When will it end....

When I was in the Human Capital practice years ago, I worked towards the April 15 individual tax filing deadline and the subsequent extended deadlines. The first half of the year was always busy, right from Chinese New Year all the way to around end of August after all the individual tax returns were filed. For a good half year, we would work until 12 midnight almost everyday and going back to the office on Saturdays was absolutely necessary to ensure we complete the work on time. Nevertheless, the times after August were always great. That's when we could use the time off in-lieu that we had accumulated throughout peak to go on long vacations.

I just started work then....

When I was in the US, I worked towards the September 15 corporate tax filing deadline. All transfer pricing documentation have to be contemporaneous with the filing of the tax returns to have penalty protection against adjustments. Busy season lasted at most three to four months with the busiest time right around August to September 15. Even though it was known as the busy season, it was nothing compared to the long hours I had to endure back in Singapore. I was home latest by 8pm.

Since there could be no extension of deadline, all documentation would be completed on time and this would be followed by a long lull period where we worked on planning, FIN 48 and other ad-hoc projects with no hard deadlines. I would travel around the US with Tim and the rest of the Houston gang during those non-busy times.

Life was great then...

Now that I am back in Singapore, I don't have any specific peak period. There is no contemporaneous documentation requirement in Singapore. But somehow, with no major deadline to meet, I am busier than before with no end in sight. All my deadlines now depends on the nature of the projects. I had been working long hours for the past 2 months reaching home only at about 9 plus at night and then taking conference calls after that. I almost have to work every weekend as well albeit from home. This is starting to take a toll on me especially as I don't envisage the long working hours ending any time soon.

Now, this is what they call pay back time...

On a happier note, I am leaving for Bali in about 2 weeks. I seriously hope I don't have to cancel my trip because I just received another project which has an extremely tight deadline but at the same time we are still not sure when exactly the deadline is. I know this sounds odd but I have not been able to get a confirmation from my overseas counterparts either because they are just not fluent in conversing in English.