How COVID-19 Has Changed Our Lives

Having lived with the Coronavirus for almost a year, everyone agrees that many changes took place in people’s lives. Many businesses and companies, doing quite well pre-pandemic, were forced to downsize significantly, while others were shutting down. Some were not meeting deadlines or making ends meet, people were losing their jobs, while some received a reduction in their pay. To protect the people living in the country, Governments were implementing various rules. People and companies had to follow these rules to keep everyone safe. Remote working was the new norm with most people not leaving their homes unless they had to, businesses and companies were not sure how they were going to get through the process. 

Working on taxation was an easy process as I could coordinate a lot of it remotely and online. There were a few challenges, with the most prominent one being coordinating with people over the phone. When it came to some of our clients, it was a lot easier to coordinate with them in person, compared to the phone. Otherwise, I did not have a choice but to follow the rules and get through the pandemic or wait for things to get better before restrictions were lifted and then deal with my clients as I did in the past.

When it comes to the changes taking place, I foresee many minor ones affecting us in massive ways. Over the next six months, COVID-19 is not going anywhere, I am sure of that, so I have to continue making changes to my business, allowing better remote access to services and making them available with ease to our clients. It is strange that at the start of the pandemic, most of the people dealing with the changes thought that they would not last for as long as they did, however, nearing a year, other than them having made some significant progress when it came to a cure, not much has changed.

When it comes to the work I handle, COVID-19 disrupted my business operations as I navigated the process of how to help less tech-savvy clients acclimate to the new online process. 

Not only did the virus come out of the blue, but a lot of people could not adapt to the changes coming with it. Moving online, while it might seem simple to a large number of people, it was not easy for everyone, and some were struggling when they had to make those changes. I spent a lot of time working with some of our clients and assisting with the process as they found it quite challenging. 

I also made some changes to the process to adapt to the pandemic. I changed my means of communication with many people and started receiving documents from clients in the mail which was not a process followed for some time now. I have to implement an online dropbox and portal to exchange data which I did not get through yet but am working on implementing. Another step I thought of implementing was an explanation of various systems online so my clients could understand the changes that I was making and go along with them. However, I was sure not to change my work hours, while many people around me were now working for a much shorter duration. Furthermore, as I am working remotely, I believe there are times that I am working longer and just keep working till I complete the task.

For the most part, I work remotely. However, I considered meeting some of my clients a few times as I had to explain and sort out a couple of things. As far as possible, I stay away from meeting people to prevent the spread of the virus and save me and those around me from catching it. I find it quite challenging not to have in-person face to face interaction with clients, it makes me feel less personable; a quality I deem important when helping and working with small businesses. Most of the businesses struggling to move to digital need someone to show them how, and in most cases, they cannot coordinate that remotely.

I do not work from an office, and travel to meet my clients to get things done. Otherwise, when it comes to the rest of the work, I get that done from my house. I do not have many restrictions with the work I handle but always follow Government protocols with everything aligned to the same page.

When it comes to interacting or meeting clients, I always wear masks and make sure the people around me are safe. I also use sanitizer as often as possible to make sure the people I interact with are safe. I found many who have not implemented any safety precautions, so I do my best to make sure I am not spreading the virus. I also educate some of my clients on doing the minimum when they show up for a meeting to, at least, protect themselves through the pandemic.

When it comes to taxation, the information passed around is quite sensitive and secure. I have to make sure that it remains between my clients and myself. I use a secure portal, my tax software program, and recently started using dropbox for bookkeeping and accounting clients, especially when they send a lot of information and large files, which gets tricky over email. I don’t have other software that I use, just the usual email, Whatsapp or Zoom and the regular phone call or text message. I am open to virtual public events and business expos.

If you are looking for a tax accountant in Dayton, Ohio, look no further than T Time Accounting And Tax LLC. I assist with Tax Planning and preparation for everyone, including small businesses and their accounting needs. Several rules and laws allow businesses certain benefits, and I am always open to leveraging them to benefit my clients. I also assist with financial consulting and make sure that the people I work with have their finances in order. There were changes made to the taxation situation during the pandemic as many people were at home, and I am working on understanding these changes to be in a position to assist my clients further.

I assist clients across Englewood, Dayton, Trotwood, Huber Heights, Vandalia and the neighboring towns and villages. With the pandemic and remote working, I am open to remotely assisting as many people as I can if they want the assistance. If you want a better understanding of the services that I provide, please click here. If you want to get in touch with me and feel that I can assist in any way, please click here.