Plenty Plus will deliver its transactional solution for unlicensed accountants on its website this week, with the service already garnering strong interest in the marketplace.
The offering aims to support accountants tackling SMSF advice for their clients and will help relieve their compliance burden following the commencement of the new licensing regime on 1 July 2016.
“We certainly have experienced interest already as we’ve provided an opportunity for accountants to pre-register with us and we’ve had an amazing response to that – close to 100 have registered, so it’s been good so far,” Plenty Plus founder Greg Einfeld told selfmanagedsuper.
“When I speak to accountants who don’t have their own licence, nine times out of 10 they will say to me, ‘Where do I sign?’ because this is a real problem for them – they can no longer meet their clients’ expectations.
“We’re also hearing that there are a lot of accountants who have obtained their limited licence, but they’re starting to understand all of the compliance obligations that come with having either a limited or full licence, or being an authorised representative. So we’re having conversations with those accountants as well.
“The service appears to be resonating strongly with accountants.”
Einfeld said he acknowledged the service would not be suitable for every client.
“But for those who are comfortable online, it’s a better service at a lower cost,” he said.
“The quality of advice that we can provide, I would argue, is better than the quality of the advice that a human adviser can provide [where] it’s a situation that is very similar to hundreds of other people because there is a lot of consistency around the facts.
“It’s also less prone to human error and we can deliver our advice instantaneously.”
Plenty Plus will initially provide financial advice on single topics, such as setting up SMSFs and buying property in SMSFs, which will be generated entirely online in under 10 minutes.
“That’s where we are starting off and that’s because at this stage of the financial year that’s often where accountants have the most pressing needs for their clients,” Einfeld noted.
“If the client wants to buy a property or establish an SMSF, they want to do it right now.
“In the very near future we will incorporate advice around establishing pensions and commuting pensions to get down below the $1.6 million cap, and also around all types of contributions, but of course we’re waiting for the legislation to be finalised, so we’ll have more clarity in the next couple of months.”
Plenty Plus is a transactional service using a pay-per-use model and does not charge upfront or ongoing fees. Each piece of advice will cost $99.
Accountants can pre-register for the service here.
