There's "doing accounting work for clients as part of a contract" which is not that dissimilar to being an independent contractor on the software side except for 1/3 the pay or less. The work is "easier" but less intellectually stimulating as you're doing the same thing over and over again with different numbers.

Then there's "doing accounting work for a company as part of an accounting department" which is much more likely to be 40h weeks, punch-the-clock type of work. However there can still be crunch time there as the deadlines are real deadlines not VP-pulled-out-of-a-hat deadlines (e.g. tax filing deadlines, SEC reporting deadlines).

I live near some accountants for the city government, so maybe my viewpoint is skewed by the pace of public work. Then again, a lot of jobs can have long hours and most jobs have lower pay than tech.

Early years in Big4 as an auditor yes. As you climb the ladder it gets better and you make good money. Once you become partner you can earn high six figures or more in big cities and the pensions are extremely generous.

You can go to industry and climb the ladder and make good money with less crazy workload.

I know a chief accounting officer at a public company and she earns 7 figures. She works a lot but also goes on vacations and has free time.