Challenges and Changes in Post-Pandemic Auditing

During the pandemic, approximately 70% of auditors had to change their plans and reprioritize audit activities!

The COVID-19 pandemic added to the difficulty of preparing financial statements and conducting audits. There is no government authority issuing policy for accounting standard changes, which is the main challenge in preparing financial statements. Conducting audits for the COVID-19 pandemic is also difficult because it introduces new concepts into financial reporting.

To effectively address these issues, one must go beyond the most obvious observations and find the root causes. 

Points to be Addressed Based on Research & Observations

Here are the 4 points that need to be addressed: 

1. Access To Managerial Assistance Is Limited

Team members require assistance with both their tasks and relationships. Auditors working in audits are used to work in a setting where someone with more experience instructs them to complete specific tasks. Planned calls are;

• More structured, with shorter conversations. 
• Team members can hide their struggles, frustrations, and failures because everyone is on their best behavior. 
• Supervisors can quickly lose sight of their responsibilities if they don't see the full scope of their needs.

2. Mutual Understanding Is Mainly Missing

In a remote working environment, getting information from clients and colleagues takes more time and effort. In the short term, proceeding without all of the necessary information may appear to be the best way to meet budgets and deadlines.



It's easy for important information to become siloed if there's no way to share it freely and informally. Working remotely creates more barriers for experienced team members to share their audit and client knowledge with new team members. 

3. Social Opportunities are Limited

Auditing is a team sport, and successful teams are built on mutual trust and respect. Because a lack of trust and respect has the following consequences: 



• It makes work less enjoyable 

• It also makes the unit less productive 

Due to remote working, relationships are distorted and broken.

4. Work from Home

Working from home is a significant obstacle, whether ignoring roommate distractions, homeschooling the kids, or simply finding a physical workspace that allows us to be productive. It's important to remember that working from home poses some challenges for everyone.



• The most common way to deal with these difficulties is to rearrange one's schedule to accommodate the various demands. 
• When everyone on the team (the client) adjusts their work schedules, getting quick answers to simple questions becomes more difficult. 
• The pace of progress is much slower. 
• In the long run, blurring the line between work and home can be disadvantageous to both aspects of one's life. 

Final Thoughts

Innovating how the world will embrace and reimagine the dynamic of client relationships will be a priority in the coming years. It's unclear how various professions will look and feel after the pandemic has passed, especially in Audits and firms, but things won't be the same as they were before 2020. In the long run, the auditors who can best adapt to this new environment will win out.

Contact us today, at Cartier CPA's our goal is to provide clients with the highest level of respect and quality of service.