Stressed accountants: the mental health impact as practices adapt to a new reality

Accountants are reporting a huge amount of stress and emotional overload right now, as they deal with numerous heart-breaking cases of clients whose businesses are suffering severely and, in some cases, on the verge of collapse.

Dealing with such tales of turmoil and anguish is clearly going to take its toll on mental health. One story recently posted online portrayed an accountant who felt exhausted simply from holding back tears while listening to clients.

Add in all those extra hours accountants have put in responding to so many client queries about Government-backed financial support packages, and burnout is a real concern. This article has tips on helping staff on mental health.

Stress high, even pre-COVID-19

Then, you consider that 98% of accountants were stressed by their job – even before the Covid-19 outbreak – according to a report from The Chartered Accountants’ Benevolent Association last year.

And accountants have their own worries about their businesses’ future – not to mention any stress related to personal circumstances, such as home schooling, for example.

As accountants try to ensure their practices are fit to survive this crisis and succeed in the longer term, they must turn their attention to adapting to the new reality. The coronavirus pandemic is likely to have long-lasting effects on how we all work and it’s not going to be possible to return exactly to how things were.

This in itself, is a big enough concern that could bring a huge degree of stress. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with all of these things going on and lose sight of where to start.

But some simple time out to calmly assess and plan can help overworked and stressed accountants as they consider ‘the next normal’ for their business. To help, here’s a free one-page guide from IRIS crystallising the key questions.

And below, we hope to give you some food for thought on some of the most important topics to consider.

What must accountants consider?

For accountants mulling the necessary changes they need to make to overcome the present and ongoing challenges, it may be helpful to look at the three Rs – Reset, Reorganise, and being Resilient.

All businesses must effectively Reset as it’s almost like starting again with such a changing landscape. Then they have to Reorganise, considering everything required for the long term, including meeting COVID-secure safety regulations. Being Resilient is key because further waves of the virus, lockdowns, and related-crisis look inevitable at some point.

It’s apparent when we look at the changing work environment that remote working is at the centre. Government guidelines demonstrate homeworking will remain essential for many staff. Officials have stressed the importance of restricting the number of people travelling together at the same time and working with each other in the same space, in order to reduce the risk of rising infections.

What’s the wider view?

It’s interesting to look at evolving attitudes to remote working.

A Gartner study found three-quarters of US chief financial officers believe at least 5% of their workforce will become permanent work-from-home employees after the pandemic. Of those, 17% believe one in five staff will move to working from home and 4% believe half of employees will become remote workers.

In the UK, an ICM study of 2,019 UK workers and a YouGov survey of 4,509 adults (of whom 2,394 were workers), found a third expecting to increase their homeworking by at least three days a week, with 81% expecting it to rise by at least one day.

Global companies like Twitter and Facebook have suggested they’re willing to allow staff to work from home permanently or at least for the rest of this year.

Do accountants need an office?

This brings us on to office space. How much do accountants need now – if at all? Office space is costly, tends to be high density, and many staff will be uncomfortable with that even after the virus. Currently, many accountants’ offices are sitting locked up and unused. Meanwhile, the operating costs continue to roll in, with rent, rates, tax, and bills mounting up in the background.

However much office space accountants decide they need, the need for remote working to continue is unquestionable. This brings its own challenges – not least protecting precious client data.

What’s the challenge with data?

We know that cybercriminals are exploiting the surge in people working from home, with agencies such as The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warning lately the threat to firms and individuals is ‘amplifying’ as a result.

The ICAEW has said for some time – well before the COVID-19 crisis – that accountants are “at particular risk of cyber-attacks due to the high level of confidential data and valuable financial information they hold”.

This rise in online scams puts highly sensitive client personal details at risk of being stolen. The ramifications are potentially severe. We’re talking major financial and reputational damage, including hefty fines from The Information Commissioner. Clients could make future claims for failing to maintain records properly.

Therefore, practices will need to ensure they have long term solutions to protect files from cybercriminals. This graphic guide here gives you an easy overview of how to protect client data.

Conclusion

There’s a lot to think about, but there is a range of solutions to meet these challenges. With some good planning, your practice and adapt and succeed. If the trials of adjusting to the new way of working are troubling you, drop a line to the IRIS team and we’ll be happy to examine individually tailored solutions to support your business. You can also watch our free webinar series, which drills down further into how accountants can adapt.