Disruption here to stay, warns IPA

Mr Conway told congress attendees on the Gold Coast on Friday that disruption will be ongoing and continue to present many challenges to all accountants.

“With compliance work diminishing, whether it be through ATO automation or the ever-moving technology disruption to the profession -- along with the need to address the new financial services regime requirements next year -- it is timely to take stock of what your future business will look like,” Mr Conway said.

“It will be critical for accountants to not just embrace ongoing change but to also be in a position to drive that change to ensure they can best service their clients who are also experiencing continual disruption.”

Mr Conway implored accountants to carefully consider the impact of disruption on the profession and to think about how they may reshape their own business model to best adapt and capitalise on these changes and the possibilities they create.

“We believe the role of trusted adviser -- the traditional role of accountants over the centuries -- now needs to take a step up and for you to cement your role as the trusted productivity adviser to ensure our economic growth and future living standards.

“To be successful in this economic mission, we need to provide a more holistic approach to our small business clients.  For example, if we have clients who struggle to market their services, we need to look further within the ring of trusted service providers and have them engaged with those clients,” Mr Conway said.