Webinar: ACCA Global Survey: Inside Business Impacts and Responses
On 8 May 2020, the CAREC Institute, Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Institute (AFDI), Global Development Learning Network (GDLN), and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) co-hosted a webinar to share results of ACCA global member and stakeholder survey on Covid-19 which ran between 13-26 March 2020. Mr. Jamie Lyon, Head of Business Management, Professional Insights, ACCA, discussed details of the survey; business and financial impact on organizations and their short to medium term implications; the measures taken and considered by organizations to mitigate the impact of Covid-19; early lessons learnt to support preparedness in future; and possible ways to manage the organizations through this crisis.
The findings of the survey, where some 10,000 respondents participated, include that organizations irrespective of size, sector or country of operation are being hit right across the value chain; revenue and profit forecasts are being dramatically reduced; an immediate response about employee and stakeholder health and safety is followed by shoring up the operational fundamentals; organizational response is compromised by a lack of regular financial forecasting and poor data; and the effectiveness of government economic interventions so far is uncertain for many. Overall, 80% of business leaders foresee a significant downturn in expected revenues and profit year on year, over one third of organizations already facing cash flow problems, one fifth of organizations deferring investments, almost half of businesses had not undertaken a reforecast impacting ability to plan, over one fifth of organizations already freezing recruitment.
The presenter listed options for the organizational recovery and business resumption, including business model assessment, digital transformation, review of global supply chain, workforce planning, etc. He also highlighted the importance of continuous learning and protection of human capital. ACCA will administer the survey again at the end of Q2 2020.More about the survey here