ACCOUNTING PROFESSION AMIDST PANDEMIC: CHALLENGES FACED BY THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONALS IN GENERAL SANTOS CITY

This study entitled "Accounting Profession Amidst Pandemic: Challenges Faced by the Accounting Professionals in General Santos City" sought to determine the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the professional lives of accountants in terms of work demands, working environment, communication with associates and clients, and work-related stress. Also, it sought to determine the coping mechanisms of accountants that helped them adapt to the challenges faced during the pandemic and to determine if there is a significant relationship between the challenges faced by them during the COVID-19 pandemic and their coping mechanisms. This study is a descriptive correlational quantitative research. The respondents were from General Santos City and selected through purposive sampling. The instrument used is a survey questionnaire utilizing the Likert rating scale and the Pearson's correlation coefficient r with P-value to analyze the data gathered. Results showed that the accountants' work demand (m = 3.63) and work-related stress (m = 3.44) are very affected. The working environment (m = 3.19) and communication with clients and associates (m = 3.19) are moderately affected by the pandemic. They found out further that the coping mechanisms are extremely helpful (m = 4.28). Over-all, it was found that there is a high significant relationship between the challenges accountants faced and their coping mechanisms (r = .335, p=.009).