As an accountant, people assume you’re extra calculating with your time. That may be the case, but all that number crunching and planning goes out the window when an accountant also becomes a parent, creating some unique challenges.
Here are some common issues that parents who are accountants often face when it comes to child care, and how hosting an au pair can help.
1. Busy Seasons
Problem: You can have the perfect work-life balance for most of the year, but accountants know that once tax/audit season starts in January, that balance tips to one side of the scale and doesn’t let up until April. As a parent, that’s four precious months of your child’s life where you may struggle to give them the attention they need.
Au Pair Solution: Hosting an au pair means you’ll have flexible, live-in assistance for up to 45 hours per week and up to 10 hours per day. You and your au pair can create a customized child care schedule that works best for your needs during accountants’ busy season and is built around what your work week might look like.
2. High Stress Levels
Problem: With tight deadlines and unreliable clients, you’re likely already stressed as an accountant. That unpredictably only increases when there’s a child involved, who at times can be your most unreliable client of all.
Au Pair Solution: If you’re dealing with a particularly high-stress account or are feeling the pressure of being everywhere all at once, hosting an au pair can ease that burden. You’ll have the presence of another adult in your home who can act as a mentor for your child or children.
3. Location and Flexibility
Problem: While the COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot of things for the field of accounting, many high-profile clients still prefer working with accountants in a professional office where they are sure that their files are secure, meaning your home office might not cut it. This is a problem for parents who are accountants, as it may mean spending significant away from home and your child.
Au Pair Solution: Worried about your child or children having supervision while you’re working or need to be in the office? Don’t be! Because your au pair lives with you and has a customizable schedule, they’ll be able to assist with things like afterschool care, sick days, and homework help. They also can assist with driving to-and-from activities, school, and more.
4. Work-Life Balance
Problem: When you’re not accounting, you’re parenting, which makes your work-life balance more like a work-work balance. There’s no number-crunching that can solve the mathematical equation of a well-balanced life. You’re going to need some help.
Au Pair Solution: When you can’t be at your child’s event or activity in person, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that another supportive family member, like your au pair, can be there to provide support.
5. Maternity and Paternity Leave, or Lack Thereof
Problem: Many accountants run their own businesses, and as the business’s accountant, you know if your one employee goes on maternity or paternity leave, that means a loss in profits. Even if you work for a larger company with a great maternity and paternity leave program, the transition from full-time parent to the office is difficult.
Au Pair Solution: An Au Pair can help with this transition. Did you know Au Pair in America offers Infant Qualified au pairs? These au pairs who are able to care for children younger than two years old have a minimum of 200 hours of documented experience with children under the age of two.
6. Maintaining a Profitable Business
Problem: If you’re an accountant who owns your own business, the monetary toll that child care has on your finances may be something not even you could have predicted.
Au Pair Solution: When you’re an accountant, you take advantage of any added value you can get, and Au Pairs offer tremendous value as a parent. Not only can it be a cost-effective solution for families (with Au Pair in America, the cost to host an au pair is per family, not per child), you and your children get the added value of learning about your au pair’s culture!
Being a parent and an accountant can seem like an impossible math problem. Assistance with child care doesn’t have to be.
If you are an accountant who is also a parent, we know that the most important calculation is how to raise your child while also providing for them. That’s why we highly recommend hosting an au pair. Balancing the books with your commitment to your children is an ongoing journey, but the flexibility and dependability of live-in child care can help.
Accountants in need of child care assistance can learn more about hosting an au pair by clicking the button below.
