Chris Ridd

Financial software company, myprosperity, has strategically partnered with The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) to assist accountants to better service their clients.

The partnership, which joins one of the country’s oldest representative professional bodies with a relatively recent addition to the fintech scene, aims to help accountants implement technology into their practices to make them more efficient.

Chris Ridd, CEO of myprosperity, sees the partnership as an exciting opportunity for accountants as he believes there is a gap in the wealth advice space when it comes to personal finance.

“In a digitally-driven financial market, myprosperity helps accountants thrive by providing up to date data, so they can get a real-time snapshot of their clients’ finances and provide informed advice. I think getting this data is something accountants struggle with and myprosperity is an elegant solution to this problem,” Chris Ridd said.

myprosperity automates data feeds from providers such as Class Super, Redbook, Yodlee, RP and the ASX to provide information about clients’ bank accounts, credit cards, home loans, real estate, insurances and superannuation.

The portal has functionality that is advantageous to accountants, including digital document signing, lead generation, uploading documents and receipts, and tagging tax items.

Upon being introduced to myprosperity, Andrew Conway, CEO of the Institute of Public Accountants was immediately aware of the potential that myprosperity had to transform the client/public accounting relationship.

“Having seen myprosperity in detail, I am convinced that is can power the transformation of the client/Public Accountant relationship. The ability to provide real time, bespoke information to clients on their personal financial position will greatly assist informed decisions and a much deeper relationship between public accountants and their clients,” said Mr Conway.

myprosperity will be travelling across Australia in June with their 2017 roadshow, which will promote new growth and revenue streams for accountants, financial planners and bookkeepers.

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If you think the Government is paying, think again.  There may have been a misunderstanding, that when it was introduced, the mining tax was going to fund the increase in superannuation.  Simply, that is not the case.
 
The IPA is not opposed to the gradual increases in the SGC rate, however, people should think about how those increases are going to be funded.  The Government is not funding any of the increase in super.
 
The truth is the only cost to Government is the opportunity cost of more dollars feeding into the concessional superannuation pool. 
 
Whenever a dollar of wages is re-directed into super, the Government collects less revenue as the 15% tax rate imposed on super funds is less than the average marginal tax rate on wages and salaries.
 
“There are only two possible avenues for funding the increase in the SGC; one, employers will do so, adding to their cost structure or two, employees must sacrifice some of their pay packet,” said IPA chief executive officer, Andrew Conway.
 
“Where an employee is expecting an annual incremental pay increase, they may be well disappointed when they realise that they have to fund the SGC rate increase themselves.
 
“Most employers work on a total cost of employment basis which includes super and therefore, future pay increases will be partially offset by higher super contributions.
 
“We are also concerned as to how small businesses will manage these changes; many are struggling to make ends meet as it is.  Just ask the question of a retailer paying award rates to employees, how they will continue to do so and remain competitive,” said Mr Conway.
 
The SGC is to be increased gradually up to 12 per cent by 2019 adding to the many cost pressures facing small business owners.
 
This is one of the reasons why the IPA is calling on the Government to introduce a concessional tax rate for small businesses (see release 18 March 2013: Tax offset for small business a must) to stem the rapid flow of small business closures and support this sector from significant headwinds.

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