Money, Jeremy Tauri: Preparing to go back to work

Jeremy Tauri is an associate at Plus Chartered Accountants.

How did you mark the shift from level four to level three? A burger? Welcoming someone into your bubble? Going back to work?

Between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of the country's workforce is now back at work, at least in some capacity. But things aren't anything like normal. Some just still aren't able to do much work at all.

While that's frustrating, it doesn't mean you have to stop everything. If you have staff stuck without work, you might be able to deploy them to get you prepared for when we do finally shift to level two.

So far, I've seen businesses tasking staff with rebooking appointments that should have fallen during the lockdown, preparing safety plans and strategising for the business's future in what is likely to be a tougher operating environment.

You may be able to use this time to get ready to get back to work in better shape.
If you depend on other businesses to get by, even being able to open your own doors won't help particularly.

You may need to weigh up what it's worth doing — do you need to open for reduced hours, or limit your services? It may be better to focus on delivering one or two of your normal services at full strength rather than trying to do everything
with limited demand.

Remember your team has gone through weeks of a lockdown. It maybe that for level 3, a four-day week might suit them and the work you have available.

Even if you're back up and running, you'll need to have systems in place to show you're meeting all the requirements. That means plans to show how you're maintaining hygiene standards and social distancing. This compliance will take time and effort — you'll need to allow the resources for it to make sure it's done properly.

Remember that there is support from your local chamber of commerce. They can help direct you to funded areas of support for your Covid response.

Hang in there. We're still moving in the right direction and hopefully, before too long, we can shift down another level and really see things start to pick up again.

Jeremy Tauri is an associate at Plus Chartered Accountants. www.plusca.co.nz