Count Financial, Professional Investment Services, Securitor, WHK and Lonsdale have joined forces to represent the interests of financial planners who also work as accountants.

The new organisation, called the Accountant Financial Advisers Coalition (AFAC), was established in response to remuneration guidelines issued by the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board (APESB), which includes a ban on commissions and asset-based fees.

The key focus of the group is to ensure "alignment of any proposed professional standards with the emerging regulatory framework determined by government, especially the Future of Financial Advice changes and any regulatory changes arising from the Cooper review".

"The intention of the AFAC is to ensure the requirements of their respective members are being taken into account regarding any proposed changes," Count Financial chief executive and the group's chairman Andrew Gale said.

"As a group, the AFAC intends to have discussions with the APESB and related professional bodies with the objective of ensuring alignment with the government's financial advice regulatory reforms," he said.

The APESB said last month it would allow members, who are also financial planners, of Australia's three professional accounting bodies - the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, CPA Australia and the National Institute of Accountants -  to charge clients only on a fee-for-service basis.

The measure affects almost 5000 financial planners in Australia, and will be effective from 1 July 2011.