If SMSF advisers wanted to benefit from technology, they had to stop working for the systems and begin making the systems work for them, according to a senior administration specialist.

Encouragement from the major accounting bodies for members to apply for their own licence to enable them to provide financial advice to their existing SMSF clients was a concern as the intricacies of being a licensee were largely being ignored in the discussion, according to a senior industry executive.

The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) has appointed Wendy Leegel as its new president and chairman of the board.

Accounting and financial planning practices must ensure their businesses are not dominated by a single service in order to remain competitive in financial services, particularly as the convergence of both industries in the advice arena increases.

The quality of evidence an SMSF auditor gathered and used to assess the compliance of a particular superannuation fund must match the risk characteristics of the fund’s assets, according to a specialist industry practitioner.

The SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia has claimed the latest tax office statistics further disprove many criticisms of the SMSF sector, such as young people being inappropriately enticed to establish this type of fund, the volume of allocations to residential property and the overuse of gearing.

The Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board (APESB) is looking to find a compromise with the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) for the APES 230 measure, with both bodies committed to an open dialogue.

Accountants must be clear about why they wanted to add financial planning services to their practice in order to make that business arm a success, according to the head of an institutionally owned dealer group.

Property investment specialist Future Estate has predicted domestic house prices will continue to increase on the back of several influencing factors, including improved loan affordability, solid economic fundamentals and a stable mortgage market. Other elements leading to the optimistic forecast were strong investor demand and pent-up demand for homes. “Australian house prices are not only […]