FOR YOUR PRACTICE
| LESSONS FROM LEADERS
Leaders of Related Professions Provide Their Perspectives on COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the legal profession in significant ways. Firms and organizations have spent the past six months transitioning employees to remote work settings and back again, attorneys have spent considerable time learning how to “Zoom” and then have spent considerable chunks of their days on Zoom for client meetings and connecting with co-workers. The Courts closed, and are now progressing through a long backlog of cases and matters according to their reopening plan. The legal profession is different today than it was six months ago, as are other related professions. We sat down (virtually of course) with leaders in the fields of accounting and arbitration to learn more about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their professions, what they have done in response to the pandemic, and their perspectives on the future of their professions.
Interview with Bob Bunting, Former Chair of the American Institute of CPAs MSBA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Victor Velazquez held a virtual chat with Bob Bunting,
founder and principal at RL Bunting Consulting and a trusted voice in the accounting profession. Bob has spent over 40 years in public accounting and has consulted with large wealth management firms and regional CPA firms on strategies for new service development, growth, profitability, people development, mergers, and owner accountability. Victor and Bob discussed COVID-19's transcendent impact on numerous professions and businesses, high-level professionals, and other individuals, with a focus on how to use this time to evolve your business or career.
What are you thinking about during this pandemic, big picture? We are dealing with two issues from a business perspective: the impact on business and professional services, and the recession. There is no playbook for the pandemic--we are being asked to follow guidelines and laws being issued by multiple governments. Our job right now is just to cooperate. After the pandemic subsides, there will be a major business recession, and there are playbooks for that. Firms can learn a lot from each other as we go through the aftermath of the pandemic. The relevant question is, How do we reset our value proposition in a post-COVID world? Maybe employees won’t show up in an office every day and work as they have in the past, but they still have to maintain productivity, 12
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interact with clients, and give value for money. Creating value for clients will not be done in the same way as it was before.
What are your thoughts on COVID’s impact on technology? Technology is a huge winner in this event. I consulted with CEOs from upper/mid-size accounting firms who previously made commitments to technology. Those accounting firms that had already gone paperless and enabled people to act virtually had very small losses in productivity. Their tax and auditing services are all going well, and employees are working as groups even though everyone is at home. In contrast, a firm that had done a very poor job at going paperless saw its productivity fall by more than half.