A couple of days ago an interesting video was released of the discussion between Ron Lesh of BGL and Peter Switzer. In the video there is plenty of discussion about the changing laws and reporting requirements for SMSF’s in Australia, and the fluid and every changing nature of SMSF’s and SMSF reporting. The ever changing SMSF laws have been the …
The Legal market pulse. Exploring alternative business models including outsourcing
The Commbank Legal Market Pulse has some interesting reading for Australian accountants, especially in the compliance area. Australia’s leading law firms are moving into, and responding to, a rapidly changing market. The changes are brought about by intensifying competitive pressures, with subdued revenue growth, margin compression, and increasingly demanding clients. This is compounded by continual price negotiations, the increasingly competitive …
5 Threats to Australian compliance work today
In this blog we put down our thoughts on the 5 big threats to the future of Australian compliance. Software houses and Artificial Intelligence Starting the countdown from the most important threat (I guess that means we have the drumroll first), is Software houses and Artificial Intelligence. We put these at the top of our list, and research shows that …
Disruption in the real estate sector, lessons for Australian compliance
Watching the recent changes in the Australian real estate sector has been interesting, along with comments about McGrath and the newly formed “The Agency”. An interesting comment surfaced recently: “Going back before the float I could see the fragmentation of the industry – the huge impact the internet is having on our business model, the unprecedented low stock levels, and how …
How accountants will survive automation
Remaining relevant suddenly takes on a sense of urgency with recent automation releases. It’s pretty obvious by now that clients aren’t going to pay for someone to regurgitate the tax code, when they have access to the same tax code online. Firms building their own compliance teams offshore are headed in the wrong direction. The push should be into automation, …
Goodbye to Compliance Jobs, but will Robots meet with your clients?
Goodbye and Good Riddance to Compliance. But just how far will robots and automation shave off the compliance workload. And will robots meet with your clients? In mid last year there was excitement on the release of robots which mimic human walking habits, with videos released of the humanoid Durus. Later last year a massive 4 metre Avatar like robot was built in South …
Are we irrevocably losing Compliance skills in Australia?…
I had a chat with a firm the other day that was resisting outsourcing and going to keep hiring local staff, on the pretext that managers of the future had always come from within the ranks. Late last year we blogged about the possible trend to bring the jobs back home as a result of changes in the Australian political climate. …
Simple Australian “I” returns disappear from Australian Accountants’ Compliance work
Technology is changing the way taxpayers worldwide interact with tax authorities. And it isn’t any different in Australia. The move towards self-lodging is inevitable for many reasons. Looking back into last century, Australia has had e-tax software for self lodgement since 1999 and for 15 years it was the only way for self-lodging individuals to lodge their tax return online. The …
Self Driving cars will wipe out millions of jobs
Several years ago Google mentioned it was going to create a self driving car. Fast forward to mid last year and Uber rolled out 100 self driving cars in Pittsburgh after only setting up their Advanced Technologies Center (ATC) a year and a half beforehand. So what are the major ramifications of driverless cars anyway? How life changing could it be? …
Will Australia’s minimum wage force more work offshore?
Quick Question: In what country is it permissible under law to pay a minimum wage of US$2.13 per hour plus tips, or US$4.25 an hour for the first 90 calendar days of employment if under 20? Ok so yes, we agree the US$7.25 minimum wage in the US is probably a more reflective figure. But it’s still remarkably lower than the …
