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The free bootcamp, which is targeted towards both brokers and accountants for the first time, has drawn considerable interest from finance professionals.
The SME Bootcamp 2024 will be held over two weeks in September in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. Register here for free.
Powered by The Adviser and its sister brand, Accountants Daily, the bootcamp is designed to arm brokers and accountants with the technical skills and knowledge they require to help their small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients with their tax and financing needs and become their trusted advisers.
Over 1,000 brokers and accountants have registered for the bootcamp this year, which, for the first time, is aimed at both the professionals.
They will be treated to sessions from Accendo Financial partners Stuart Donaldson, John Sgambelluri, and Trent Carter, who will provide strategies on how to help SME clients thrive in their businesses.
While Sgambelluri will explain how to master breakeven analysis for SME clients and improve the value of their business, Carter will unpack what credit risk to look for in a business.
All speakers will offer practical tips on how brokers and accountants could have value-based conversations with their clients to improve loan approval outcomes and grow their businesses.
They will also outline how the two professionals could shift their mindset and implement mandate and advisory fees to unlock new revenue potential and value their time, efforts, and experience.
Speaking to The Adviser, Donaldson said this year’s SME Bootcamp provides an opportunity for brokers and accountants to form relationships and understand the benefits of collaboration for them and their clients.
They will receive working case material and participate in workshops and group activities to facilitate collaboration, he said.
“Brokers and accountants who have formed partnerships will speak to the audience at the bootcamp,” he said.
“They’ll talk about how they collaborated, what they did, what their relationship looks like now, and what they’re doing to maintain their relationship into the future.”
Donaldson underscored the importance of collaboration between brokers and accountants as they are the “trusted advisers” of SME clients and want them to prosper in their business.
“Accountants are fantastic at accounting and remain the most valued, trusted adviser of SME clients,” Donaldson said.
“Accountants deliver many valuable services like producing a set of financial statements, doing a lot of tax planning work, and ensuring that the balance sheet and profit and loss statements are produced on time. But often, accountants may not look into the future and ask their SME clients about their forward plans, how to grow the business, and how the accountant could be involved.”
On the other hand, commercial brokers initiate conversations about business growth plans and future objectives so that they can prepare the loan application and meet their clients’ funding needs.
“If you put the accountant and broker together, you’ve covered all bases and the client ends up with a much better outcome. It is also beneficial for the two professionals involved in the partnership,” Donaldson said.
Brokers with a comprehensive understanding of financial statements would be well placed to forge a partnership with accountants, he suggested.
“The accountant would want to talk the same language with a broker who can pick up a balance sheet, or a cash flow or profit and loss statement and understand what’s happening in the SME client’s business,” he said.
“A good broker and accountant relationship has the clients’ best interests at its core. But if they want a transactional partnership where they earn a bit of commission along the way, it’s likely to be less successful.”
A recent report by SME lender Banjo revealed that 24 per cent of SME respondents said they were planning to engage finance brokers for securing finance in 2024. While this was down from 29 per cent in 2023, it was off the back of significant growth between 2022 and 2023, when broker usage jumped by 10 percentage points.
Almost a third of SMEs said they believed brokers could help them find a suitable interest rate, while a further 29 per cent said brokers could help them find the right lender.
This presents brokers with an opportunity to increase their SME client base by enlightening them on how they could help them secure finance and grow their business.
Brokers and accountants can register for the SME Bootcamp 2024 for free by clicking here.
The SME Bootcamp 2024 will be held in the following locations:
- Tuesday, 3 September, at QT Hotel Gold Coast.
- Thursday, 5 September, at Le Montage, Sydney.
- Wednesday, 11 September, at Grand Hyatt, Melbourne.
For more information, including speakers and agenda, click here.
This bootcamp is produced by Captivate Events. If you need help planning your next event, email director Jim Hall at
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