The Labor government has entered into fresh talks with Australia's professional accounting bodies over a suitable replacement to the accountants' exemption.
The Institute of Charted Accountants in Australia head of financial advisory services Hugh Elvy told InvestorDaily the new discussions with the government and Treasury intensified in the last month.
"We've been in ongoing discussions, but in the last month our discussions have become a lot more promising," Elvy said.
"Obviously, nothing has been finalised and we're still in discussions."
The nature of the discussions with government is around the clarification of what the replacement exemption would look like, he said.
He said at this point the accounting bodies are concentrating on making sure the outcome is both "practical and workable" from both a cost and administrative perspective.
There is also a need to ensure that the deficiencies in the current exemption are being addressed in the new regime rather than having the same issues appear, he added.
Elvy said the accounting bodies are also seeking to widen the scope of advice accountants can advise on.
"The focus has been on super and we have been looking at the advice [that accountants could offer] and [that] would be wider than self-managed superannuation funds and super," he said.
Despite a lack of confirmation as to when the government will release further detail on the new regime, Elvy said "things are looking more promising".
"There seems to be a better understanding of the role and expertise of professional accountants and we may end up with a good workable solution. But the devil is in the detail," he added.
In a policy update to members late last week, Elvy said the government has "flagged" that it is reconsidering its policy approach to the new regulatory framework.
The new regulatory framework will apply to professional accountants wanting to provide non-product strategic financial advice to their clients after the existing accountants' exemption is removed, he said.
"In recent discussions, the government has signalled that it is considering adoption of a broad, non-product strategic advice framework that would allow professional accountants to have a holistic financial strategy discussion with their clients under a conditional Australian financial services license," he said.
Further information about the new policy framework will become available over the next few weeks, Elvy said.
