Why accounting framework is a useful catalyst to shake up advice model

On a new episode of the Accountants Daily sister brand ifa podcast, FINSIA chief executive and managing director, Yasser El-Ansary, discussed the group’s recent QAR submission to Treasury, in which it recommended the review and reviewer Michelle Levy “explore the features of the coregulatory model that currently exists within the accounting profession… to determine if the government believes such a model may serve as a valuable guide for the evolution of the regulatory framework in respect of financial advisers in Australia”.

“... the way that it works in the accounting profession is that anyone who is a professional accountant member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, or CPA Australia, or a handful of other organisations can access a public practicing certificate, which brings with it a range of obligations and conditions that are imposed on those professional accounts,” Mr El-Ansary said.

“Everything from the way in which they must hold certain levels of professional indemnity insurance to ensure that their clients are protected in the event of some misadventure in that particular area, the way in which public practitioners who hold a certificate in the accounting profession must complete a certain volume of continuing professional development on a periodic basis.

“You can think about how that relates in the accounting profession very much to the need to keep abreast of regulatory change, policy change, changes to taxation law… [the accounting model] might serve as a really useful catalyst for at least some thinking to be done by Michelle Levy and the team around whether or not that model might, in fact, have a place in the context of financial advice.”

Mr El-Ansary said the proposal should consider the heavy regulatory changes put in place in recent years, as well as controversy surrounding current education standards.

He argued that, given the “overlap” of advisers who also work as accountants, the market would be able to adapt to the change.

“We should turn our mind to the option to borrow some of this experience, some of this thinking and the framework that exists for the accounting profession, and at least have a debate about it,” he said.

It comes after Scientiam head Nigel Baker argued in a recent opinion piece published on ifa that the growing number of accountants in Australia (currently at 220,000) could serve as a boost to the advice sector.

“Accountants may hold the key to addressing the skills shortage in financial planning and making advice more accessible. They are highly respected and trusted by their clients, and ideally positioned to offer personal advice and general information,” Mr Baker wrote.

“Demand for general information is also strong. Who better to educate people on basic financial principles than their trusty accountant?”