Licensing for Accountants has launched a suite of interactive tools to assist practitioners wanting to operate under an Australian financial services licence with their educational requirements.
The new facility is being offered free of charge and specifically contains a licensing cost calculator to allow accountants to get a better idea of how expensive the associated educational requirements will be.
Licensing for Accountants has analysed results from the 100-plus accountants who have already used its licensing diagnostic tool.
It found 91 per cent of practitioners wanting to be licensed to offer SMSF establishments and contributions advice; 71 per cent wanting to provide advice pertaining to rollovers; 66 per cent wanting to advise on limited recourse borrowing arrangements; 56 per cent wanting to prepare investment strategies; and 36 per cent wanting to provide risk advice.
The results showed a large number of accountants would need to complete several units of study, Licensing for Accountants chief executive Kath Bowler said.
“Rather than embark on a training course that won’t meet their advice needs, accountants can use these tools to work out the training requirements appropriate to the advice areas, and understand if they are likely to need one, two, three or four units of study,” Bowler said.
Importantly, accountants needed to understand how much the educational requirements associated with the licensing solution they wanted would cost, she said.
“Information regarding the costs varies significantly, so this was a driver to develop a costs calculator,” she said.
“I’ve seen licensing costs quoted as anything between $3000 and $130,000. Hopefully our tool provides more realistic figures based on the support and training we think they might need.
“The tool allows you to compare the costs of different licensing options, including self-licensing and becoming an authorised representative.”
The new facility can be accessed via a downloadable Excel spreadsheet and includes a checklist of advice areas, cost of licensing calculator and Regulatory Guide 146 training matrix.
The SMSF Association, licensing consultants, education providers and licensees all had input into the development of the new tools.
