How some of the pandemic’s ad hoc changes could become permanent.
By CPA Trendlines Research
If necessity is the mother of invention, COVID-19 has ushered in an era of mandatory motherhood.
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Believe it or not – and like it or not – we are in the early days of the pandemic. This situation is going to go on for a while. But we are already in a brave new world of new rules and new ways of doing business.
The coronavirus has already forced a number of changes on the accounting industry and on its clients. Some changes are ad hoc solutions. Some are innovative ways of doing business. Some are still awkward, flawed and unpolished. And some have yet to be invented. Accountants should be on the vanguard of change – for their own businesses and those of their clients.
So it’s time to do some rethinking:
Rethink the Office
Tax and accounting practitioners are learning that a lot of work can be done from home.
There are many advantages:
- Commutes can be eliminated.
- Office space can be reduced.
- Office hours can be as flexible as staff can tolerate.
- Flexible hours may decrease the cost of personnel.
But some issues need to be discussed and thought out:
- Are home offices working efficiently?
- Is the quality of work the same?
- How can home offices be improved?
- Does everyone have adequate technology and equipment?
- How do staff really feel about working at home?
Rethink Client Communication
After surviving a tax season without the usual in-person contacts with clients, we can reassess how we communicate with clients.
- How can the value of in-person communication be preserved in digital communication?
- How can digital communication be modified to work efficiently?
- What systems should be developed to improve digital communication?
- How should remote personnel communicate (and not communicate) with clients?
- What can clients tell you about communication?
Rethink Services
The lockdown is bringing about a new business world. New businesses need new services, and so do old businesses in a new business environment.
- What new services does a new business need?
- What do clients really want or need now?
- What do they not know they should want or need?
- How can you talk to them about what they need?
- Some areas for new services: IT implementation, tax planning under new rules, financial advice or management, navigating and reporting for government programs, eldercare, training and education, management coaching, brainstorming, research, remote payroll, risk assessment, risk management, innovative business planning, due diligence …
Rethink Personnel
The new office and work arrangements call for new world personnel policies and new ways of relating to staff.
- How are hours recorded for home office workers?
- What determines a “sick day”?
- How should staff at home report on activities?
- How should individual goals be redefined and readjusted?
- Should “full-time” be redefined?
- Can benefits be augmented, reduced or readjusted?
- How can staff be empowered to make independent (i.e., at-home) decisions?
- How can staff and partners contribute to new solutions and invent a new business model?
Rethink Clients
COVID-19 kills not only people but businesses, maybe even whole industries. CPAs need to rethink whom they might consider possible clients.
- New industries
- New regions
- New sizes of clients
- New kinds of agreements with clients
- New ways of billing as services shift
Rethink Teamwork
Remote staff and professionals will inevitably feel differently about the people they used to see every day, or even people they have never met in person.
- How can a sense of team be sustained?
- How can people be made to feel close when they are remote?
- Should teleconferencing protocols be established for meeting with colleagues and clients? (Are pajamas okay? Food? Messy house? Kids? TV in the background? Pets? How to weave chit-chat and business?)
A great deal of all this rethinking must involve discussions with personnel and clients. As never before, practice management should be engaging stakeholders in conversations about how to venture into the new world.
