Admin burden costing advisers thousands

Administration and compliance is costing advisers more than $15,000 a year in lost revenue, according to a CoreData report.  

And reducing the growing burden could save them up to 205 hours - or a third of their time, the Business Efficiency research shows.  

The report found advisers spent around 15.6 per cent of their time on general administration and 14.3 per cent on compliance tasks.  

Australian advisers were also spending 10.3 per cent more of their time on admin than their international counterparts, which translates to around five working weeks.  

CoreData suggests that without the administrative component, advisers could earn an additional $4035 a quarter or $15,284.10 a year.  

“The potential gains from the reduction in time spent on administrative and compliance tasks come from two sources. Firstly, revenue is likely to increase from additional time spent on servicing existing clients and revenue-generating activities; and secondly, from growth in clients achieved due to an increase in time allocated to tasks related to client acquisition and business growth,” CoreData head of financial services Kristen Turnbull said.  

“Administration and compliance are a 'necessary evil’ for financial planning practices and licensees, particularly when it comes to implementation of the FOFA reforms. 

“However, our research shows that reducing the burden of these activities can have a tangible impact on growth and profitability,” she added.