‘I left the payroll tab open; now everyone is quitting': Employees find out coworkers salaries after accountant complies with boss's request to cover the front desk; employees' demand raises, then quit when denied

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Jul 23, 2023 7:00 PM EDT

Malicious compliance is one of those rare, juicy opportunities that don't exactly present themselves very often. But once you get that golden ticket, bets are out you're gonna use it. In this case, OP was one of the few employees in this world that actually liked their job. That is, until his firm merged with another CPA firm, and other managers entered the picture. These managers were the exact opposite of what OP was used to… they were heavy believers in micromanagement (we all know how that usually turns out), and disliked basically everyone at OP's firm, including him. They would snoop in OP's office, which c'mon, is beyond unprofessional.

But, as luck would have it, OP got the chance to get back at everyone… all thanks to a manager who told him he needed to cover the front desk for the day. At first, OP objected, as he was working on payroll. They couldn't possibly expect OP to work on the payroll at the front desk, right? Wrong. OP's boss backed the manager up, and told him to 'Please just cover' and that he would talk to the other manager. So, OP obliged… and there it was, the golden opportunity that OP had been waiting for, in the form of some juicy malicious compliance.

Scroll down to read the full, detailed account of events. For more, here is a tenant who got back at his neighbor for messing with his laundry.

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  • 01
    Font - Posted by u/StaffAccountant Dude 1 day ago 2 Want me to cover the front desk while working on Payroll? Enjoy your angry employees! 2
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 02
    Font - I (29M) am a Staff Accountant having worked at the same CPA (Certified Public Accountant) firm for 9 years. I've had several coworkers over the years and by this point, I am the most senior aside from the CPA who owns the firm. I love my boss. He pays well, no dress code, doesn't clock watch, and doesn't micromanage. I produce great work for him and he leaves me alone. It could not be more perfect.
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 03
    Font - A little about my responsibilities, I do payroll for about 8 clients (as well as ours, this is important), books for about 12 others, preparation of the books for tax returns, as well as work on Partnership and Corporation returns. I'm basically the business package really. Of the 5 Staff Accountants my boss employs, I'm
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 04
    Font - the only one who knows Payroll. My boss doesn't know how to do Payroll (which is not uncommon, quite a few CPAS out there who don't know it) and my coworkers have no interest in learning it. I don't blame them, because I often bin and moan because my clients are really bad about sending correct hours the first time around, resulting in having to re-do everything from the pay stubs to payroll taxes. It's awful sometimes but it's also job security.
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 05
    Font - We recently merged with another CPA firm. My boss ensured that we still only report to him as it's an equal partnership. I don't quite know the workings and frankly I don't care, as long as I only report to my same boss. So our office went from 7 people (1 CPA, 5 Staff Accountants, and a Receptionist) to 18 people (2 Managing CPAS, 3 people who freshly
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 06
    Font - got their CPA, 11 Staff Accountants, and 2 Receptionists). The other CPA firm was using ADP (3rd party payroll service) for their Payroll because it's just not a thing anyone knew there. So my boss asked me if I was fine taking on additional employees in ours, which I told him I was since we get paid monthly. The managing CPAS will be Managers from here on out.
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 07
    Font - The other CPA firm we merged with made it pretty clear on that they didn't like us. I presume it's because their boss was a complete tight a s. He was the very opposite of my boss. Dress code was always semi-formal and he was just always on someone about something that was wrong. Me having been there the longest, I was
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 08
    Font - highest on the weird office hate thing. It got to the point where I got them trying to snoop on my computer a few times (which is also integral to the story). My boss just said to just start locking my office when I leave now so that's what I do now.
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 09
    Font - The other Manager had a rule where if the receptionists are out, one of the Staff Accountants needs to cover front desk. My boss had no issue with that as that was our rule as well. Luck would have it, both of our Receptionists had called out one day. The other Manager asked me to cover downstairs for the day. I had
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 10
    Font - told him no because I am working on Payroll all day and that is sensitive information (I didn't say it was our Payroll, but our Payroll was on my to- do list). He said he didn't care and told me to get downstairs. I had called my boss and he had asked me
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 11
    Font - to just please cover and that he would talk to the other manager. The other Manager had a big ole smirk on his face. I reluctantly went downstairs in an annoyed sour mood but then a brilliant idea popped up. I'll work on our Payroll downstairs!
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 12
    Font - So I started working on our Payroll and got all the stubs processed and ready for direct deposit. After that, I start working on the Payroll taxes (think Social Security and Medicare). Part of working on payroll taxes is having a summary of the payroll you just ran. Conveniently, I needed to go
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 13
    Font - to the bathroom. So, I minimized all the windows on the Receptionist computer, and I called upstairs to see if someone could cover while I go. As good fortune had it, one of the snoopers was the one who came downstairs.
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 14
    Font - So, I go to the bathroom and I take a little longer than normal because why not? To add additional context, I make considerably more than all of the Managing CPA's employees, including his fresh CPAs.
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 15
    Font - I get back to my desk and he leaves. All my windows aren't minimized anymore. The payroll summary is the first window on screen. The payroll summary shows everything and I mean everything.
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 16
    Font - The snooper immediately told everyone, including the other Manager. Now all my coworkers already had an idea of what I made, however the other employees we're livid. None of the other employees wanted to work unless they made what I made. The other Manager was
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 17
    Font - seconds from blowing a gasket but he knew there was nothing he could do to me. I asked my boss to show him the cameras pointed at the Reception desk so he could see exactly what happened. It was all there on camera that he was going through my work.
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 18
    Font - Needless to say, I don't cover the front desk anymore and his employee's morale dropped HARD. I do feel bad for them though, even if they are j ks to me. A decent bunch of them left and maybe about half of them had replacements so we're down about 4 people. My boss wasn't particularly happy about the situation as a whole but he said we'll get through it.
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 19
    Font - Moral of the story, don't fi k with the only person who knows Payroll.
    via u/StaffAccountantDude
  • 20
    Font - smilersal 1 day ago If I said "I can't, I need to do payroll today" and they said "tough", I wouldn't have done payroll. It's the most time sensitive lever and mucking up pay will get everyone seething.
    via u/smilersal
  • 21
    Font - I'd have sat in Reception all day then sent an email out to all at 5pm saying "Hi Everyone, just a heads up that I haven't been able to do payroll today so the wages won't be in on the 20th. I will confirm by email when they're processed, so you can know what date to expect your pay this month". 407 Reply Share
    via u/smileral
  • 22
    Font - TechnOght +3 - 1 day ago D n, I figured you were just going to delay payroll by a day or something top is everyone off. This is going nuclear on an office, management hates when people compare salaries. 674 Reply Share
    via u/Techn0ght
  • 23
    Font - PNL-Maine 1 day ago I'm bothered by this firm having a staff accountant cover a receptionist desk for the day. Everything a staff accountant does is confidential, and putting that person in a public facing job doing his confidential work is mind-boggling.
    via u/PNL-Maine
  • 24
    Font - I understand that two receptionists were out, that's when you put a sign at the front desk to call and someone will come out and assist. If a receptionist duties are to answer the phone, that's when you just have it go to voicemail. Reply Share 31
    via u/PNL-Maine

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management Payroll salary boss staff-accountant malicious compliance CPA front desk coworkers malicious-compliance-reddit petty revenge employees accountant receptionist
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