Digital disruption to hit accountants hard, GPS Wealth says

Co-founder of GPS Wealth Greg Holman said that practitioners were scaling back their traditional process work such as preparing and lodging BAS and tax returns, and are looking at ways to stay relevant to clients.

He said that accountants have little choice but to get licensed given their role was rapidly evolving to include helping clients protect their assets, grow business revenue, and build their wealth in addition to standard tax and structuring advice.

"Accountants must expand their value proposition in order to combat digital disruption and build sustainable businesses," Mr Holman said.

"The hackwork traditionally done by accountants around preparing and lodging BAS and tax returns is increasingly being done in-house by bookkeepers using cloud-based accounting software like Xero and MYOB."

Mr Holman cited the removal of the accountants' exemption and the introduction of the government's new licensing regime on 1 July as an opportunity for accountants to expand their value proposition and future-proof their businesses.

He said it's highly likely many more accountants will conclude that they must expand their value proposition and diversify their revenue so they can hang onto existing clients and win new ones.

"In the future, the most valuable practices will be those that not only help clients legally minimise their tax but help them to protect their assets using different company and trust structures, grow business revenue and profitability and maximise their wealth," he said.

Adrian Flores

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.

You can contact him on [email protected].