Accounting firms and their relationship with clients in the face of the COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

Management support can be understood as the area that assists in decision-making related to management (organizational performance, financial planning, and control). It is suggested that the changes brought about by COVID-19 have impacted the way accounting – especially in terms of management – has been used by companies and accounting firms. In this context, the research aimed to identify how the crisis caused by COVID-19 has affected the management support offered by accountants. The study is characterized as a descriptive research, with a qualitative focus, whose operationalization was conducted by means of a previously defined script, with six accounting firms located in the states of Santa Catarina, Parana and Sao Paulo (Brazil). As for the data analysis, the content analysis technique was used. The results revealed that the COVID-19 crisis presented, in its first months, the potential to generate changes in the relationship between accounting firms and their clients, impacting the management support offered by accountants. Furthermore, it was observed that the consequences of the crisis led to a process of broadening the understanding of the role of accounting in the decision-making process. In this sense, the study contributes not only to the understanding of the ways in which the pandemic of COVID-19, in its initial stage, has influenced and continues to influence human relationships and, especially, professional relationships in the field of accounting, but also to show the opportunities arising from the moment experienced, so that accounting firms get closer to their clients.