How to Ensure Financial Health Ahead of an Economic Downturn

As we all know, over the last few months, COVID-19 caused a shutdown of many aspects of the U.S. and world economies. While the Great Recession of 2008 was caused by factors that were more industry-specific, such as the subprime mortgage crisis, the economic downturn that is projected to come out of the shutdowns mandated due to COVID-19 is likely to be more wide-ranging in light of the non-discriminative impact of the virus. Even hospitals, which are on the frontlines of combating COVID-19, felt the impact as fewer patients came for non-emergencies and as elective surgeries were postponed. Given this outlook, now is a critical time for companies to reassess their business and finances so that they can be prepared for the future. Proper planning is key to ensuring a company’s financial health when facing an economic downturn. Although companies will come into such planning with different levels of financial health, the same considerations can be helpful in determining the best path forward.