Flexible Work Schedules

Source: Inside Public Accounting (reporting on the Management Summit 2005 in Las Vegas).

Flexible work schedules are a virtual necessity these days. To make them succeed, firms must manage the process systematically.

Flexible work schedules should be reserved for experienced, talented staff who are committed to the firm’s values. They must be available to work during the firm’s busiest times. They must be held to high utilization standards, and their nonchargeable time must be monitored.

A limit to the number of hours should be required. Staff on flexible work programs   should work a total of 500 to 600 fewer hours per year than the regular staff. Their chargeable hours should run from 94 percent of total hours for staff to 88 percent of total hours for senior managers. Realization rates should be 10 percentage points higher and  billing rates should be at least 25 percent higher than full-time staff members at the same level.

For the complete article, see Inside Public Accounting, February 2005 (Hudson Sawyer, www.hudsonsawyer.com), p. 6.