The legislative exemption that permitted accountants to provide ‘financial advice’ to SMSFs has been repealed by the Federal Government, effective from 30 June 2016. Unfortunately, there is a cost to complying with this increased regulation, which must be borne by SMSF trustees, and to a certain extent, their trusted accountant.
The legal requirement to ‘fact find’ and prepare a ‘Statement of Advice’ (SOA) for clients will increase the time spent by accountants on each SMSF transaction, and therefore the professional fees charged to clients.
For accountants wanting to avoid the burden of acquiring a license or AR status, the option of referring their clients to a third-party licensed financial adviser means a splitting of advisory roles which is likely to take up more of the client’s own time and result in a higher total professional fee cost. More >>>