Responding to the coronavirus

Key focus areas for businesses

• Workforce

  Have measures been put in place to support hygiene and health for your employees, including restrictions to international travel and advice on attending client meetings, site visits and events?

  Do you have a clearly communicated policy on what your people should do if they are feeling unwell?

  What does it mean for colleagues and clients if you suspect a case of coronavirus in your workplace?

  Is your team able to work remotely if your office needs to close?

  Do you need to change or re-enforce your working policies? 

• Customers and suppliers

  Could there be unexpected consequences for your business from the coronavirus outbreak? How can you plan for this and will you have the working capital to restart your business when activity picks back up?

  Do you need to inform your clients and customers of any changes to your services? This could include different opening times and delays in deliveries or deadlines.

  Do you have plans in place to ensure regular and clear communication to clients about your policies and updates on services?

  Which customers will need extended terms from you and which suppliers might require different arrangements? Liaise with your suppliers to determine how they can support you.

  With international travel and export impacted by the coronavirus, have you assessed the strength of your supply chain and do you have alternatives in place if you need to source another provider?

• Tax

  With coronavirus having an impact on your profits and cashflow, do you need extra time to pay any outstanding tax debt? Will you need to agree a bespoke Time To Pay arrangement with the government? Could employee absence cause you to miss a deadline to file?

  Will you be able to request a refund on additional statutory sick pay claimed by staff who are unable to work because of the virus? Can you get a loan or grant, or claim a business rates relief discount, to see you through the outbreak?

• Audit

  What will the impact be on your business, including credit availability and cash flow, supply chain, access and impact on your customers, workforce availability and access to any government support? Given the disruption, are you able to acquire the evidence and speak to who you need to remotely?

  Will you be able to delay audit dates, or make arrangements for the effective audit using a virtual (off-site) approach? How will you reschedule, given the uncertainty of when the pandemic will end? Can deadlines be extended, particularly your filing arrangements?

  Is your audit team still able to obtain sufficient audit evidence with restrictions to your premises and staff? How will the audit of any international operations/subsidiaries (components) be delivered to meet the requirements of auditing standards and regulation?

  Are you able to bring stock takes forward to before travel bans are in place? Will management then be able to produce a roll-forward reconciliation and will we be able to audit that? How will this work?

• Stakeholders

  Do you need to pro-actively check in with your stakeholders during these difficult periods? Communicate with your financiers, shareholders, customers and employees early and often.

• Insurance

  Do you need to check your insurance coverage will protect you against losses from natural disasters?

  Could a successful claim be made against you under a business interruption or event cancellation policy?

  Do you need assistance in quantifying the financial impact of a disruption?

  Read more: Business interruption and the impact of coronavirus >>

• Cash flow and financing

  Are changes and delays to your service going to have an impact on your cash flow. Do you need to have discussions with clients or suppliers about renegotiating terms?

  Do you need to speak to your funding suppliers about additional funding and operational covenants for the next few months?

  What will things look like in six months’ time?

  Read more: Seven practical steps for companies impacted by coronavirus >>

• Business continuity and risk

  When uncertainty is the new normal, standing still isn’t an option. Drastic changes to working arrangements around the world and ever-changing expectations of customers, employees and governments mean it’s time to examine the variety of risks facing your organization. From supply chain to working capital, it’s critical that organizations understand and strategize against their unique level of vulnerability in order to keep moving forward.

  Grant Thornton’s Pandemic Risk Assessment puts you on the road to recovery by helping you understand your immediate risks in four key risk quadrants:

  

  Our time sensitive, data driven assessment quantitatively determines risk factors and offers focused resiliency plans to protect your business, customers, and shareholders. You’ll receive:

  • A resiliency dashboard showing where you are now against 4 impact zones and 8 key risk factors
  • Benchmarking of your pandemic risk status compared to others in your industry
  • Immediate recommendations to quickly address your most significant risks and needs

  Don’t wait for answers. Take Grant Thornton’s online Pandemic Risk Assessment to examine the impact of this pandemic on your business, learn strategies to navigate COVID-19 and identify the areas within your business where resiliency is a competitive advantage.