Accounting for the unaccountable – coping with COVID

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand what are the best projections of these events effects on organizations and economies. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic leads to a combination of economic and public health circumstances that challenge the accounting for and accountability of organizations that are mostly outside of their experience and that of academics for the past 50 years. Design/methodology/approach - Through evidence-based policymaking research, evaluation and reporting tools the author draws on the extant research literature to develop estimates of likely effects of these events on organizations and economies. Findings - The process of investigating this subject led the author to write a short research synthesis paper (Salterio 2020a) that summarized the historical economic evidence about the Spanish flu of 1918–1920 and various simulations of potential pandemic macroeconomic effects. This evidence allowed the author to quantify the potential effects of the crisis less than a month into the North American economic shutdown. Originality/value - Using that research synthesis the author responded to the call for papers for this special issue by reflecting on the lessons that this crisis has for managers and organizations from both an accountability and accounting perspective.