The burden on the accountants caused by Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 Pandemic imposed many changes and challenges in the daily lives of thecitizens and the functioning of the business sector. For more effective protection,precautionary measures were adopted and restrictions on the movement of citizens wereintroduced. Vulnerable categories of employees (chronically ill, pregnant women, motherswith small children, ....) were advised not to go to work. A number of businesses havedisrupted the production process both to prevent the spread of the pandemic and due tocanceled orders from the customers. Many workers lost their jobs. Administrative workersperform their duties from home. Many companies (depending on the industry) have alsoadapted and are working from home.In order to alleviate this situation, six packages of financial support measures wereadopted, which were intended for the business sector and the citizens, in order to providebasic conditions for normal functioning and living. The financial support for the businesssector was conditioned by the fulfillment of certain criteria (income, number of employees,....) and a request had to be submitted within the set deadlines which were too short. Forsubmitting the requests for the financial support, for the interest-free loans, for thedeferred payment of liabilities, as well as for all liabilities arising from the Covid-19pandemic (monitoring the movement of income, the number of employees, the amount ofsalaries paid, warnings about unpaid debts, administrative deductions from salary, ...)accountants were obliged. Despite all the risks posed by the pandemic, accountants hadto work because they were the logistical support to the business sector and responsiblefor the accuracy of the information presented in the financial statements and tax returns.Accountants are an extremely important link between the business sector and the state.They are responsible for calculating all taxes and contributions that fill the budget and ontheir shoulders have implemented all measures (financial support, deferred payment ofinterest, interest-free loans, ....) intended to alleviate the situation caused by the Covid-19pandemic in the economy. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to conduct research toidentify the problems encountered during the operation under Covid 19. The research will be conducted by means of a questionnaire submitted to the accounting firms registered inthe register of the Institute of Accountants and Certified Accountants. According to theanswers to the questionnaire, we will give suggestions for overcoming the problems andimproving the situation