HUMAN RESOURCES
Ready? Dressed? Returning? Work as What You Do v. Where You Do It BY NATALIE ROONEY
Some people would like to work from home forever. Others never stopped working at the office. And others are ready to get back to the peace and quiet of their office routine. COCPA members share their organizations’ plans for work as they continue to navigate the ever-changing COVID-19 landscape.
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n March 9, 2020, SM Energy’s emergency management team first met to monitor the rapidly developing COVID-19 pandemic. By March 11, the team was ready to test remote work, but the situation evolved so quickly, all office-based personnel began working from home on March 16. It’s remained that way ever since, says SM Energy Controller Pat Lytle, CPA, CGMA. ACM LLP* employees made a seamless transition to remote work, says CFO Kristin Holthus, CPA. It was a change for tax teams, but auditors already were used to working off-site. ACM’s IT team set up everyone and addressed a few connectivity issues. Holthus says she has been impressed with how well everyone has maintained productivity. As an owner and audit director of a small CPA firm in Durango, Michelle Sainio, CPA, of FredrickZink & Associates (FZA), says there were few issues transitioning employees to working remotely. Most already had the ability. Five individuals, including the owners, were able to remain in the office to handle day-to-day necessities during the stay at home orders. Several employees were faced with working remotely while educating their children. TO RETURN OR NOT TO RETURN SM Energy has not set a date for employees to return to the office. “We’ve said we are not going to be the first to go back,” Lytle says. “We continue to monitor the data.” At an audit committee meeting, Lytle presented how the SM Energy accounting department has been successful at working from home. “The first quarter was challenging as we all got used to the process, but we’ve had no missed deadlines, no material control failures, no significant changes in our internal controls. All processes have been completed on time including both our first quarter and second quarter 10-Q filings. It all has been very deliberate,” he says. As an oil and gas company, SM Energy’s field personnel are considered essential, and they have continued to work using all of the necessary precautions and safety measures. If SM Energy employees need to access one of the offices in Denver or Houston, they must get approval from a supervisor, answer seven questions to ensure they’re not currently sick, and commit to following strict office protocols. Holthus says overall, ACM is completely capable of remaining on 100 percent remote operations. “Why rush?” she asks. “We’re risk averse. We’d rather be laggards in this situation and wait.” Holthus adds that
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NewsAccount | September/October 2020
even if safer at home orders are lifted, any planned openings may be pushed back so as not to disrupt tax deadlines. The handful of ACM staff going into the office to perform critical tasks, or because they don’t have an appropriate place to work at home, must agree to follow protocols. They include requesting and receiving authorization to work in the office, wearing masks, sanitizing, and logging in when they enter and exit. The firm created online training to show what office life should look like - where masks must be worn and the number of people who can be in a certain area at a time. Employees must give notice - a specified number of days in advance - before coming to the office so a schedule can be created. Holthus says when safer at home policies are lifted, ACM will investigate voluntary return to the office. “We will be safer at home as long
“People are still wary, and we want them to consider their personal risk and comfort level when assessing their return to the office.” as Colorado says we should. People are still wary, and we want them to consider their personal risk and comfort level when assessing their return to the office. Our offices are following and adhering to local and statewide guidance.” Sainio says once return to work was permitted, the firm made sure everyone was following all protocols: monitoring temperatures and logging and reporting any symptoms. In the early days of the office closure, clients weren’t permitted in the office at all. Documents could be left in a drop box. “If they wanted to meet with us personally, we met them outside,” she says. Now, as the FZA team has returned to the office, client meetings are permitted, but by appointment only. And if clients want to enter the office, they must follow the same protocols as staff. Any health information collected is placed in a confidential file.
