Over the past several months in Australia we’ve seen several things in the Australian compliance area:
- Australian compliance accountants are equally able to work from home as they are in the office, with little productivity losses. If anything, the time saved in long commutes to and from work has been a blessing.
- During difficult times, of which we seem to have many in ever increasing numbers, the government will step in with a raft of measures, which will require considerable effort to understand, convey to clients, explain to clients, and include tax planning for the best outcomes.
- Given the tumultuous economic climate, compliance has taken a back seat for many Australian accounting firms. On average, there is a compliance backlog of a couple of months for clients who are using Odyssey’s outsourced accounting and tax services.
- There is a big government budget blowout, and someone somewhere in the future is going to have to pay this down. It’s either lower taxes to stimulate the economy, or tax more people. Either way, it’s more taxes.
- While many people are receiving benefits, many others are moving ahead. However, with all the cash being pushed into the economy, money must lose value.
However, one likely positive change is that we’ve proven that staff can work from home. And once international travel open up again then there is going to be a lot of movement. It’s more than likely many Australian accountants (and Australian accounting business owners) are going to determine they can work overseas in lower cost and lower tax jurisdictions.
And if Australian accountants can work overseas, then it’s only a matter of time before the penny drops for the remainder of the Australian accounting firm owners who haven’t outsourced their compliance work overseas.
When location is no longer a factor, as proven in this fully “work at home” digital age, then the age of true international competition is here, and Australian accounting firm owners will have the ability (and systems functionality) to source labour from anywhere on the planet.
Though hard to have seen at the start of 2020, it’s now an increasingly more complex world, and there is likely a lot of future instability. No-one’s crystal ball could have seen the pace of change in 2020.
However, if you’d like some assistance with stabilising your labour input, please drop us a line.
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