The professional accountant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes, skills and challenges.

Abstract. Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is the phenomenon that has impacted people's lives and work. The accounting profession has been and continues to be subject to continuous challenges, which cause changes in the activity of the accountant. The main purpose of this paper is to present the challenges to which the accounting profession and professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) were subjected in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the aim is to illustrate the skills required of the accountant before the pandemic and those required during and after the pandemic. Another objective of this research is to present the role of the professional accountant in decision-making in a company in this period. By presenting and analyzing the mentioned aspects, we will be able to illustrate the picture of the current professional accountant. At the same time, we will highlight some characteristics of the accountant of the near future, thus offering professionals and teachers in the field, students, organizations of accountants, an idea of direction in which to develop to stay in the field and be competitive.