Sure, it’s rough out there — that’s not news. But you may be surprised at how directly these tough times could affect Accounting pros — even if your job is perfectly safe.

Here are the four trends you can expect to see in the near future:

1. More workers moving off Payroll accounts and into A/P’s master vendor file. Companies may slash staffers (or just quit hiring new employees) in order to use less expensive temps and independent contractors to do the work. But here’s the rub: If the job hasn’t changed much, IRS will likely consider those workers employees — and expect your company to withhold employment taxes.
2. More employees getting flexible work hours/telecommuting options. With sky-high gas prices, some workers are already demanding this perk as the only way they can afford to stay at their jobs. It’s a mixed blessing for Accounting: You may benefit from the perk yourself, but it can create a paperwork nightmare if you have to handle increased expense reports, communication snafus, etc.
3. More complicated payrolls. It’s unfortunate but true. When employees are really feeling the economic pain, they’re more likely to end up with additional garnishments, judgments and liens against them. Which means more paperwork and headaches for Payroll.
4. Less business travel, but more complicated expense reports. Many companies are trimming unnecessary biz travel. But some trips are unavoidable. Plus, airlines are adding many last-minute charges for things employees can’t pay in advance — like checking bags. So while you may see fewer T&E reports, the ones you do have to process are more likely to have missing receipts, non-credit card charges and other potential snags.

Tags: Accounting, Business travel, Economic trends, Payroll, T&E, Tax compliance