How Accountants And Lawyers Can Work Together During The Global Pandemic

For about a year now, grim news and statistics have created the impression that the whole world’s ground to a halt due to the COVID-19 crisis. The actual state of developments on the ground could not further from the truth.

True enough, whole industries were obliterated overnight while others got crippled so badly by the lockdowns that they’re still limping. Many businesses are experiencing or financial distress - or expect to do so in the near future.

Regardless of this, the majority of businesses have managed to adapt to the new normal and are still carrying on. The number of businesses starting up since the start of the pandemic has not decreased dramatically, either. In fact, in some specific instances, quite the opposite is true.

Invariably, both newly hatched businesses and already established companies will need to get their books in order - which means they’d need help with accounting. Well-established domestic names, such as London accountants Howlader & co. can be of assistance in such cases, but companies, especially startups, inevitably need legal advice as well.

Unsurprisingly, there are quite a few intersections between a business’ financial side and its legal obligations. Lawyers and accountants can team up in order to achieve the best results when handling both aspects of a company’s existence. These are some of the crucial steps that specialists in these fields can take to make their jobs easier and their counsel more effective.

Reach Out to Other Credentialed Professionals

Finding credentialed professionals in both accounting and the legal profession is now easier than it has ever been. Reaching out to them and establishing a connection requires an effort from both parties, but the benefits accountants and lawyers can reap from establishing a relationship far outweigh the costs.

Being personally familiar with a practiced professional is practically mandatory for being able to recommend said professional to a client in need without reservations. Although this action may technically be outside of the scope of their respective fields, accountants and lawyers need to keep in mind the fact that it is nonetheless valuable counsel.

Think Outside of Geographical Boundaries

The ongoing pandemic has forced many professionals to admit that, yes, giving legal and accounting advice can be done just as effectively remotely. Naturally, the energy and dynamic of the whole process changes, but remote consultations can easily be an effective way of getting down to business.

Embracing the practice of communicating via video call has other benefits as well. It allows both accountants, lawyers, and their clients to broaden the scope of their searches and consider engaging professionals outside of their immediate locale.

Embrace Technology

Regardless of their personal feelings on the matter, pure necessity demands that both accountants and lawyers keep up with technological trends. Experts in both fields agree that the vast complexity of modern business is an issue they have to tackle on a day-to-day basis. Embracing technology and implementing various systems that can help them cope with it is essential for both accounts and legal advisors.

In many cases, this is an investment of time and energy that busy professionals in these complex fields of study can ill-afford to make. Still, if you don’t take the time to implement some crucial piece of tech into your practice, you’re shooting yourself in the foot - twice.

Professionals who don’t implement crucial technological solutions, such as file-sharing systems or and collaboration tools, are going to be less efficient at their job. Even if you disregard this, a lawyer or accountant that fails to keep up with technology is a liability for their counterparts as well - which is also a serious issue.

Create a Universalized Document Handling Practice

Universalizing the format of papers you and your associates handle is key for making communication as quick, easy, and effective as possible. Both lawyers and accountants benefit tremendously from being able to share, access, read, analyze and modify relevant documents with minimal hassle. Therefore, any investment of time and effort into establishing writing guidelines for business documents is likely to pay off well.

Coordinate Your Actions Before Providing Counsel

Different professionals can approach the problems set before a business from different angles. This can sometimes result in their mutual client receiving some contradictory advice, which is unproductive at best and disastrous at worst.

The solution to this potential issue is surprisingly simple - accountants and lawyers who already have an established professional connection can share information and coordinate their counseling efforts before actually consulting the client.

Going this route requires both consulting parties to put in a bit more work, and would probably also require the consent of the client if important information has to be shared. However, this type of cooperation would allow both lawyers and accountants to understand the business’ situation better, and provide more cohesive and efficient counsel.