Heightened consumer expectations and demands together with changes to licensing and legislative requirements will bring accountants and planners together, according to the chief executive of specialist business brokerage, Connect Financial Service Brokers, Paul Tynan.
Tynan said financial planners were recognising the benefits and enhanced professional standing to be gained through fee-for-service remuneration structures and were moving away from the out-dated trail commission and volume bonuses arrangements.
"Accountants are also responding to consumer expectations and demands by discarding their traditional hourly fee-for-service models as the two professions move together into joint servicing platforms and clients are charged a single advice fee that reflects the collaborative more comprehensive nature of the service offering," he said.
Tynan said his company saw the merging of accounting and financial planning practices as an evolutionary process with benefits far outweighing the negatives.
However, he said one of the most important factors was the improved valuations of businesses from a greater focus on profit.
