Kathryn Horton: Burnout Isn’t Inevitable in Audit | The Disruptors

Analytics, automation, and AI will reshape audit roles—and that should excite CPAs.The DisruptorsWith Liz FarrAudit is notorious for long hours, terrible work-life balance, reliance on endless checklists, and repeating the same mind-numbingly tedious procedures year after year. But some, like Kathryn Horton, are creating a different path for success as an auditor.   At her solo firm, Kathryn K. Horton CPA, she provides outsourced audit and analytics consulting services to firms nationwide. As “auditor on call,” she steps into manager and senior manager roles for local, regional, and national firms, helping them increase capacity while reducing staff burnout.  MORE STREAMING: Chang: Killing SALY, One Agent at a Time | Vanover: 5-Star Firms Don't Bill by the Hour | Kless: Profit Is a Result. Flourishing Is the Purpose | Whitman: Build Culture on 'Progress,' Not Change | Shein: No PE? No M&A? No Problem | Hood and Weber: Time to RISE | Proctor: Turn Dumb Ideas into Brilliant Solutions | Carter-Gray: How 1 Poor Review Strengthened the Firm | Hartman: Upwork to “40 Under 40” in 3 Years | Telka: Transform Fear into Fuel | During her eight years in public accounting, Horton says, “I did struggle with burnout at various times, where the work-life balance really wasn't a balance anymore.” A significant factor was the hyper-connectedness of today’s technology, where “we're essentially on call 24/7” responding to emails and calls, which made it “really hard to unplug and just recharge the batteries.” Another factor was demanding clients. “I realized that 80% of my stress was coming from 20% of my clients,” Horton recalls.  In her desire “to find an environment where I was happy,” where she could continue the work she enjoyed and “where I would be able to establish that work-life balance,” she realized she was the best one to create that for herself.