How will Covid-19 impact the way accountants work with their clients?

In the weeks since the UK government announced its first social distancing measures and subsequent lockdown in response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the business landscape in the UK has taken on a new, unfamiliar look.

A UK-wide ‘stay at home’ order - which is now in the process of being eased in some parts of the country - has meant that many businesses have struggled or ceased trading altogether. Non-essential shops have closed, offices and co-working spaces have been left deserted and traditional service providers have been unable to work with their clients. Sadly, many gig economy workers have seen their livelihoods dry up practically overnight.

For accountants, the impact of the coronavirus challenge has been significant. In addition to dealing with the economic challenges of the crisis - in particular from losing clients whose businesses have been forced to close - the lockdown has also required many practices to use new digital technology and work remotely for the first time. The result is that day-to-day accountancy work in the UK now looks very different today to how it did at the start of 2020.

Will this change be a short-term hurdle for accountants to overcome before life returns to normal or is it the catalyst for longer-lasting reform to the way accountants work with clients in the future?

We recently held a virtual roundtable discussion on the future of accountancy with speakers from ICPA, FCSA, the University of West London, Mettle and FreeAgent. During the discussion, we asked our expert panel about the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the profession and what long-term effect it might have on accountancy work in the UK. Our speakers also discussed the changes and challenges brought about to the profession by the Covid-19 crisis and how accountants have started to evolve their services to meet the new needs of their clients.

In this video, we hear the views of:

• Ed Molyneux, CEO of FreeAgent
• Julia Kermode, CEO of the Freelancer & Contractor Services Association (FCSA)
• Tony Margaritelli, chairman of the Institute of Certified Practising Accountants (ICPA)
• Marieke Flament, CEO of Mettle
• Dr Dinusha Weerawardane, senior lecturer at the University of West London
• Tomasz Wiadrowski, owner of SAFI Advisory Services

You can watch the full ‘Future of Accountancy’ roundtable discussion, which covers the Covid-19 crisis as well as AI, Open Banking and automation in the accounting industry, on our YouTube page.