accountants to small biz: ‘be nimble, be quick, be careful’

accountants in 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / avalara study say small business faces massive, rapid changes.

the most important and extensive impact: “keeping up with changes in online technology, noted by 52% of accountants. another 35% say online tech will be moderately important. only 12% say it will be of little or no impact.(source: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / avalara business confidence study)

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

when the 2021 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 business barometer asked for advice for small businesses in the brave, new post-covid-19 world, no one said, “don’t worry, be happy, sit back and relax.”

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rather, they advise flexibility, adaptability, and care with cash management. accountants in the study sponsored by avalara are offering plenty of plain-spoken advice, and they’re not mincing words.

on the frontlines: mchale, haas, barber

frank colletti, sole practitioner, east meadow, n.y.: “be flexible.”

michael sides, sides & ferkovich corp., gold river, calif.: “be innovative and evolve.”

ray cauthen jr., sole practitioner, gainesville, fla.: “get known by your community.”

james haas, electronic income tax center, tyler, tex.: “stay positive.”

jerry mchale, mchale p.a., fort myers, fla.: “cash is king. brace for a downturn.”

and judy vera, engage advisors, kansas city, kan.: “hang in there, hope is on the horizon.”

or, as brian e. barber, a cumberland, r.i., cpa, said, “be flexible and look for the opportunity, not the problems, with change, because change is here to stay.”

indeed it is. “normal” is history, and it isn’t coming back.

which may be good. think about it. normal had its drawbacks. maybe the change will be for the better.

but that doesn’t mean it will be easy.

sensing a change in the weather, the survey askes about eight specific changes that are likely to have long-term and impactful changes for post-pandemic businesses.

1. online tech

the most important and extensive change foreseen: keeping up with changes in online technology, noted by 52 percent of 515 respondents. and another 35 percent say online tech will be moderately important. only 12 percent say it will be of little or no impact.

2. super-scrappiness

almost as many – 85 percent in all – say “learning to be flexible, innovative and super-scrappy” will be moderately or highly important.

3. pivoting to online

“pivoting from brick-and-mortar to doing business online and virtual” is seen as highly important by 39 percent, but an additional 45 percent acknowledge the shift will be moderately important. only 15 percent think it won’t be a biggie.

4. greater expectations

thirty-seven percent say “managing new customer expectations” will be highly important, and 44 percent agree that the change will be moderately important. just 5 percent don’t expect any important changes there.

5. more expectations

customers aren’t the only ones with new expectations. employees, too, want a piece of the new world. just over 70 percent of respondents say it will be moderately or highly important to manage new employee expectations.

6. interstate sales tax

the new “wayfair” rule on interstate sales tax is a headache that a quarter of respondents foresee as highly impactful, and 38 percent on top of that say the change will be at least moderately important. but 39 percent are less concerned.

7. e-commerce

leveraging e-commerce platforms, such as shopify, big commerce, and woo commerce, are seen as less important to small biz, but still, 22 percent say it will be highly important, and 44 percent say moderately important. eleven percent, however, say it won’t be important at all.

8. online marketplaces

even the least important change, joining online marketplaces such as amazon and etsy, is on the radar of savvy accountants. only 24 percent think it will be a highly important change, but 38 percent grant that it could be moderately important.

new approaches and attitudes

when the barometer asked why respondents feel that way, the answers lean less toward specific business models and more toward attitudes toward business – general approaches to technology, cash flow, and quick thinking to deal with quick changes in the market and tax structure.

be scrappy, not crappy

solo practitioner china a. sauger offered advice that applies regardless of pandemics: “provide quality service/products. whatever you do, if you provide excellent service/products, customers will keep coming back. there are enough crappy service providers out there. don’t be one of them.”

enrolled agent dionne cheshier, founder, and ceo of cheshier tax resolution, is having a year somewhat better than last year, but she warned, “the proposed tax laws are going to absolutely kill the clients and take their money.” however, she tells those clients, “hold on, the storm won’t last forever. with a storm, there is always a calm afterward.”