skills, experienced employees are often the ones asked to take on more.
That can make it difficult to tell where a demanding job ends and an unsustainable workload begins. Your most reliable employees may still be meeting deadlines and producing excellent work even as they are running out of capacity to keep doing more.
By the time productivity slips or someone decides to leave, burnout may have been building for months.
For accounting and finance leaders, the challenge is recognizing that risk while there is still time to do something about it.
Recognize when demanding work is becoming unsustainable
It isn’t always easy to notice when employees are burned out. Someone can still get the work done even when the pace is becoming difficult to sustain.
The warning signs may be subtle. Leaders may notice:
A decline in the quality, consistency, or timeliness of work
Increased irritability or disengagement
Pulling back from conversations or team interaction
Routinely working excessive hours or skipping breaks
Going through the motions even while getting the work done
One of the easiest signs to miss is overperformance. Some accounting and finance professionals will continue taking on more because they don’t want to fall behind or let their colleagues down. They may still be producing excellent work even as the pace becomes unsustainable.
And when an experienced employee eventually leaves, the impact is felt across the team. Knowledge walks out the door with them, while much of the work stays behind. But the loss isn’t only operational. Employees may be saying goodbye to a mentor, confidant, or friend, even as they take on the work that person leaves behind.
Strong performance can make burnout easy to overlook. Regular check-ins can help leaders understand whether someone is carrying too much and where additional support could make a difference.
How staffing challenges can contribute to employee burnout
Hiring has become more difficult for many finance and accounting teams. According to Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent, 61% of finance and accounting leaders said finding skilled professionals has become more challenging than it was a year ago.
That can leave leaders relying heavily on the people they already have, particularly when work requires skills the team may be missing. AI and automation initiatives, financial planning, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) and financial systems upgrades are among the areas being affected by skills shortages.
Experienced employees may be willing to take on more, especially when they know the work needs to get done, but that can go on for only so long. Leaders should keep a close eye on workloads and consider a flexible talent strategy, bringing in contract professionals or consultants to relieve pressure, address skill gaps, or provide specialized expertise when it’s needed most.
Help accounting and finance employees develop new skills
The profession is changing quickly, and finance professionals are being asked to contribute in new ways. Employees who spend too long doing the same work may also have a harder time seeing what comes next for them.
Give employees opportunities to grow along with the work. Taking on a new responsibility or learning a system they haven’t worked with before can help them build skills while preparing them for what comes next in their careers.
Use AI and technology to ease workloads
Technology should make work easier. Leaders need to make sure that is actually happening.
Automation and AI can reduce repetitive work and give finance professionals more time for analysis and work that requires their judgment. But a new tool can become one more demand if employees aren’t given adequate training and time to learn it.
Look at where your team is spending time on repetitive or manual work. Could technology or a process change make that work easier and free people to focus on where they can contribute more?
Talk with employees about workload before burnout sets in
Accounting and finance professionals are often very good at pushing through demanding periods. That can make it harder for leaders to know when someone has reached a limit.
Make workload part of regular conversations rather than waiting for an employee to say they are overwhelmed. Find out what is taking more time than it should and whether competing priorities are making the workload difficult to manage.
Busy periods will always be part of the profession. Leaders who understand where the strain is coming from are in a better position to adjust priorities, shift work, or provide additional resources before a demanding stretch becomes unsustainable.
Model the work habits you want your team to follow
Employees notice how their leaders work. If late-night emails, weekend messages, and constant availability become routine, people may assume the same is expected of them.
Leaders can set a different example by respecting reasonable boundaries and taking time away from work when they need it.
Accounting and finance teams still need to deliver accurate, timely work as demands continue to change. Leaders need to pay attention to what it takes from their people to keep delivering at that level.
Strong performance shouldn’t come at the expense of your best people. Leaders need to understand what their team is carrying, provide the support they need, and recognize when the pace needs to change before employees decide they need a change of their own.