Property investors seek accountants' advice
Two-thirds of property investors seek services from accountants, according to the latest Smart Property Investment/Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) Property Investor Sentiment Survey.
By Michael Masterman
•
12 November 2014
•
10 minute read
You’re out of free articles for this month
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
PIPA chair Ben Kingsley said the survey results, which indicate 65.7 per cent of investors have sought services from their accountant, confirmed the profession's role in the property space.
“For me, it’s really pleasing to see property investors are seeking advice from their group of professionals,” he said.
However, speaking to AccountantsDaily, Mr Kingsley warned accountants to be mindful of what they should and should not be advising on.
“It’s absolutely paramount from the association’s point of view that we don’t want accountants giving the actual property investment advice … where their specialisation should be is in helping the household work out that it fits in the family budget and secondly, to provide the tax advice in terms of the potential structure that they may use.”
Mr Kingsley said accountants should form part of a group of advisers that investors turn to for specialised advice.
“Each professional in their discipline should be doing the right work for their client for their particular discipline as opposed to trying to be a jack of all trades or having a comment or opinion on Australia’s favourite BBQ topic, property.”
For accountants, there are many benefits of advising property investors, according to Mr Kingsley.
“It's good, solid business for accountants because most property investors stay in the market for the long term.”
“There are real upsides for accountants who want to be in the property investment space especially considering the changes occurring to the traditional straightforward tax return,” Mr Kingsley said.
The Smart Property Investment/PIPA Property Investor Sentiment Survey surveyed 627 respondents over August and September 2014.
Newsletter
Receive breaking news directly to your inbox each day.
You are not authorised to post comments.
Comments will undergo moderation before they get published.