AVISAR CPA: Office Plans For COVID-19
At Avisar, we take the health and safety of our clients and team seriously and we wish to share some of the steps we are taking to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. We are committed to working together as an organization to decrease the transmission and lower the impact of COVID-19, by sharing factual information from our provincial and federal health agencies with our team members, while addressing any concerns that may arise.
As the impact of COVID-19 continues to evolve and new information becomes available daily, our goal at Avisar is to remain calm but ensure that we have a contingency plan in place to minimize potential impact to our clients and team.
All our common areas, including the reception area, are being cleaned daily and our boardrooms are sanitized after each meeting, to help reduce the spread of germs. We have also posted hygiene reminders throughout the office and washrooms, and hand sanitizer has been made available around the office.
We are monitoring the health of all team members and encouraging anyone who feels sick or has been in contact with family members who are ill or have travelled abroad to stay at home. Our team members have been encouraged to avoid any physical contact (including handshakes) with clients and colleagues.
Thankfully, we are capable of transitioning our practice to a virtual office in the event that it becomes prudent or necessary to temporarily close our physical location. The use of document management, client management and practice management software assists us in having file information readily available in the event that our team members are working remotely.
We continue to monitor the local situation and are prepared for the possibility that our office may be faced with exposure to the virus. Below we have set out what you can expect if we temporarily close our physical office:
- Our team members will continue to work on your file remotely. It is expected that the transition to a virtual office (if necessary) will be seamless for you as Avisar already maintains its active files electronically.
- All of our team members’ emails will be monitored. We will continue to be accessible to you by email for inquiries, requests and other correspondence. While we will arrange for mail forwarding, we encourage you to use email for transmission of documents in the event that our physical office is closed. If you have security concerns over email or you need to send large files, please send documentation via ShareFile our file sharing tool, to ensure seamless service on your file. You can find a link in our staff email signatures or by accessing team member profiles on our website at www.avisar.ca and clicking on Client Portal.
- Personal Income Tax returns and other filings will continue to be processed. Our office will complete all filings in the usual course to the extent that the Canada Revenue Agency and/or other filing agencies remain open.
- All appointments will be by telephone or video call. While we value and enjoy the opportunity to meet with you in-person, we will make virtual arrangements for all meetings to minimize any potential exposure. Our voicemail system will be regularly monitored and our team members will be available by IP phones and/or cell phones.
As we navigate the potential challenges ahead, we will endeavour to keep you updated as quickly as possible. We value your continued trust and partnership with Avisar. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions.
Disclaimer: Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.
Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.
