Working Under the Clock: Filing Deadlines, Systemic Frictions, and Professional Stress Among Indian Management Consultants

Purpose: This study examines how regulatory filing deadlines affect occupational stress among management consultants in India, specifically Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, Cost & Management Accountants, and Advocates. The research identifies multilevel causes of last-minute filings across individual, client, and systemic domains. Design/Methodology/Approach: Mixed-methods exploratory study combining quantitative survey data (N=50) with qualitative semi-structured interviews (n=12). The structured questionnaire measured deadline experiences, stress indicators, and attribution of delays using Likert scales and proportional allocation. Thematic analysis identified patterns in professional coping and systemic pressures. Findings: Results revealed that 78% of respondents regularly received client documents within 48 hours of filing deadlines. Participants attributed delays primarily to client-side factors (42%), followed by regulatory system issues (31%) and professional workload management (27%). High stress indicators were reported by 64% of participants, with sleep disruption and extended working hours being the most common symptoms. Qualitative analysis identified themes of "silent resilience," "moral accountability," and "deadline normalization." Practical Implications: Findings suggest that compliance professionals function as "shock absorbers" between regulatory deadlines and client behavior. Recommendations include staggered filing deadlines, client document submission cutoff policies, and increased automation investment. The study contributes an integrated framework positioning deadline stress as a systemic phenomenon rather than individual failure.