The evolution of the self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) sector is beginning to force accountants offering administration services to choose whether to specialise in the activity or discontinue providing it, according to experts working in the area.
"What we're seeing from our experience is if you're an accounting firm and you're looking after somewhere between 20 and 50 SMSFs, I think you've really got to make a decision as to whether you specialise in this area or continue what you're doing, and provide a year-end accounting service, but run the risk that book of clients will move," Heffron director Ben Smythe said.
Accountants in this predicament ran the risk of losing their clients because there was a likelihood they would be approached by rival accounting firms that offered a specialist SMSF administration service to move their business across, Smythe said.
However, he said the decision was not necessarily an easy one to make.
"If you're an accountant servicing between 20 or 50 funds, it is very, very difficult to invest in technology, invest in people, or invest in operations at that level," he said.
"So it's a case of either outsourcing and surrounding yourself with a panel of experts, or making a serious effort and providing or building a specialist SMSF offering in your practice."
An added element placing pressure on accountants to make the decision to specialise or not was the increasing complexity of the strategies being employed by trustees in the SMSF space, according to thedunnthing founder Aaron Dunn.
"As soon as you are starting to get into these strategies now like transition to retirement, and having to re-boot pensions, and the documentation and processes going around that, it's just like reading Swahili and doesn't make sense to the smaller administration providers," Dunn said.
"So the change that needs to happen in the industry is that you may be a business advisory accountant, but if you don't have the specific skills, there is nothing wrong with outsourcing an SMSF solution that can provide added value."
