Returning to work in the accountancy profession after maternity leave

It is now over 2 months since I returned to work after my maternity leave and I thought it would be a good time to pass on some tips and advice to mothers and fathers who are maybe feeling anxious about the prospect of returning to work.

Childcare advice

• Organise childcare arrangements that you are comfortable with. This may take some time and will be something you should start to look at 2 or 3 months before your return to work, however it is worth putting the time and effort into this.
• Arrange settling in sessions with your chosen childminder or nursery. This gives your child the chance to get used to their new environment and provides you with a good opportunity to attend training courses or KIT days.
• Arrange for childcare to begin before you go back to work. This will avoid you feeling too emotional on your first day back at work, if you are worrying about how your child is getting on.
• If you are eligible, make sure that you and your partner register with your employer’s Childcare Voucher Scheme or set up a new Tax-Free Childcare Account. These are tax efficient ways of helping to pay for your childcare.

Professional advice

As Chartered Accountants, we work in an ever-changing environment in terms of accounting standards and tax laws. Although only absent from work for a few months, when I returned to the office there had been several important changes that would affect my everyday role, including GDPR and the triennial review of FRS 102.

In order to prepare for similar changes that may happen during your maternity leave, it would be beneficial to do the following:

• Talk to your work in the first instance. Let them know when you would like to return, how you are feeling about it and discuss things that might make the transition easier.
• Attend keeping in touch days (“KIT days”) at the office. This gives you a good chance to learn about any changes and meet new staff members.
• Attend internal training courses (these could be tied in with KIT days). It gets your brain back into the zone and keeps you up to date on changes.
• Attend external training courses or keep up to date with publications from your professional body.

I hope this advice is helpful. Although we may not be able to control the sleepless nights, there are things about our return to work that we can control and by doing a little bit of preparation we can enjoy being back at work.

Tax Efficient Childcare Schemes

Photo by Napoleon Cole under licence by Creative Commons Licence