what clients want may differ from your employees’ wishes.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
no doubt about it: the accounting business was quick to shift to remote work when covid-19 hit.
now the question is: will accounting offices remain remote and will more go remote?
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according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 business barometer, accountants are getting used to working out of their spare bedrooms and living room nooks, and managers are getting used to managing from afar.
the survey is finding that even today, semi-post-pandemic, there are more totally remote offices than traditional offices, and if you include hybrid situations, more than half of accounting professionals are working from home.
almost 38% of respondents said their offices had gone fully remote, at least for now. slightly fewer, about 33%, still have strictly traditional offices. but almost as many – 32% – are hybrid, many of them transitioning back to the way things were, while many others plan to continue letting at least some folks avoid the office.
open-air locations
frank stitely, head of a firm with between a dozen and two dozen employees on board and a 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 contributor, is taking a sensible hybrid approach. “we are working hybrid these days,” he told us. “mostly in office but out when it makes sense.”
of course for the sole practitioner, remote is nothing new. in fact, the home office isn’t remote from anything. it’s home. one solo, jacques r. behar, sounded happy to say, “i haven’t had a ‘real’ office in 15 years.”
another solo has remote offices all over the place, including the great outdoors. “i mostly work from home,” the roaming practitioner told us, “with receipt of information by phone, electronically, by pick up and delivery from my car window in front of residences and public locations, in-person interviews at open-air locations (such as parks) and a few client residences.”
that actually sounds rather pleasant … weather permitting.
bigger firms are also learning to do with a minimal “real” office. scott sanders at gettry marcus, for example, said his firm, with over 100 employees, is now 95% remote, with 5% working in the office at least sometimes.
the anonymous owner of a small firm in maryland is getting along with a half-hybrid office, and she’s got some good advice.
“two out of four work remotely,” she said. “all work is done electronically. all client meetings are by phone or video. working remote works when all employees are trained and longevity exists. we haven’t yet figured out how to onboard a new employee remotely. it takes more communication efforts.”
communication, however, is the most vulnerable part of interoffice security. krista piwonka, plying her trade out of mchenry, ill., is sticking with strictly in-office work, and for a good reason. “no remote,” she said. “too risky for confidentiality and security reasons. we are a 100% work-in-the-office firm.”
but then there are the clients …
cpas and tax prep pros reveal that they’re relatively ready – and often even eager – to ditch the commute and the suits and do their work at home in sweatpants. but clients seem to be less eager to do business with somebody they can’t shake hands with.
“i have always worked from a home office,” said a pennsylvania sole proprietor with a handful of associates. “all people that work with me have worked remotely the majority of the time. so it was not a major change for the firm. the difference has been the clients changing to working remotely.”
one sole practitioner was finding remote work exactly what she needed at this stage of her career, telling us, “(remote is) better, (be)cause i am almost retiring and i can work on my chosen time even past midnight! i can focus more and be more productive. reduce overhead expense like office rental, less stress traveling – that saves time. i can do multitasking at home.”
overall, the most common scenarios seem to involve many people working from home sometimes, many coming into the office sometimes, and management generally letting people decide what’s best for them. it will be interesting to see the trend in the future as covid-19 becomes less of a reason to minimize office contact. but just as the pandemic is receding as a reason, attracting new personnel is an ever-increasing problem, and the flexibility of remote work just might be the benefit that persuades new people to come on board.