Digital documents and fewer in-person meetings – what changes must businesses get used to?

Two meters between colleagues. Transparent walls between sellers and buyers. Video calls instead of face-to-face meetings. These were just a few of the changes experienced by nearly every second person on the planet this spring. Precautions against the coronavirus brought tangible changes to the work of many professionals, including accountants.

Although three out of every four Latvian accountants continued to go to the office and perform their duties on-site during the state of emergency, other colleagues were no longer seen in person as often. This prompted business leaders to seek a way out of the challenges posed by remote work. Often, solutions to the problems were already at hand, long available, but previously undervalued to the point of not yet being implemented in company operations.

The state of emergency prompted the rapid and targeted implementation of changes so that companies could continue to operate effectively. Since March, there has been a sharp increase in interest in accounting software that provides remote access to data, such as Jumis Pro, which can be used both in a web browser and as a mobile app on a smartphone or tablet.

The inability to access data while away from the office was the main reason why accountants were forced to go to work during the peak of the outbreak. More than half of the surveyed accountants traveled to the office only because important documents were printed on paper. They could not be taken home because doing so would cut off access to the documents for other responsible employees, such as the company manager. Copying, on the other hand, is time-consuming, inefficient, and completely unsuitable during an already stressful period.

Faced with this reality, it is only logical that 45.5% of company representatives in a survey conducted by Tildes Jumis in early May identified the digitization of all documents as the most urgent task for facilitating daily work. This would allow a company to function normally even when employees are not meeting physically. This is not just about issuing orders and preparing invoices, but also about the ability for employees to remotely submit expense receipts and incoming invoices, as well as for management to receive and approve leave requests.

Although social distancing and travel restrictions have halted global economic growth, labor market experts suggest that remote work may become the new world order.

One of the first heralds of this future is the microblogging site Twitter. In mid-May, the company's management informed its employees that it was introducing remote work "forever" for those who want it. They may soon be followed by other companies that have successfully managed to reorganize their operations and even benefit financially from emptying their offices.

In such companies, accountants must expect that, from now on, work with documents will take place exclusively in electronic format, as some employees will only meet at corporate parties, while others may never meet at all. Consequently, it is clear that document storage will take place in some form of cloud storage—either public or maintained by the company itself. And accountants will have to get used to storing documents in electronic folders rather than neatly bound paper files.

Latvian companies are also preparing for tomorrow. Already 32.7% of those surveyed are considering the possibility of introducing e-invoicesso that the sending and receiving of invoices takes place in an electronic format. This allows an accountant to work fully by issuing and processing received invoices, "armed" only with accounting software that supports e-invoice workflows.

Of course, this work model will require accountants to learn new skills and improve their digital proficiency. In today's rapidly changing world, however, this is nothing new. Most accountants have already introduced innovations into their work routines and are applying new skills, often without even realizing it.

The events of the spring reminded us once again of both the human capacity to adapt to circumstances and how closely interconnected the inhabitants of the modern world are. Even if cooperation with colleagues is interrupted for a moment, or if one loses the ability to grab a document folder from the next desk that has always been within arm's reach, work does not proceed as efficiently as one would like. Therefore, it is important to prepare for unpredictable situations in time. The sooner a company transitions to electronic collaboration, the more productively it will be able to work, both under normal conditions and during times of various restrictions.