A panel of SMSF sector experts has concluded the costs associated with the new licencing regime and raised professional standards should not be viewed as a barrier to entry for the provision of advice to SMSF clients.
SMSF Advice accounting partnerships consultant Kath Bowler said she felt the cost of the required licensing arrangements should be treated as an opportunity for business growth rather than an impediment.
“Accountants can get licensing as a way to continue to do what they’re doing now and I think if they do that then licensing will be a cost and compliance burden on the business,” Bowler told delegates at the recent No More Practice conference and exhibition in Sydney.
“Or they view the changes in legislation as an opportunity to grow their businesses and a cost of being in the game because there are enormous opportunities and with any opportunities you’ve got to invest.
“There’s an initial investment of time and cost and accountants shouldn’t look at it as just a matter of getting the required licensing.”
SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia chief executive Andrea Slattery said she felt all advisers needed to view cost as an element associated with the industry becoming a true profession as opposed to an inconvenience.
“If practitioners don’t commit to that cost, then perhaps they should be considering whether or not they want to be involved,” Slattery said.
“Like I said, there is a profession, it’s building, and the cost of a profession is practitioners need to maintain their excellence and they need to be able to drive that value through to the client.
“So there’s a little bit of cost and our industry needs to work out how that cost can be minimised and effectively managed.”
SMSF Strategies principal Grant Abbott suggested all practitioners had to look at having a seven-year plan when assessing the current changes they potentially needed to adopt, including additional costs.
In particular, they all needed to view any costs in the context of running a modified SMSF business rather than a specialised technical SMSF service they were potentially involved with at the moment, Abbott said.
The SMSF Academy managing director Aaron Dunn suggested rationalisation of existing costs would be a critical element in addressing the situation.
“One of the things for the smaller broader business to identify and evaluate from their own perspectives is what efficiencies and tools they need to put in place to provide a more effective business proposition,” Dunn said.
“I agree with Grant that they do need to look at this from a business perspective and not purely as an accountant, planner or anything else.”
