CAI-NJ Jan. 2022(w)

Technology from a FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE

By Raymond Weber, FirstService Residential, AAMC

T he COVID -19 global pandemic has affected the daily lives of each one of us, from economic and social disruptions to certain aspects of our usual way of life that will be changed forever. The current situation, unprec- edented in world history, has resulted in unique challenges to the business world and the accounting industry in partic- ular. Some things will most likely go back to pre-pandemic norms, while other things will evolve into a new way of doing business in the future. One major challenge caused by the pandemic is companies will need to determine how to manage their business through social distancing measures. For exam- ple, many industries have been forced to change their approach to remote work fundamentally. The business world had been slowly heading in that direction, but the

pandemic forced everyone to implement these new work- ing principles quickly. The pandemic has significantly changed workplace meet- ings, an essential function of the workday both pre-and most likely post-pandemic. Moving meetings to a virtual platform has had positive and negative effects on the meeting process. While a certain amount of interpersonal contact has been lost, we now can attend multiple meetings the same day or even the same morning, something that was previously impossible. In addition, because team members can hang up on one meet- ing and be immediately available to join another, more can be accomplished by working remotely than being in the office. The most successful businesses will embrace this new par- adigm, using and developing the new tools the pandemic has led us to utilize. n

By Sam Schneider, CPA

D uring the pandemic, we have found that the effec- tive utilization of technology was key. Having faith in your staff to work remotely and take care of their responsibilities was essential. During this time, we used email, phone calls, and video conferencing to keep in con-

tact to ensure that things were moving forward as seamless- ly as possible. As well as, having patience and an open mind during these unchartered times was important, and I am happy to say our department powered through and continued to provide exceptional service to our clients. n

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