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How do you prepare your 10-Q when your team is working remotely?

As disruption from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis continues, the reality of a new normal settles in. The presidents announcement yesterday that the federal social distancing guidelines are being extended through April 30 reinforces that reality. Stay-in-place/home public health directives, virtual team building and remote social interactions are likely to be mainstays in our society for an indeterminable period.

In this environment, the CFO organization faces the challenge of sustaining the continuous feed of financial information to the markets. Under the current rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), quarterly reports on Form 10-Q must be filed within 40 daysof fiscal quarter end for large accelerated filers and accelerated filers. All other SEC registrants have 45 days to file. For companies that have made the transition to a mostly remote and distributed workplace, what are the implications of this environment to the preparation of these reports?

Given that working remotely means the lack of person-to-person contact or in-person face-to-face interaction with co-workers, the CFOs challenge is to sustain normal ongoing filing processes as much as possible to keep everyone on the same page and on deadline. Of course, its the same closing process, same checklist of source documents and same interactions in an environment where people do not meet in person. Unfortunately, there is the daunting possibility of absenteeism and other personnel unavailability, either in the finance organization itself or in the business, that could disrupt the flow of information needed to complete required quarterly reports.

Following are some suggestions on dealing with the risks COVID-19 poses to the filing process:

The world has changed virtually overnight for CFOs as they focus on fulfilling their responsibilities while preserving the safety and health of their people. Filing a 10-Q with an empty building can work just as well as it did in normal times. With the right discipline, technology, tools and security, along with the necessary contingency plans, it will.

More:
Preparing A 10-Q When No Ones In The Building - Forbes