CPA Australia recently released an article on Australia’s reduction in migration numbers, commenting the effects are likely to last for years to come.
For Australian accounting firm owners, there are going to be 3 main impacts:
- Many Australian businesses are going to struggle with finding Australian based workers, with a likelihood of wages growth going to cut down margins in an already tight market. The effect for Australian accountants is the previous years of growth in the Australian economy cannot be as strong as previous years.
- Many new Australian businesses, usually created by new migrants, just aren’t going to be available.
- Many Australian accounting firms are going to suffer from the lack of Australian accounting graduates within Australia, given many overseas students have been unable to study here in Australia.
With an increasing number of courses being online, there are serious chances many of those undertaking Australian education at this time (including accounting) are doing so from the own comfort of their own (cheaper) home, which more than likely for overseas students involves overseas locations. This factor may lead to a shift change in education, if Australian university degrees can be done remotely and without any contact. This may involve a new business model, especially as there continues to be access problems to Australia for many foreign students, along with a welcoming attitude of many other countries for foreign students. The long and short of this shift change is Australian educated accountants will be based overseas.
And if you factor in the Australian CPA/CA/IPA have overseas offices and overseas training, then Australian educated foreign students can progress to being qualified accountants without ever having to step foot in Australia.
It’s likely the impact of coronavirus will continue for many years, especially as borders in some countries re-open quicker than others, and the changing face of Australian accounting will continue to evolve with the fast tracked digital environment faced during this difficult period. It is going to be those accounting firms that have created an agile flexible workforce that will be in the best position to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
If you’d like to find out how Odyssey can assist with your Australian accounting outsourcing then drop us a line.
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