BMSS Needs Employees!!

I rarely ever write about my job on this blog, but I think I’ll make an exception.  My firm is looking for a few people to hire.  We’re looking for someone that has 3+ years in audit or someone who has the same experience level that does reviews/audit/tax.  I know changing jobs is a hassle, especially if you left public accounting to go into the industry already.  But PLEASE hear me out!! 

BMSS is not like other accounting firms, TRUST ME!  I worked at an international accounting firm for two years before joining the BMSS family and I am so incredibly happy I made that decision.  BMSS is a family, not a workplace.  We have 100+ employees, of which 45 are CPA’s.  We are a public accounting firm, however there is NO firm that gives you what we give our employees.  I’ll list out some of the benefits for you:

• Limit on hours in busy season to 60 hours.  This is huge if you work for other public accounting firms.  You know that busy season is the hardest time of the year and there are always such LONG hours.  When I was working at my other firm, I would work a little closer to 80 hours on any given week.  So even though 60 seems like a lot, it’s much less than other firms.  Not to mention our hours are ONLY during busy season.  No required overtime for any other deadline!!!  Let me explain how the hours works.  Busy season is broken down into weeks.  We get emails on Fridays for how many hours we’re required to work the next week.  We start January out with 40, then 45, then 50, then 55, and finally 60.  Most years, we don’t even hit 60 hour weeks until mid-February.  You also will not work a Saturday until the hours are 55 or 60.  Two busy seasons ago, our productivity and efficiency was so great that we never had a 60 hour week and even on our 55 hour weeks, we weren’t required to work a Saturday.  It was my first busy season to not work on a weekend!!  When a Saturday is required, the only time you are required to be there is from 10am-12pm.  If you got 58 hours in Mon-Fri, you literally only have to stay for those two hours on Saturday and that’s it.  This is usually what most people do, but sometimes something comes up where you need to leave at 5 on a Tuesday, so you just make it up by working longer on Saturday.  Your schedule is YOUR schedule.  You set it how you want as long as it’s working well with the project.
• There are Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits and chicken minis provided for breakfast every Saturday that is required.
• Also during busy season, our firm brings in massage therapists and everyone signs up to get a free 30 minute massage once a month during busy season in the office.  Usually we give them a small conference room or unoccupied office and they give massages all day to firm members.  No, you don’t take your clothes off, you keep them on, but they have the music going and everything.  Exactly what you need for a long work week.
• Another busy season perk – dinners.  BMSS provides weekly dinners to the firm (these dinners vary each week.  We like to use Zoe’s, Tazikis, Johnny Rockets, Zaxby’s, Jason's Deli, McAlister's, etc).  These are paid for by the firm and are really a way to help employees not have to leave the office to grab dinner if they need to work late.
• Towards the end of busy season, BMSS sends out an email to take a vote on everyone’s favorite flavor of dippin’ dots.  We choose the four that get the highest votes and provide dippin’ dots in one of the kitchens.  We get NUMEROUS bags of each of the four kinds, so the dippin’ dots cooler is usually full for a good week or two. 
• Something that makes busy season easier (and even the rest of the year too) is our valet.  BMSS hired a person that runs any errand you need her to run during the entire year (not just busy season).  If you’re slammed and don’t have time to get your dry cleaning or take back that blockbuster movie or buy a wedding or baby shower gift or even take your car to get the gas tank topped off, you fill out a valet request form and the valet will email you back and tell you if she’s able to do it that day or if it may be something she has to do the next day, but she will do it for you so that you don’t have to leave.
• Ready for the best busy season perk of all????  Get ready, because no other firm I have ever known of has done this….YOUR OVERTIME IS PAID!!!  That’s right.  You read that correctly.  All those 60 hour weeks that keep you from your family…yeah that’s not built into your salary like it is at most public firms.  You get a busy season bonus every May that pays you for those hours.  You don’t get time and a half overtime pay, but BMSS has a compensation method that is very fair and it all boils down to how much overtime you had that was billable.
• 3 weeks paid time off unless you’re a senior manager or have 5 years experience with BMSS, then you get 4 weeks.
• Paid one month sabbatical once you’ve reached 10 years with BMSS.
• In addition to the 3 weeks (or 4) of PTO, you get an additional 3 days that can be used for volunteer work.  BMSS works with Habitat for Humanity every year in the fall and build a house.  It takes a month or so and our employees usually break up into groups and have 10-12 go each week to assist.  This counts as one of the volunteer days.  You can use the other volunteer days as you wish.  Lots of people used them this year for the 4.27.11 tornado clean up efforts.  These can also be used for mission trips for churches.
• Flexible work schedule options.  BMSS has had numerous employees in the past start out as full time but ended up going flex time or part time for whatever reason.  You have to get this approved by management, however.
• Now for my favorite perk – Every other Friday off.  From April 15th all the way through labor day in September, our firm gives every employee every other Friday off.   The firm is broken up into two groups, Group A and Group B and those groups rotate Fridays.  Group A will be here one Friday and then Group B will be here the next.  This is incredible for planning long weekend trips in the summer during our downtime and can help you take less PTO for vacations when they’re planned on your EOFO. 
• And finally, overall flexibility is a huge thing at this firm.  For example, as long as you get your 40 hours in a given week, it doesn’t matter how you work them.  Just last week, Justin’s grandmother died and the funeral was in Pensacola, FL on a Wednesday.  I am trying to save my PTO for when our little one comes and don’t want to take that much PTO, so I took only 4 hours of PTO on that Wednesday, worked through lunch two other days and then I chose to work 2 hours on Saturday that week from home.  It’s a relief to know that if Carter is sick and needs to go to the doctor, that I can take him and just make up the time later and not have to constantly use PTO for it.  The flexibility at this firm can’t be beat.  Bottom line.

If you’re in the job market or like what you hear, email me!  Even if you’re happy where you are at, but wouldn’t mind getting together to have lunch to let me explain why BMSS is a better place to work, email me!!! 

mmorris@bmss.com