After months of contention, event-based reporting for SMSFs was settled in early November, requiring more regular reporting for funds with total superannuation account balances of $1 million or more.
Mr Lesh feels the lobbying efforts were left to industry stakeholders as opposed to the associations, particularly in the fight for ensuring only SMSFs in danger of breaching the transfer balance cap were affected.
“The SMSF Association were great and they supported us and helped us all the way through that process. The Institute of Public Accountants also got involved very soon after,” Mr Lesh said.
“But Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) and CPA were nowhere to be found, and I was incredibly disappointed. I told them so,” he said.
“I would have thought that the industry associations would have been the first ones jumping up and down for their members saying, ‘Hey, this is not good for our members. We need to rethink this.’
“I was just really unimpressed. I would have expected that they would have been the first one to ask their members, ‘how does this affect you?’”
The whole process now in place with the Financial Services Reform is costly, time consuming, prints pre printed SOA (really), and costs clients money where usually a phone call dealt with. No client I have dealt with finds it of any relevance as do any accountant I have discussed the issue with. Surely most accountants find theses SOA’s somewhat wrong and not in the clients best interest. The CPA’s said they consulted public practice! I am yet to meet one – just send me another CPS Benefit Credit Card.
Too busy preparing the annual membership renewal notices to take on any advocacy work.
You have to start to question the value of the post nominals for what you have to pay to maintain them.
I’ve often been left to wonder what benefit we get out of our membership fee every year. Aside from a few letters after my name which I hardly use the body has done basically nothing for me and provides me with basically no benefits.
nothing unusual with the CPA’s not supporting members or lobbying for us, look how they dropped the ball with Financial Services Reform. Sometimes you gotta wonder what the CPA finds to do all day with so much time on their hands.
Is that any surprise? When have they ever lobbied on behalf of accountants? AFSLs anyone?