The year 2013 is set to be one like no other for self-managed super fund (SMSF) advisers, according to the SMSF Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA).
With changes in the pipeline for specialist auditors, accountants and financial advisers that will radically change the way they do business, and the need to be professionally competent never more acute, Graeme Colley, education and professional standards director for SPAA, said that advisers would have no choice but to adapt.
"The Federal Government is ushering in the licensing changes this year, and SMSF advisers will have no choice but to adapt if they want to remain part of this growing industry," he said.
"Under these new regimes, it will be critical for specialist advisers to attain an appropriate level of competence regardless of which professional body they are affiliated with.
"That will be the key to success."
And with the auditor registration process set to start from February, Colley said that auditors would have to decide whether they wished to continue auditing SMSFs and remain part of this rapidly changing industry.
"If they are staying then they will need to get their application to ASIC (the Australian Securities and Investments Commission) by April so they will be registered in time for the 1 July start date," he said.
"As part of this registration process they will need to audit at least 20 funds and meet certain educational requirements, of which the SPAA SSAud (SMSF Specialist Auditor) designation is an option."
According to Colley, accountants with SMSF clients would be faced with a similar decision.
"Accountants who provide advice on SMSFs will need to decide whether they apply for a limited licence that takes effect from 1 July, or stay under the current system until 2016," he said.
"The Government's new form of financial advice licence could see up to 10,000 accountants providing a broader range of advice on SMSFs than they do now.
"SPAA considers the limited licence an excellent and practical compromise between the current exemption arrangements that are highly restrictive, and the provision of fully licensed financial advice including the recommendation of financial products, something accountants do not wish to get involved with."
And while such a raft of reforms would undoubtedly be challenging for the SMSF sector in 2013, Colley said that SPAA was largely supportive of the changes.
"As the pre-eminent organisation in the SMSF sector, we believe these changes will encourage and improve the levels of professionalism at a time when the SMSF industry is growing apace and fund trustees have never been more in need of quality specialist advice."
