Following the Women in Finance Summit and Awards 2023, we’re catching up with some of the leading women in the financial services space. In this episode, we chat to Suzanne Wood, state general manager residential broker Victoria/Tasmania at Westpac Group (and state chair of the Women of Westpac employee advocacy group), about how she climbed the career ladder in banking and the power of having strong female role models. Tune in to find out: How she learnt the art of having difficult...

Undermine the long-term confidence of big institutional investors at your peril, says Charter Hall chief executive. States need to tread carefully with taxes and policies designed to free up housing supply because they risk having the opposite effect, says the CEO of direct property at Australia’s biggest landlord, Charter Hall. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, Steve Bennett said proposals such as rental freezes could backfire. “It may suit some people in...

Grammatical errors and other easy signs of fake messaging are gone and “wealthy, trusting” Australia has become a favourite target. AI has taken the rough edges off cyber scams and removed the easy “tells” in fake messages such as typos or grammatical errors, says one digital security specialist. “Now they just have ChatGPT correct the text – they just say ‘write this email as an Australian business person,” said Niek Dekker of Eftsure on the latest Accountants Daily podcast. “That was...

The financial advice regime has failed to deliver guidance to SMSFs through its licensing rules and the Quality of Advice Review offers little prospect for change, according to the CEO of two fintechs aiming to bridge the gap. George Haramis said some accounting firms acquired licences to offer advice to SMSFs but providers fell away, leaving almost $900 billion in superannuation assets largely unguided. “We know that accountants can deliver tax advice, but in reality they get asked all...

Ahead of the Women in Finance Summit and Awards 2023, we’re catching up with some of the leading women in the financial services space. In this episode, we chat to Anjali Crossette, manager of motor operations at non-bank lender Liberty, about breaking barriers and misconceptions about car finance and why she believes the industry needs to showcase gender diversity across every rung of the career ladder. Tune in to find out: Why the finance industry is an attractive industry to work...

Ahead of the Women in Finance Summit and Awards 2023, we’re catching up with some of the leading women in the financial services space. In this episode, host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is joined by Olympian and financial adviser at HLB Mann Judd, Sarah Carli, to discuss how she made her way from the track to financial advice. Ms Carli, who competed in the 400-metre hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, reveals the valuable skills she has learned as an adviser that have positively impacted...

Ahead of the Women in Finance Summit and Awards 2023, we’re catching up with some of the leading women in the financial services space. Deslie Taylor, principal at Mortgage Choice Ormeau in Queensland, is one of the top brokers in the country, having settled over $1 billion in loans in her 16-year career and taken home numerous awards including Mortgage Broker of the Year at the Women in Finance Awards multiple years in a row. In this episode, we chat to Ms Taylor about how she runs her...

Tax debt hangovers from the pandemic are behind the rise in SME insolvencies but adverse economic conditions now drive company wind-ups and it will only get worse, say two specialists in the area. Speaking on the latest Accountant Daily podcast, Jirsch Sutherland national managing partner Bradd Morelli and Sydney partner Andrew Spring said people on fixed incomes were cutting back and hitting sectors that had barely recovered from Covid. “We might avoid a technical recession but we will...

Ahead of the Women in Finance Summit and Awards 2023, we’re catching up with some of the leading women in the financial services space. Joanna James is an advocate for constant reinvention and resilience, having adapted to change over her career in the finance space herself. Having worked in the lending space for more than 20 years – including as the general manager of non-bank lender Mortgage Ezy – she now helps support women in building successful businesses through Artemis Space, a...

Ahead of the Women in Finance Summit and Awards 2023, we’re catching up with some of the leading women in the financial services space. Tanya Sale co-founded mortgage aggregation group outsource Financial with Andrea Tassis 13 years ago, with Tanya now one of the very few female CEOs in the mortgage industry. In this episode, Annie Kane sits down with Ms Sale to find out: How a piggy bank triggered her love of finance Why she started her own aggregation business Why she believes support...

Maxed-out credit cards together with household savings at a 20-year low are alarming portents for the looming recession, says turnaround specialist Michael Fingland. The founder and CEO of Vantage Performance said the increased costs of servicing a mortgage had depleted cash built up during the pandemic and it was business as usual for credit card debt. “Inflation is coming down because the household savings rate is now at such a low level,” he said on the latest Accountants Daily...

Enforcement action without warning is an unmistakeable sign that the ATO has adopted a tougher line on debt recovery, says a tax debt specialist. “We’re absolutely seeing an increase in enforcement action, an increased focus on individuals – so directors and not just the company – and an increase in enforcement action without any warning,” said Olga Koskie, a director and principal at tax debt negotiation specialist Tax Assure. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, Ms Koskie...

Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies throw up fresh ethical challenges for accountants who need to be aware of the pitfalls, says RMIT honorary professor of accounting Brendan O’Connell. Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast alongside CPA Australia ethics policy senior manager Keddie Waller, Mr O’Connell said AI brought issues such as privacy and consent to the fore. “If you’re using AI to solve a problem relating to a client, if you feed that into AI then...

Artificial intelligence will never usurp accountants, although firms that fail to embrace the technology have the most to fear, according to the marketing leader for accounting and advisory at Intuit QuickBooks, Damien Greathead. “I don’t think it’s going to replace accountants,” Mr Greathead said on the latest Accountants Daily podcast. “I think it’s going to replace those accounting firms, bookkeeping firms, that don’t embrace it, that don’t recognise that artificial intelligence can...

We are effectively in a recession already with near-zero GDP growth and many industries under pressure, says turnaround specialist Michael Fingland. Mr Fingland, CEO of Vantage Performance, said its focus on helping to save troubled businesses meant it witnessed changes in the economy “roughly six months before the insolvency profession”. “It’s feeling very eerily a bit like the onset of Covid and certain elements of the GFC,” Mr Fingland said on the latest Accountants Daily podcast. “There...

A 90-degree turn from healthcare to financial health turned out to be a winning move for Isagani Manaois of TaxSmart Cafe, who was named Property Specialist Accountant of the Year at the recent Australian Accounting Awards. “When I moved to Australia I started studying accounting because of the flexibility,” he said, after the 24-hour shift work of nursing had taken its toll. It was a double win for TaxSmart Cafe and for Filipino migrants, with colleague Joynivee Chua winning the award...

Awards are vital to boost accounting in the eyes of students, says Mazars Sydney managing partner Matthew Ashley, because attracting talent to the profession is a key challenge. Mr Ashley, who won Partner of the Year at the recent Australian Accounting Awards for the second time in a row, said everyone faced the same problem but awards were part of the solution. “We need to be doing more things to elevate accountants … celebrate success more as a profession,” he said on the latest...

“Never give up!” is the message from Natalia Clack, winner of the Excellence Award at the recent Australian Accounting Awards, who overcame the challenge of learning a specialty and setting up her own business after moving here from Russia 20 years ago. “If you decide to come to another country and things are not going smooth, just push and be resilient, and make sure that you make your decision today and you follow through with your decision,” she says on the latest Accountants Daily...

Tax on Chain discusses some of the major tax issues in the cryptocurrency space and the strong demand for specialist tax services involving crypto assets. Director of Tax on Chain, Oliver Woodbridge, outlines some of the biggest gripes for accountants dealing with crypto assets and the difficulty in navigating the tax framework. With regulatory guidance in the area of crypto severely lacking, he also talks about the importance of the ATO providing further advice in this area. Oliver...

Specialist accounting firm Darkwave discusses the outlook for creative industries and where accountants can play a guiding role. Darkwave director Meredith Fannin highlights some of the challenges facing those working across entertainment, music, performance, TV and film over the next 12 months, including the rising cost of living and advancements in AI. As a firm specialising in the creative industries, Ms Fannin outlines some of the ways accountants can provide value to these types of...

Accountants and their clients will have some unique strategy dilemmas to consider in the lead up to 30 June this year. In this episode, we share a conversation with one of our sister brands, The SMSF Adviser Show. Tim Miller,  SMSF technical and education manager at Smarter SMSF and Smarter SMSF chief executive Aaron Dunn share a range of tips, traps and strategies SMSF professionals can look to employ with their clients in the lead up to 30 June. Mr Miller highlights some of the key...

KeyPay co-founder and head of product at Employment Hero Phil Bernie outlines some of the upcoming challenges with payroll for the year ahead and where Australia’s employment system could be improved. Mr Bernie discusses what some of the main hurdles will be for accountants next financial year including the continued rollout of single touch payroll phase 2, the start of payday super in July 2026, and a tougher compliance focus by regulators. He shares some of his predictions in terms of...

The current advice framework creates significant issues for unlicensed accountants looking to provide advice on the proposed $3 million threshold, warns CA ANZ. In this episode of the Accountants Daily podcast, Tony Negline from CA ANZ shares his thoughts on some of the recent developments happening with advice reforms and superannuation policy. With the government looking to introduce legislation for the experienced pathway for advisers soon, Mr Negline discusses CA ANZ’s views on the...

Accountants are prone to a raft of common mistakes that hold them back but can be avoided with planning, says Rob Pillans, founder and principal consultant at Planet Consulting. A former accountant himself, Mr Pillans admires the profession “but I do see some things a bit too often that I would love accountants to be doing a bit differently”, he said. “I’ve categorised those things into three broad areas: team, clients, and systems and processes.” He said the problems were perennial but...

Ignition’s Top 50 Women in Accounting Awards has gone from strength to strength and now has global recognition, says its originator Guy Pearson, the CEO and co-founder of the company. He established the awards six years ago to acknowledge the many women who had been instrumental in his early career but who “undersold themselves”. “We can move the needle in terms of helping women put their hand up, be recognised and realise they can achieve perhaps more than they set out to,” said Mr...