Portland, Ore. – March 17, 2020
To our clients and friends,
The situation involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve daily. After much consideration, starting March 17, 2020, Perkins’ office will be generally closed to the public, and our employees will work remotely. We strongly believe this step is necessary to protect the health and safety of our employees, their families, and our community.
What does this mean to me?
All our client service personnel are working remotely for the foreseeable future. During this time, your emails and phone calls will be answered as usual, and your Perkins team will work to meet your needs and produce your deliverables with the quality you expect from us. We will be reevaluating this approach frequently, but don’t anticipate a change soon. A small number of employees will work from the office for critical functions (e.g. mail, scanning documents), but we ask that, wherever possible, you help us limit employee and client interactions to phone/video calls and email. While operating remotely, Perkins will be fully functional, and you should not experience a significantly diminished service response.
How do I communicate with the team assigned to me?
In addition to email and phone, our team members can connect with you via video call. Reach out to your Perkins team to schedule a meeting.
Please let your Perkins contact know if your primary contact information has temporarily changed during this time and how best we can reach you.
How do I get you my documents?
Physical receipt of documents will be reduced while our workforce remains remote, however, you can always securely transmit any information electronically using our Sharefile portal (or TaxCaddy.) Please contact your Perkins team if you need assistance with electronic transmission of documents.
If you’re unable to transmit documents electronically, you are welcome to drop off packages/information in our office. We have a controlled drop-off point to receive packages at our reception desk on the 10th floor. Please do not come to the office if you are exhibiting any signs of sickness—contact your Perkins manager or shareholder for an alternate approach.
If you prefer, you can use UPS/FedEx services for traceable transmission of sensitive paper documents. We will have a team in the office receiving deliveries and can scan any received documents.
How will I receive documents from you?
Tax returns and financial statements will only be delivered electronically until further notice.
I heard the tax deadline might be extended; is this true?
We are closely following the news that the IRS may delay the April 15th tax deadline.
The latest from Treasury/the IRS is that they will allow deferral of payment of 2019 tax otherwise due by April 15, 2020, for 90 days, without penalty or interest, but only up to $1 million for individuals and $10 million for corporations. Your team will provide you with specific guidance as details become available. Currently the IRS has not indicated all returns due April 15th are receiving an automatic filing extension, so until there is clear guidance otherwise you/we should attempt to file or extend on time (with the payment deferral options noted). Oregon/state guidance on any state extension or payment deferral is not available yet.
What if I have questions?
Please contact your assigned shareholder or manager if you have questions. If you are unable to contact them for any reason, Peter Kwong, Director of Assurance (pkwong@perkinsaccounting.com, 503.221.7541) is available for assurance service issues and Chris Loughran, Director of Tax (cloughran@perkinsaccounting.com, 503.221.7565) can be contacted for tax service issues.
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We are all affected by this challenge and know that you are making daily determinations regarding yourself, your business, or your organization. If there is anything we can do to help or advise you in your decisions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
These are complicated and constantly changing times for us all. We will continue to monitor the situation and try to make the best decisions we can based on the information available, and with the well-being of our team and clients as our top priority.
On behalf of all of us at Perkins, I want to thank you for your understanding and support during this difficult time. We wish you, your families, and your teams good health.
Jared Holum
President
Perkins & Co
Questions? For all other inquiries, call reception at 503.221.0336 or contact your Perkins advisor.