Movement between licensees ramps up as advisers consider options
While the uptake of licensing by accountants has slowed significantly following the cutoff date for transitional arrangements under FASEA’s standards, there has been some recent movement between different licenses, according to a dealer group.
Speaking to SMSF Adviser, Hayes Knight director Greg Hayes said that in the lead-up to December, there was a rush of accountants joining licenses in order to qualify for transitional arrangements under the adviser standards set by FASEA.
Accountants who were authorised under an AFSL by 1 January this year are recognised as existing advisers and only have to complete bridging courses as opposed to starting a whole new degree, Mr Hayes.
“In the three or four months following that December deadline, accountants and advisers were predominantly focused on just digesting everything that they needed to do for the new adviser standards,” he said.
“What’s happened more recently in May and June is that a lot of accountants and advisers are now having a look at their licensing options.”
Mr Hayes said they may have had their own licence or been authorised under someone else’s licence and are now evaluating if that’s the best place to be.
With accountants needing to complete a higher number of CPD hours under the FASEA standards, one of the big draw cards for accountants when looking at licensing providers, he said, is whether the provider can offer professional development which is structured to minimise the total number of hours they need to complete.
Mr Hayes said accountants want to be able to attend one event and satisfy their CPD requirements for their professional body, for the FASEA requirements and for the Tax Practitioners Board.
“[Licensing providers] need to structure their education so that accountants can get the most efficient use of their professional development,” he said.
“That’s the sort of thing that would cause accountants to move to a different licence because it fits better with what they’re doing.”
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
