Like most accountants, Patty Giura began cranking up her work schedule last fall and put in lots of extra hours to finish her clients' tax returns by today's filing deadline. Tomorrow, she can return to a more manageable life that includes working two or three days and spending the rest of the week at home with her three children.

Giura works at Alpern Rosenthal, a Downtown certified public accounting and business consulting firm, where she heads the entrepreneurial services group that assists start-up and small businesses. Giura, 41, is one of about 15 part-timers on staff, but the only shareholder -- or partner -- who maintains a reduced schedule.

She became a partner in 2002, seven years after she began working part time. "A lot of women in the firm have come to me and said, 'You are a real role model.' "

Giura's work arrangement as well as those of other part-timers at the firm helped Alpern earn a 2004 Balance Award for accounting firms with 101 to 500 employees from the American Society of Women Accountants Education Foundation and Accountemps. The awards recognize individuals and companies in the nation's accounting industry that are committed to helping women achieve the tricky balance between careers, families and outside pursuits.

Another local firm, North Side-based Bookminders, was named the Balance Awards' company of the year. The 14-year-old business employs about 40 home-based workers who handle accounting and business analysis for a variety of clients.

The workers earn wages but Bookminders' founder Tom Joseph doesn't pay them benefits because most work part time to supplement another job or a spouse's income. "It's attractive to people who want flexibility," he said.

Flexible arrangements are becoming more common in the accounting industry as increasing numbers of workers try to juggle not only young families but elder-care concerns of their parents, said Barbara Vigilante, manager, work-life and women's initiatives, for the New York-based American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Part-time and flex schedules also let employees "pursue interests outside of the job, such as volunteer work or the arts," she said. Companies "are recognizing that the whole person comes to work and brings all their stuff with them. It's becoming very important to meet the needs of your staff because people will leave if their needs aren't met."

In a survey of 675 public accounting firms conducted last year, the accounting institute found that 66 percent offered adjustable, flex-time hours, 70 percent offered part-time hours and 31 percent offered a work-at-home option.

Alpern is among those that offers a flex schedule to full-time employees to help them balance the extreme work load generated during the tax season, which typically stretches from January to April 15.

Between May 1 and Oct. 31, employees are expected to be in the office from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to noon on Fridays. Those who wish to work longer hours some days can take off extra hours another day, said Alpern spokeswoman Elisabeth Leach.

Leach, 36, is an example of how Alpern offers flexibility without taking away workers' ability for advancement. She has a 2-year-old child and works part time as manager of marketing and business development, but she still earned a promotion to principal when she was pregnant.

"The general trend is to accommodate more families and women with family responsibilities," said Dan Givoly, chair of the accounting department at Penn State's Smeal College of Business. "Many partners for years didn't even go on vacation because of the pressure. This doesn't affect just females. There are men who want to devote more time to their families."

Recruitment and retention are a driving force behind flexible work hours. The Big Four accounting firms -- Deloitte, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young -- have high turnover rates, with employees on average staying only three to four years, Givoly said. "It's a great concern because firms invest a lot in each employee with training," he said.

For those working a flex-time or part-time schedule at larger firms, it may take longer to reach the partner or shareholder level, Vigilante said. "It won't be a direct route." But the trade-off may be controlling your own schedule.

"Control of the schedule is considered very key in the productivity of a person," she said. "People are more productive when they're happy."