A partnership where the accountant is king
Strongand ongoing relationships between accountants and financial planners sounds like the stuff of fiction but some success stories can be found.
Accountant Rosemarie King, based in Campbelltown in Sydney’s south-west, has had a decade-long association withLFG Servicesplanner Bruce Gingell, who operates from Sydney’s north shore suburb of Turramurra.
King says that despite the length of time the two have worked together professionally, they have only once struck a formal agreement and that was at the very outset of the working relationship.
King says she has not drawn up further paperwork with Gingell because there was no need, as each has a good understanding of the other’s business and client needs.
“We haven’t formalised the relationship apart from the establishment of it some years ago, due to the rapport we have with each other which has continued even when Bruce changed dealer groups,” King says.
“The reason I maintained the relationship during those changes was that it was with him as a planner and that has not changed even if his employers have.”
The two first began working together when King sought a planner and picked up a recommendation from the National Institute of Accountants.
King then examined what client services Gingell had to offer and how many of these were needed by her clients before discussing the matter with Gingell, who in turn talked with a number of King’s clients and provided the necessary positive feedback to cement the relationship.
“Investments are not my responsibility and I prefer to concentrate on tax, so I am happy to tell clients they need the service of a financial planner if it’s not a tax matter,” King says.
King has a number of professional relationships with other planners but says that some have not been as successful, and points to the usual issues which bedevil planner and accountant relationships.
“I am uncomfortable with pushy advisers and will not work with any who choose to operate on a commission basis because I am not referring clients for my own gain or their’s, but prefer that clients pay for our time,” King says.
Other issues which also put King offside include conflicting advice, giving advice without notification and becoming involved in direct property.
“It’s not an easy area and financial planners seldom get the mortgages and financing right.”
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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