Legal firm Cowell Clarke has improved its online Australian financial services licence (AFSL) compliance portal with the addition of a digital statement of advice (SOA) automation program.
The new SOA facility extends the services offered by the organisation’s Cowell Clarke Connect online portal targeting accountants wanting to offer financial advice under the licensing regime to be introduced on 1 July.
“Our clients are concerned about the cost of preparing advice documentation and were saying they wanted an easier process for providing SMSF advice under the limited licence,” Cowell Clarke partner Catherine Evans said.
“The issue with templates is that they do not contemplate each situation and need to be amended, in some cases significantly, to reflect the advice provided.
“The original template document may also be merged or changed over time into a document which is no longer compliant.
“We have now significantly progressed development of an online prompted fact find and auto-generated SOA program within the Cowell Clarke Connect compliance portal at no additional cost to subscribers.
“This will help them to realise cost efficiencies in documenting advice.”
The new automated SOA facility will become available to Cowell Clarke clients in June.
“This means the portal is a complete package. We provide comprehensive compliance support backed by high-quality legal advice to streamline the process for accountants,” Evans said.
Cowell Clarke Connect is an online application that provides compliance documents, procedures and policies for AFSL holders, including notification of lodgement dates and compliance action items.
It was launched in February and has on average had an accounting firm per day sign up for its use over the past month.
