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Vast opportunities exist in Australia's burgeoning fintech start-up industry for accountants willing to embrace the new space, according to one of the founding members of Sydney fintech hub Stone & Chalk.
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Fintech a wealth of opportunity for accountants
28 August 2015
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6 minute read
Derek Condell, managing director of Mafematica, one of the 'residents' announced at the launch of Stone & Chalk, told AccountantsDaily he believes there are many opportunities for accountants in the fintech space, revealing he currently has several accounting firms providing services to assist his business' development and strategy.
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“I’ve got one firm that’s providing me high-level advice on where to go with a robo-advice-type business, one firm that’s doing independent valuations of our business, and another who’s giving me some streamlining advice on how to do the cash books and how to do the financial reports,” he said.
Mr Condell believes it is vital for the accounting profession to make a clear distinction about the services it can offer these budding fintech companies.
“I don’t think of accounting firms as accountants, believe me; they’re very broad-spread business advisory professionals. I use accountants significantly in many ways that have got nothing to do with accounting, and that’s why I’ve got five of them,” Mr Condell stated.
He added that there is a two-pronged benefit that can stem from accountants entering the fintech space: they can expand their service offerings to assist these start-ups, but can also take advantage of the products and technology that the companies are in turn bringing into the marketplace.
“Accountants have got to have their ear to the ground and make an effort to find out what is the new era of products and services,” said Mr Condell.
“If they only talk to the traditional selling and product methods, they could be possibly shutting out lower-cost, higher-speed product and service offerings from a new fintech group,” he concluded.
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