George has 35 years financial services experience in senior executive roles, managing some of the country's largest and most successful financial advisory business, including; Perpetual Private Clients, Head of Advice & Investments at ANZ Private Bank, Managing Director of RetireInvest, Principal of Mercer Global Consulting and managed Sealcorps advice business Securitor, as well as establishing the Asgard Corporate division.
Prior to Co-Founding the Australian Fintech Fiduciary Financial Group Pty Ltd (trading as moneyGPS & accountantsGPS), George established his own advice business and partnered with 35 accounting practices who were all licensed to his AFSL for the delivery of SMSF Advice.
The innovative accountantsGPS and moneyGPS platforms are designed to offer valuable digitally supported services for accounting firms and their clients covering; strategic analysis and compliance checking, as well as a personal financial advice hub.
accountantsGPS has developed the first digital platform of its kind in Australia for selfmanaged super funds (SMSFs). As a major feature of its pioneering digital analysis program,In just a few minutes, the platform can producea detailed strategic assessment of an SMSF’s financial, compliance & wealth status, via the generation of the platform’s ‘SMSF Check-Up Report’.
The groundbreaking digital advice platform, moneyGPS, supports individual client needs by offering a hybrid digitaladvice solution.Thisis achieved by combining artificial intelligence and human expertise to plot tailored financial roadmaps. This is achieved, by giving users access to an online portal, connecting them to a comprehensive range of digitally supported personal financial advice topics (to be offered for between $90-$180 per topic) as well as access to a select group of specialist financial service providers.
Inbal Rodnay prepares firms for adopting AI. She takes firms through a 12-month program that creates the next generation of technology leaders, and introduces frameworks for fast experimentation and adoption of technology. Inbal was previously Head of Technology and Innovation at BlueRock. She is also co-host of Agents of Change, a monthly workshop on technology strategy for accounting firms.
John Jeffreys has been a tax professional for nearly 40 years. He is a former tax partner of major accounting firms. For over 15 years he has conducted a business that specialises in supporting small and medium sized accounting firms. He has also been the tax counsel of a professional body that assists tax agents. John's services are provided through membership of his website - johnjeffreystax.com.au.
As Managing Director and Founder of businessDEPOT John is setting out to change how businesses [and the people behind them] access the advice they need to make their ideas a reality. businessDEPOT was built on the foundations of an accounting business with the vision of becoming, as the name suggests, the “depot” for business. Since establishing the business in 2013, John identified gaps in the market for an offering that will help SMEs solve some of their biggest challenges. By launching additional services over the past 5 years [including Legal, Marketing, Advisory, Digital, Broking and People & Culture] and through collaborating with trusted Collective and referral networks, businessDEPOT brings together the right specialists who share a common spark for making it happen for businesses [and the people behind them]. John has over 20 years of experience providing advice to SMEs and family businesses as an accountant and broader business adviser. He has a particular passion for the role of brand and marketing in the accounting industry, prides himself on breaking the mould of the traditional accountant, insists on investing in EQ just as much as IQ, and believes the role of an accountant should be so much more than just tax and compliance.
John McInerney is a registered Liquidator, Chartered Accountant and member of the Australian Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association, and brings over 20 years’ corporate insolvency, restructuring and advisory experience to the Grant Thornton team. By his clients, John is seen as an ‘essential advisor’, and he has a passion for working closely with business owners and their advisers to formulate cost effective performance improvement and business restructure strategies. He is also the NSW lead Partner of Grant Thornton Affinity, which is a member network of professional advisors who rely on each other for support services outside their immediate area of expertise and cross-referral opportunities.
Julia Thomson is an experienced strategic marketer, with a passion for data insights and economic analysis.
With two decades of experience, she has supported the growth of hundreds of small to medium Australian businesses via developing practical strategic plans, information memorandums, business cases and feasibility reports.
As a key member of The Benchmarking Group, Julia oversees data analysis and industry trends for 200 Australian sectors, drawing from diverse sources such as the ABS, ATO, The Benchmarking Group database, and third party research reports. Her expertise enables business owners to understand their industry dynamics and leverage trends for a competitive advantage.
Prior to this, Julia consulted directly with Australian businesses to write and secured competitive government grants. She has also held lead strategic marketing roles in Australia and Asia.
Her academic record includes a Bachelor of Media and a Masters in International Marketing, and she is currently pursuing a Masters in Applied Economics. Julia resides in Adelaide with her husband and three children, with the latest addition to the family arriving just last year.
Mark Wilkinson is a Consultant in the Business Services Division of BDO Sydney and has been providing superannuation and retirement planning advice for over 30 years. As a superannuation specialist, Mark provides strategic superannuation advice on how the State and Federal legislation impact on the areas of superannuation, retirement, estate and succession planning for clients as they build their wealth en-route to retirement. He advises on SMSF establishment, contribution planning strategies, pension planning advice, estate planning and consulting regarding Superannuation Industry Supervision Act Compliance issues.
Paul has over 25 years hands-on FBT, Salary Packaging and Employment Taxes experience across all industry sectors and businesses ranging from large corporates, SME’s, Not for Profits and Local, State and Federal Government.
Paul helps employers to reduce risk, increase efficiency and maximise opportunities, by working with Employers functional teams including Tax, Finance, Payroll, HR, Procurement, Legal, Risk and Fleet Management.
Paul works closely with Accounting firms to ensure they are proactively managing their clients FBT obligations and have a well structured “FBT Service Line” offering for clients.
In particular, Paul assists employers with:
Paul is a current member of the ATO’s FBT Stakeholder Group (since 2005).
Paul is an accomplished trainer and speaker on all areas of FBT, Salary Packaging and Employment Taxes. Paul delivers training in a practical and insightful manner.
Paul is the founder of FBT Salary Packaging Solutions (since 2009) and FBT Service Line. He is an Employment Taxes Partner with Specialist Taxes Group and Salary Packaging & FBT specialist with Pay@bility.
Prior to setting up his own practice in 2009, Paul worked as Director of Employment Taxes at EY Sydney for 10 years
Rob is Assistant Commissioner for Experience, Government and Case Leadership - Individuals and Intermediaries and the official Tax Time spokesperson at the ATO. An experienced tax professional with over 10 years’ experience, Rob has recently returned from his role as Minister Counsel (Taxation) at Australia’s Permanent Delegation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. He has extensive experience across several diverse roles in the ATO. Starting at the ATO in High Wealth Individuals, Rob progressed to a compliance officer role, then worked his way into specialist taskforces, policy implementation and strategic programs. Rob also holds a Masters of International Taxation and a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com). Prior to joining the ATO, Rob worked in a managerial role for a not-for-profit foundation in New York.
Sarah Lancaster is a partner in Cooper Grace Ward’s tax team, managing and representing clients in a range of different tax disputes with State revenue authorities and the ATO. She helps clients by providing front-end advice, as well as managing audits, objections and appeals. Sarah is recognised for her expertise in Doyle’s Guide. Beyond her client work, Sarah is a co-creator and host of the podcast TaxLand with Fletch and Sarah, where Sarah, and her fellow tax partner Fletch, talk about all things topical in tax.
