You can add Marcum to the ever-growing list of accounting firms that are temporarily going all remote because of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. But of course not until tomorrow; there’s a tax deadline to wrap up first.
A tipster sent us the email Marcum Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Weiner sent to his capital market servants this morning:
Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17, our Firm will become a remote work force. We are announcing this now to give everyone as much time as is reasonably practical to prepare before the end of the day.
For those of you who are client-facing, please coordinate with your supervisors to figure out the best way to complete the client deliverables you are responsible for. If you need an extra monitor (or two) to work from home and the Firm cannot supply you with one, you are hereby authorized to spend up to $250 (to be included on your next expense report) to purchase a monitor(s), which according to our research are running $120-$130 each. If you do buy them, they’re yours to keep.
For those of you on the administrative staff, if there’s work you can do from home, that will be greatly appreciated. If it’s impossible for you to work from home, the Firm will continue to pay you as though you were at work, with no effect on your PTO. In many of our offices, we will ask that one or two of you come in on a daily basis to deal with essential services such as mail delivery and banking.
So with those exceptions, while our offices will be closed, everyone is expected to be working and responsive to co-worker and client emails and voicemails, and to produce the deliverables for which you are responsible. The Firm remains open for business, and we will continue to work together to serve our clients as per normal.
We currently envision that the remote work schedule will continue through Sunday, March 22. We will be monitoring the situation regularly and, if need be, may extend remote work arrangements, so please plan accordingly.
An email announcement will be sent to all Firm clients and contacts to alert them. However, those of you with primary client responsibility should communicate this information directly to your clients and assure them that we will do our best to meet their needs and expectations during this unprecedented situation.
Marcum’s mission is to deliver superior service to our clients, and this will not change even under these difficult circumstances. This is an opportunity for us all to step up and reinforce that commitment.
I extend my personal thanks to each and every one of you for your efforts during this challenging time.
Jeffrey M. Weiner
Chairman & CEO
Marcum LLP
Well, kudos to Marcum for telling their staff they have to work from home starting tomorrow, while other firms are still dragging their feet and potentially putting their employees at risk of getting the virus. Our tipster told us they were “very impressed” with Marcum’s response.
But mandating that your employees work from home for only less than a week is kinda strange, given what health officials are saying and predicting. I have a feeling that you Marcum staffers will be working from home past the March 22 date Weiner set.
Stay safe, everyone.
