CPA Australia rolls planning into Public Accounting Service definition
CPA Australia appears to have significantly altered the landscape for accountants providing financial advice, by including the provision of financial planning and advice under the definition of a Public Accounting Service.
The definitional change was announced in an update to CPA Australia by-laws following a board meeting in late April and took effect from the beginning of May and has caused consternation in some areas.
The inclusion of the provision of financial planning and advice under the Public Accounting Service came at the same time as CPA Australia sought to get its financial planning business, CPA Australia Advice off the ground.
By designating the provision of financial planning and advice as a Public Accounting Service, CPA Australia had effectively raised the bar by requiring the principles and partners of businesses providing the service to hold a Public Practice Certificate, which required them to complete the organisation's Public Practice Program.
CPA Australia told members that it had made the changes following advice from the Public Practice Advisory Committee and CPA Australia management.
It said the key change was the definition of a Public Accounting Service, "which now means any accounting, auditing and assurance, bookkeeping, consumer and commercial credit services, financial planning/advice, financial report; forensic accounting, insolvency and corporate reconstruction, management accounting, management consulting, taxation, transactional accounting and valuation services".
Recommended for you
Government has introduced a bill to Parliament to legislate the first stream of the QAR reforms.
ASIC now has a 1:1 ratio when it comes to court success in the enforcement of crypto activities and more action is expected as Treasury seeks to introduce a regulatory framework.
A leading governance body has hit out at “specialist interest groups proposing ad hoc law reform” when it comes to reforms of financial services legislation and believes an independent body is needed.
The release of ALRC’s final report into financial services legislation has highlighted financial advice as a “significant” focus as it seeks to reduce costs and help advisers understand their obligations, alongside the Quality of Advice Review.
