You may be familiar with CPA Evolution, a joint initiative of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and the AICPA that we’ve been discussing for more than a year.

In May, I wrote about the AICPA Council voting in support of advancing CPA Evolution. On July 24, NASBA’s board of directors also voted in support of advancing the initiative. Thank you to AICPA’s board of directors, AICPA Council, NASBA and NASBA’s board of directors for their support and the leadership they’ve provided since our two organizations began this initiative in 2018. I’d like to thank all of you as well for providing us with advice and ideas along the way.

Across the country, CPA firms are deciding when best to reopen their offices, knowing employees are integral to the success. Here are solutions for maintaining employee morale and team spirit while ensuring a good flow of communication between staff and clients.   

Address key concerns.

Given an uncertain economy and rising unemployment numbers, staff may be worried about their futures. At the 13-person Hutchins & Haake, LLC, Chad Allen, CPA, CITP, says “the main concern was putting people’s minds at ease that the firms weren’t planning layoffs.” Chad did that by holding individual video conferences with each team member to answer questions and offer reassurance. Even if jobs are in jeopardy, it’s best to be transparent — secrecy and surprises can damage employees’ trust in firm leadership and lower morale and engagement among remaining staff.

A half-century ago, tax withholding was one of the simpler issues for taxpayers and practitioners. A more mobile society makes state tax withholding more complicated today given the ease of conducting cross-jurisdictional business and the increase in teleworking or remote work arrangements.

Meanwhile, the web of inconsistent state and local income tax and withholding rules affect employees and employers. As the AICPA testified, the myriad state income tax withholding laws and varying de minimis exceptions make compliance difficult and time-consuming.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, more employees are teleworking, and state income tax withholding is a larger burden on employers.

While COVID-19 has cast a cloud of uncertainty over not-for-profit organizations, there is one fact we can all hang our hats on: How we audit a not-for-profit now should look completely different than it did a year ago, a month ago, or even a few weeks ago.

As auditors, we’ve been fortunate to work in a stable environment for some time. The pandemic, however, has pulled the rug out from underneath all of us – and that includes our clients. Not-for-profits are not exempt, and COVID-19 has affected each one in drastically different ways.

With COVID-19 changing everyone’s world, firms must develop new ways to work internally and with clients. If you are used to going over the audit report with clients in the office, what’s your plan? If your audit team usually conducts the audit at the client’s office, what’s your plan?

Fortunately, technology enables firms such as yours to continue to offer personalized, exceptional service without being in the same physical space as your client. You don’t even need your team to be together in one office to deliver efficient, high-quality work.

What will it take to get it right in the long run? Here are three tips to get you going: