Opportunity persists for accountants in succession planning

Bentleys’ The Voice of Australian Business Survey questioned SME owners across all industries and regions about how they plan to fund their retirement.

The survey found that 57 per cent of respondents had a strategy in place for their retirement, with the other 43 per cent having no strategy at all.

Of those with a strategy, respondents most commonly cited reliance on savings (38 per cent), income from rent or other investments (35 per cent), their age pension (28 per cent), downsizing their current house (21 per cent) or selling their business (20 per cent).

“SME owners pour so much time, energy and passion into running their business but unfortunately many don’t take stock and spend the equivalent amount of time planning for the future,” Bentleys Queensland director Jodi Lupton said.

“It is one thing to create and run a business, it is another matter to ensure that business is working for you and will continue to do so well into the future. This requires specific planning, considering things like investments outside of the business and superannuation, thinking about succession planning and more.”

Ms Lupton said accountants should work to educate their SME clients about superannuation and help put a strategy in place.

“It’s easy to put superannuation on the backburner but it’s imperative that SME owners take the time now to ensure they have a robust plan for retirement in place,” Ms Lupton said.

“The changes to superannuation are significant and these could have a very real impact on your retirement fund.”