Regulatory, political and technological disruptors must be acted upon by accountants and financial advisers otherwise they faced becoming irrelevant to clients.
“The world is changing rapidly and there are so many opportunities that people need to be a bit more creative and innovative, and you’ve got to be ready to jump on those opportunities,” Institute of Public Accountants advocacy and technical executive general manager Vicki Stylianou told the selfmanagedsuper/CoreData SMSF Accountants’ Day in Sydney today.
“That message of transitioning your practice needs to be hammered [home].”
Stylianou also said the industry could do a better job at leveraging technology.
“What we’re seeing come out of the United States and United Kingdom is that there are opportunities for mass customisation through to delivering advice in a different and more economic kind of way,” she said.
“I think a lot of this technology and platforms are already here, but it’s just not used by a lot of people from what I can see.
“We lag even with small businesses having websites and we lag in businesses exporting their services, which is always a sign of growth, so as a country, where we’re at, I see that as a huge opportunity for those prepared to go out there and embrace it.
“We are technology laggards in Australia, but I think it will come upon us eventually. It’s inevitable.”
She warned accountants and advisers could not afford to remain complacent.
“Those who decide not to move will be left even more behind, for example, if your clients are growing and prospering, but you’re not able to keep up with them and advise them, then you’re not going to be their adviser for much longer,” she said.
“It’s the same message, but I think it needs to be repeated.
“I think there are still many accountants who are maybe aware of what’s going on, but just don’t know what to do about it, and a focus survey of our members we’ve just recently finished found that about half of them still don’t know how to respond to the Future of Financial Advice reforms and the changing world, including issues like competition and convergence as well.”
