Why CFOs Are Turning To Flexible Staffing Options In The COVID-19 Era

Jan 25, 2022

First things first: With deepest appreciation, a big thank you and heartfelt gratitude to the healthcare professionals and first responders fighting the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). They are staring into the face of this formidable unseen enemy of humankind. All of us are indebted to these brave individuals and owe them our closest attention to established public health protocols.

Last week, we explored some concerns and considerations for CFOs who need to produce financial statements with a dispersed workforce. Well, it’s been a week and, as the full impact of the COVID-19 crisis unfolds, we now have some lessons from the field.

What do the following CFOs have in common?

• A financial services CFO needs temporary accounting resources to address critical daily transaction balancing and align resources across several U.S. locations on a remote basis.
• The CFO of an oil field services company needs to stand up a team immediately to process accounts payable transactions that were previously handled in India.
• The CFO of a retail pharmaceutical operation requires immediate assistance with collections activities that were previously conducted in Latin America.
• A financial services CFO needs a large team to perform an initial assessment of credit card charge disputes for possible escalation to fill the void left by U.S.-based employees prevented from traveling to their facilities and unable to work remotely.

The answer: These and other CFOs are facing a critical need to fill important roles either performed by employees who aren’t remote-capable or that had been outsourced to companies operating in the United States or around the globe. The root cause is essentially the same. If a company closes its office(s), its employees cannot perform their work if they lack the necessary remote-capable technology (e.g., laptops, internet access, secure access to key systems, collaboration tools). Thus an immediate need exists for ready-to-work resources. Time is of the essence. Not only is no one in the building, no one is covering the bases from home or in any remote locations, either.

• Original post: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdeloach/2020/04/06/why-cfos-are-turning-to-flexible-staffing-options-in-the-covid-19-era/?sh=5f469a7a239b