So be honest – have you ever double-checked your work, then triple-checked it, just to make sure there are no mistakes? Or maybe you’ve stayed late at the office, not because you were behind, but because you wanted everything to be perfect? If this sounds familiar, you might be dealing with perfectionism.

Perfectionism basically means wanting everything to be flawless. For accountants, this can be a big deal because our job involves handling financial records, making sure we follow rules, and giving important information for decisions. 

It’s easy to see why we strive for perfection. However, always trying to be perfect can lead to stress, burnout, and other problems.

For many accountants, perfectionism means working very hard to avoid mistakes and to produce perfect work. It’s not just about doing a good job; it’s about feeling that anything less than perfect is unacceptable. 

The truth is that this mindset can be both a help and a burden.

Think about your daily tasks as an accountant. Even a small error can have big consequences. 

It’s no wonder many of us set very high standards. But here’s the thing: no one is perfect. 

Mistakes happen, and trying to be perfect can sometimes set us up for disappointment. Imagine spending hours checking your work, unable to finish because you’re convinced it’s not right. 

Think about the toll on your mental and physical health when you’re always pushing yourself to meet unrealistic expectations. Unfortunately, perfectionism can lead to anxiety, stress, and burnout.

But let’s also recognize the good side of perfectionism. Yes, there’s actually a good side!  Many  accountants who proclaim to be perfectionists are known for their strong work ethic and dedication. 

Their commitment to high standards results in high-quality work that employers and clients appreciate. The key though is finding a balance – using the positive sides of perfectionism without letting it take over.

If you’ve been a long-time perfectionist and see it as a badge of honor, I completely understand. But you need to admit the toll it’s taking on you and be open to change. 

As accountants, we often resist change, especially when it feels like we might fail if we don’t keep doing things the same way. This resistance is understandable. 

Our profession relies on consistency, and changing tried-and-true methods can seem risky. This is why completely getting rid of perfectionism is often impossible and unnecessary. 

Instead, the goal should be to find a balance that allows us to maintain high standards without harming our well-being. In other words, find the sweet spot between the pros and cons of perfectionism.  Now I’m going to talk about understanding perfectionism better.

Understanding Perfectionism

First, I’ll admit that as a Professional Certified Coach for Accountants, I have definitely been guilty of bashing perfectionism and will most likely continue.  I’ve waved my judgmental finger at our tendency to strive for perfection and get an A on our tests because I have those tendencies myself.

But then I dug a little deeper, did some research, and learned that there’s more to perfectionism than meets the eye.  In fact, there are two types of perfectionism.

The first type is adaptive perfectionism.  This is the “good” kind of perfectionism. 

Adaptive perfectionists set high standards for themselves, but they do it in a healthy way. They are motivated by their goals and feel satisfied when they meet them. 

They understand that mistakes are part of learning and growing. For example, an adaptive perfectionist might double-check their work to ensure accuracy, but they won’t panic if they find a small error—they’ll fix it and move on.

They also don’t waste too much time and are able to move forward.  They’re not so obsessed that they lose track of the big picture.

The second type of perfectionism is maladaptive perfectionism.  This is the “bad” kind of perfectionism. 

Maladaptive perfectionists set unrealistically high standards and become extremely self-critical if they don’t meet them. They fear making mistakes and often feel anxious or stressed. 

They might spend excessive time on a task, unable to finish because they’re never satisfied with their work. For example, a maladaptive perfectionist might keep revising a financial report endlessly, worried that it’s not perfect enough to submit.

As I researched this topic, I also came across some common traits and behaviors of perfectionists that I wanted to share.  Here are a few you might recognize:

High Standards: You always aim for the best possible outcome and are never satisfied with “good enough.”  You might find yourself setting goals that are exceptionally high, sometimes even unrealistic, which can lead to frustration when they are not met.

Attention to Detail: You pay close attention to every detail, sometimes to the point of obsessing over small things.  For accountants, this can be beneficial in many situations, but it might also cause you to spend excessive time on trivial aspects, which can slow down your overall progress.

Fear of Failure: You worry a lot about making mistakes and often see errors as personal failures.  This fear can be paralyzing, preventing you from taking risks or trying new things because the possibility of failing feels too daunting.

Procrastination: You might delay starting or finishing tasks because you fear you won’t do them perfectly.  This can create a cycle of stress and anxiety, as deadlines approach and the pressure to perform flawlessly becomes overwhelming.

Overworking: You often work long hours, believing that more effort will lead to perfect results. This belief can lead to burnout and exhaustion, as you push yourself beyond healthy limits, neglecting self-care and personal time.

Self-Criticism: You are very hard on yourself and often have a critical inner voice that tells you that you’re not good enough.  This self-criticism can undermine your confidence and self-esteem, making it difficult to celebrate achievements or recognize your worth.  I often see imposter syndrome in my perfectionistic coaching clients.

Hopefully, by understanding these aspects of perfectionism, we can start to see how it can both help and hurt us in our accounting careers. Recognizing whether we lean more towards adaptive or maladaptive perfectionism can be the first step towards finding a healthier balance.

Now let’s talk about your brain’s role in perfectionism.

Your Brain’s Role In Perfectionism

As I’ve shared before, this is the podcast where brain science meets accounting.  The thing is, understanding how our brain works can help us see why we might strive for perfection. 

When it comes to perfectionism, certain parts of our brain and certain chemicals play key roles.

I’ve discussed this before, but the higher part of our brain, the part that is only present in humans and that I refer to as the Supervising Parent, is in charge of things like setting goals, planning, and controlling impulses. Think of it as the brain’s “manager.” 

When you’re trying to be perfect, your higher brain is working hard to set high standards and keep you focused on reaching them. The problem is that this can create an unsustainable situation.  

It’s also important to understand that there are chemicals in your brain that affect how you feel and what you do or don’t do.  

The first is serotonin which helps regulate mood and anxiety. Low levels of serotonin can make you feel anxious and stressed, which can push you to try even harder to be perfect. 

If you’re constantly worried about making mistakes, it might be because your serotonin levels are off balance.

The second chemical is dopamine which is linked to the brain’s reward system. When you achieve something, like completing a project perfectly, your brain releases dopamine, which makes you feel good. 

For perfectionists, the brain might be especially sensitive to dopamine, making you constantly seek that rewarding feeling of getting everything just right.

It’s also important to understand that stress and anxiety can have a big impact on the brain, especially for perfectionists. When you’re stressed, your brain releases a hormone called cortisol. 

High levels of cortisol over time can make it harder to think clearly and make decisions. It can also lead to feeling overwhelmed and burned out.

For perfectionists accountants, the fear of making mistakes and the constant push to be perfect can create a lot of stress and anxiety. 

This can make the higher brain work even harder, which can be exhausting. It’s like running a marathon every day – eventually, you’re going to get tired.

The thing is, when stress and anxiety are high, it’s harder to focus, make decisions, and feel satisfied with your work. This can create a cycle where the more you try to be perfect, the more stressed and anxious you become, and the harder it is to actually achieve that perfection.

The reason I’m always trying to incorporate brain science in each episode is because understanding how your brain processes something like perfectionism can help you find ways to manage it. Knowing that your brain is wired to seek rewards and avoid mistakes can help you be kinder to yourself when things aren’t perfect. 

Again, it’s about finding a balance that allows you to maintain high standards without overwhelming yourself.

By recognizing the roles of your higher brain, serotonin, dopamine, and cortisol, you can start to see perfectionism not just as a personality trait but as a series of brain processes. This understanding can be the first step in learning to manage perfectionism in a healthier, more balanced way.

Now let’s talk about the surprising pros of perfectionism in accounting.

The Surprising Pros of Perfectionism in Accounting

To truly benefit from perfectionism, we need to redefine what we mean by “perfect.” If we let other people define what perfect is, we can fall into maladaptive perfectionism, the bad kind I mentioned a few minutes ago. 

This is where perfectionism turns negative, leading to stress and burnout. Instead, we should define perfection for ourselves.

For example, if you decide that doing B+ or A- work is perfect for you, instead of always aiming for A++, you’re setting your own boundary. You’re creating a doable goal. 

This way, you can still maintain high standards without exhausting yourself. By defining what’s perfect for yourself, it’s much easier to avoid the slippery slope of burnout.

One of the big advantages of perfectionism in accounting is the attention to detail. When you’re more apt to focus on the details, you check your work before passing it off to someone else.

This means financial statements and reports are more accurate. For example, you might catch small errors that others might miss. 

This level of detail can often be crucial in accounting, where even a tiny mistake may have big consequences.  It’s okay to pay attention to the details, but to balance that with letting go and moving on.

The second pro is that perfectionists set very high standards for themselves. This drive can push you to deliver excellent work consistently. 

When I have coaching clients who are perfectionists, they’re the most diligent about our work together in The Smarter Accountant 6-week program .  They like to go the extra mile to make sure everything is top-notch. 

In fact, when a perfectionist hires me as their coach, I feel honored because I know I am meeting their high standards and that our partnership is going to achieve some remarkable results.  

The third pro is a strong work ethic.  Perfectionists are typically reliable and dedicated to their job. 

They care about what they produce and are willing to put in the time to make sure things are perfect. Again, this is where it’s crucial for my perfectionist clients to redefine what “perfect” means for them and to set self-imposed boundaries with themselves.

While their strong work effort is commendable, it’s important to not have tunnel vision.  I remind them that life outside of work is as important as life at work.

Their commitment can set a positive example for others in the workplace as long as they are not becoming an example of how other accountants do NOT want to be.

Before I move onto the cons of perfectionism, I want to mention time management for a perfectionist.  In The Smarter Accountant Time Management Program I suggest scheduling what I refer to as “overflow time” at the end of the day.

This is 30 – 60 minutes blocked off to tie up loose ends.  But here’s why this is so important – when my coaching clients are learning to manage their time, they create time blocks with boundaries that cannot be crossed.

For example, if they calendar working on a tax return from 9 am to 11 am, they stop working on the return at 11 am and move onto whatever was calendared in the next time block.  But what happens if they haven’t finished?

For my perfectionist coaching clients, this is extremely difficult.  Their perfectionist brain is screaming, “You can’t stop!  It’s not perfect yet!”

But here’s where the beauty of overflow time comes in – by giving themself a buffer of time to stop working on the tax return and then look at it during overflow time, they very often realize that it doesn’t need much more to be done, if anything at all.

In other words, because they unplugged their perfectionist brain obsessed with getting the tax return done perfectly, they give their brain time to let it go for a bit.

Clients are always amazed when it’s overflow time and they realize that whatever they originally felt they couldn’t stop working on, is now seen through a different lens.

Bottom line – by paying close attention to detail, setting high standards, and having a strong work ethic, perfectionist accountants can achieve great things.  But remember, it’s crucial to define what perfect means to you. 

Setting your own standards can help you stay motivated and avoid burnout, ensuring a sustainable and fulfilling career.

Now let’s talk about the unfortunate cons of perfectionism in accounting.

The Unfortunate Cons of Perfectionism in Accounting

You’ve probably heard about the cons of perfectionism before, but don’t tune me out.  They’re worth revisiting.

The first major downside of perfectionism is burnout. When you’re always trying to be flawless, it can be exhausting. 

You might find yourself working late nights, weekends, and never feeling like you can take a break. This constant pressure can leave you feeling drained and overwhelmed. 

Last week I did an entire episode on burnout so if you haven’t checked it out, it’s episode #61, but here’s the thing – we need to stop normalizing burnout in the accounting profession.  Burnout doesn’t just affect your work; it impacts your overall well-being, making it hard to enjoy life outside of work.

I also think it’s a major contributing factor to the decrease in the number of students majoring in accounting and why the industry is having a pipeline issue.  

The second downside to perfectionism for accountants is analysis paralysis.  This happens when you overthink every detail and delay making decisions because you’re afraid of making mistakes. 

In accounting, this can become a big problem.  It can slow down your work and lead to missed deadlines. 

You might spend so much time perfecting one part of a project that you don’t finish the rest on time. This can be frustrating for you and your team.

The third downside is that perfectionism can take a toll on your mental health. Constantly striving for perfection can lead to stress, anxiety, and low self-esteem. 

When you’re dealing with perfectionism, you might feel like you’re never good enough, no matter how hard you work. This can create a cycle of negative beliefs that affect your happiness and productivity. 

And the final downside to perfectionism for accountants is that it can also strain your professional relationships. I want you to honestly ask yourself this question, “How much fun do you think it is to work for you or with you?”

The hard truth is that when you set unrealistic expectations for yourself, you might do the same for others. This can lead to conflicts with coworkers who may feel pressured or judged. 

And if you haven’t noticed, perfectionists often have trouble delegating tasks because they believe no one else can do the job as well as they can. This can create tension and resentment within your team.

This is another reason why I have an entire mini-training in The Smarter Accountant Time Management Program on effective delegation because I know how challenging it can be, especially if you’re a perfectionist.

The bottom line – while aiming for high standards is good, it’s crucial to find a balance. Recognizing and addressing the negative aspects of perfectionism can help you maintain a healthy, productive, and enjoyable career.

Now let me share a relatable story about an accountant who learned to strike a balance.

Becoming a Smarter Accountant: Striking A Balance

I’ve dealt with perfectionism myself and coached many accountants on this topic, but let me just share the story of one particular coaching client.

One client stands out for me because he had been struggling with perfectionism his whole life.  Now that he was midway in his accounting career and was noticing the impact his perfectionism was having on him and his family, he knew something needed to change.

He often found himself with too much work and not enough time to get it done.  He also realized that perfectionism was a huge contributing factor so we worked on him redefining what “perfect” looked like.

He began by setting more realistic deadlines for his projects. Instead of trying to complete everything perfectly in one go, he broke his tasks into smaller steps. 

For example, instead of aiming to finish a comprehensive report in one day, he set a goal to complete the data collection on the first day, analysis on the second, and writing on the third. 

This made his workload more manageable and less stressful.

Next, whenever he made a mistake, he took a moment to reflect on what he could learn from it. If he missed a detail in a report, he would note it and find ways to improve his process for the next time. 

This shift in thinking helped him to see mistakes as part of his learning process, rather than as failures.  He also began to change the way he thought about materiality and stopped making everything seem like if it wasn’t done perfectly, it was a failure.

Lastly, he also started practicing self-compassion. He realized his inner critic was another huge contributing factor to his perfectionism.

So when he felt overwhelmed or criticized himself harshly, he took a step back and reminded himself that he was doing his best. He started jotting down his achievements and positive feedback from colleagues to remind himself of his strengths and progress.

This let his brain see that he didn’t need to keep proving himself as valuable; he already was.

By becoming a Smarter Accountant he managed to reduce his stress and improve his overall well-being. He was still able to maintain high standards, but without the constant pressure to be perfect.

He was also able to get more work done in less time which made it possible to get home at a decent hour.  His family was thrilled which gave him an incredible sense of pride.

So no matter where you are on the spectrum of perfectionism, just remember this – it’s not about being perfect; it’s about doing your best and learning along the way.

Key Takeaway and Action Item

Finding balance in perfectionism is essential. It’s okay to strive for high standards, but set realistic goals, embrace mistakes as learning opportunities, and practice self-compassion. 

This balance will help you maintain your well-being and productivity in your accounting career, without becoming a burnout statistic.

For this week ask yourself, “What is one area in my work where I can set a more realistic goal instead of aiming for perfection? How can I redefine “perfect” to make it more achievable for myself this week?

Well, that’s what I have for you.  Thank you for joining me as I discussed the pros and cons of perfectionism.  I hope you’ve gained valuable insights and practical tools.

As I share all the time, you worked hard to become an accountant; it’s time to make it easier to be one.

If you are struggling with any aspect of being an accountant, you can simply go to www.thesmarteraccountant.com/calendar and book a free session with me.

And make sure you check back each week as I help you go from being a stressed accountant to a Smarter Accountant.

Make sure you go to www.thesmarteraccountant.com and take The Smarter Accountant Quiz. You’re going to want to know if you’ve been underutilizing your accountant brain so that you have a starting point for becoming a Smarter Accountant.

Also, I would appreciate it if you could get the word out to other accountants about this podcast.  The more accountants find out about it, the more we can begin to change the narrative in the accounting profession.

The truth is that you’re already smart, but this podcast will show you how to be smarter.