Over a year into the pandemic, most Canadians want to keep working from home.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in remote work since mid-March 2020. In the Before Times, only four percent of the Canadian workforce were given the opportunity to work from home. According to the latest survey by Statistics Canada, 32 percent are now working from home with 90 percent feeling just as productive as they were back in the office. And about one-third of those who responded to the survey said they’re even more productive working from home.
It’s a statistic that resonates with many people we’ve spoken to over the past year. These survey results, as well as the anecdotal evidence of our friends and colleagues, suggest the workplace of the future may never be the same. In certain careers, such as teaching, the majority still have a strong desire to have a separate workplace, to spend their work hours teaching in person. Which should come as no surprise to anyone, least of all parents who have tried to help their children with virtual schoolwork while ‘working’ from home.
The lines between work and personal life became blurry when teams began to work remotely. Rather than insist staff try to keep a 9-to-5 schedule, many employers (including UpSide) gave their team members the flexibility to work at a time that’s best for them. The key to embracing an asynchronous schedule is to keep the main goals the focus of each employee’s contributions, instead of putting a spotlight on a laundry list of little tasks to do and when to do them. As long as those key results are met by the end of the month, it doesn’t matter when it’s completed.
Although the pandemic disrupted nearly all aspects of business and our daily lives, it gave us a rare opportunity to take a good look at how we’ve been living on autopilot. The disruption and isolation has encouraged us to intentionally re-evaluate our lives. Many of us have abandoned habits or behaviors during this pandemic that we have no interest in resuming. A two hour commute to work? 12 hours a day away from the family? No thanks, not anymore. There’s been a shift in priorities.
Work-Life Balance
Now, as we look ahead to a post-pandemic life, those changes for the better aren’t going away if we can help it. The term ‘work-life balance’ actually has meaning to more of us now. So many friends, family members, colleagues, and clients have mentioned prioritizing their family as well as their physical and mental health.
For example, Jill is an experienced accountant who worked for many years at one of the “Big 4” firms. During the first few months of the pandemic, she started to realize she needed a more flexible employer. With her kids having difficulty with virtual school at home, she couldn’t always be at her computer working consistently from 9 to 5. It was nice working from home, as she was completely over the commute and slogging it out in a cubicle, but she desired the flexibility to work when she wanted to. As long as she met her deadlines, did it really matter? It did to her employer. It didn’t take Jill long to look for accounting jobs working from home. She wanted to work for an online accounting firm that would give her complete control over her work hours.
We’re Hiring!
Are you like Jill? Are you an experienced accountant looking for more flexibility in your work? Great news! Upside Accounting is looking to fill a Senior Cloud Accountant position. At UpSide, you’ll have the flexibility to work when you want to, provided that deadlines are met and our clients are satisfied.
We’re looking for a team member who believes in work/life balance and managing themself based on due dates, not timesheets. We’re looking for a positive person who wants to create win-win opportunities. Do you have fun in life, enjoy teaching and helping others around you?
Why Us?
At UpSide, we love to create wealth and freedom for creative professionals. We know that when given the freedom to create, creative minds can vastly improve their communities and make a larger impact on society as a whole. To this end, we build creative accounting solutions utilizing state-of-the-art tech and employ virtual accounting pros to leverage them. In fact, Intuit recognized us as the Canadian runner-up in the 2016 Firm of The Future contest. We are a small but mighty team, and you could make a real difference here.
As a Senior Cloud Accountant
You will be the clients’ first point of contact. We’ll rely on your outstanding communication skills and desire to make a difference. You’ll be responsible for developing a strong, trusting relationship with each client and will need to be confident in your ability to provide sound, proactive advice on issues that matter to them. You’ll also mentor a small team of accounting pros in various roles, ensuring their quality of work is high and deadlines are met or exceeded. With your team, you’ll provide monthly financial statements, as well as all compliance remittances for our Canadian small business clients. With this data, you will facilitate quarterly/annual meetings in which you provide pro-active advisory services to assist with their growth.
As a valued member of the Upside team, you’ll be contributing to the overall strategy and growth of our firm. For example, we would appreciate you documenting workflows, recording short video responses to common questions, and identifying opportunities to better serve our clients. There’s room for you to grow with us and transition into other leadership roles as the opportunities arise.
We are Results-Based
We care about:
- A predetermined number of jobs closed each month
- Percentage of work items completed before & on the due date
- Percentage of overdue jobs at any given time
- Number of continuing education credits earned
- Number of continuing education credits your team has earned
- Your team’s feedback on your communication and leadership
- Your client’s feedback on your communication and leadership
- NOT timesheets, number of hours or at what times of the day you work
If this sounds like a match made in heaven for you, then we would love to hear from you. Click here to see our detailed requirements and complete your application. Thank you, we look forward to hearing from you, and hope you find your ideal work/life balance.