The Struggle is Real: New Survey Finds 2020 Chaos Presents Unprecedented Future Budget Planning Challenges for Controllers

Two-thirds of Respondents Say COVID-19 Has Introduced New Planning Risks, While Nearly Half Are Concerned About Overall Economic Factors 

LOS ANGELES, December 3, 2020 — FloQast, a provider of accounting workflow automation software created by accountants for accountants, today announced the results of a survey conducted in conjunction with Dimensional Research. The survey found that roughly two-thirds of controllers say COVID-19 has introduced new risks to the financial planning process, while nearly half say they’re concerned about overall economic factors.

The findings, to be published in a whitepaper titled “How COVID-19 Changed Financial Planning and How Controllers Are Tackling 2021,” indicate that COVID-19 has affected public companies more than private companies — 62% of respondents from private companies said the pandemic has introduced new planning risks, with that number at a whopping 78% for public companies. And a majority of respondents overall recognize that the differences between the 2021 planning cycle and a typical year are extreme. A significant majority of controllers (77%) report that their teams are including some kind of “doomsday scenario planning” for 2021. 

“With controllers so uncertain, planning for multiple scenarios is becoming the norm, and businesses that were already doing it are expanding it,” said Mike Whitmire, CPA*, CEO and co-founder of FloQast. “That means that agile planning will be more broadly adopted — looking at quarter-over-quarter versus year-over-year, for example — and controllers will need to be more hands-on with that process.”

With such uncertainty surrounding 2021 planning, professionals are being affected in a variety of ways. More than half of respondents, 51%, say there is now a need to focus on the well-being of their teams more than ever before. Another 36% say it feels like they’re constantly working in crisis mode, and 32% lament that the new work-from-home environment has added an entirely new set of challenges.

Methodology:

FloQast fielded the survey to their internal sources by inviting them to participate in an online survey. A variety of questions were asked on topics related to financial planning for 2021. The survey was fielded between Oct. 21 and Nov. 2, 2020. A total of 302 qualified individuals participated, including 206 with controller responsibilities.

Initial results from the survey and advice on how to tackle these new challenges were presented in a 2021 planning webinar, available on-demand at www.floqast.com/webinars. To download a whitepaper that includes full survey results, click here. 

About FloQast
Recognized as a 2020 Technology Fast 500 by Deloitte, FloQast is the leader in accounting workflow automation created by accountants for accountants to work smarter, not harder. The cloud-based, AI-enhanced software is trusted by more than 1,000 accounting teams, including those at Lyft, Twilio, Instacart, Zoom and The Golden State Warriors—and proud to be rated #1 across all user review sites. By automating common accounting workflows and helping to streamline and make them more efficient, FloQast is the place where accounting teams want to work so they can focus on what matters most, even when that’s just going home on time. Whether automating reconciliations, documentation requests or other workflows such as the month-end close, financial reporting or payroll, FloQast enhances the way accounting teams already work to help them work smarter. Learn more at floqast.com.

*inactive

Contact:
Sammy Totah
BOCA Communications for FloQast
[email protected]