78 Reasons Why I'm Glad I'm in No Longer in Public Accounting

Since I left the world of public accounting in July of 2012, I have done a lot of reflecting on what I gave up, and what I gained by making the switch.  It was a no-brainer to give up the work-life imbalance, yet not so easy to lose the day to day interactions with a lot of great people, both co-workers and clients.  Not being in client service has meant a predictable work location which makes regular biking to work much easier for me.

Although these are all great reasons, there is one benefit that I recently experienced that trumps them all: the flexibility for Pati and me to celebrate our anniversary in a warm locale.  For seven of our first 10 anniversaries, I was barely able to peel away from work for a few hours for a nice dinner since I was already knee deep in busy season workpapers.  This year we booked a four day mid-January trip to southern California.

So what are the 78 reasons?  Check out the following, do the math, and you'll see: