02 Jan Should Accountants be QFA Certified?
Over the last number of years, some of my clients have asked me why they cannot get advice on Investments and Financial planning from their accountant. It is important to note, as I am sure many of you are aware, that the knowledge and advice of accountants and financial advisors may overlap, but in reality, they have two different specialities coming from two different perspectives.
Accountants offering specialised advice are responsible for advising individuals about everything from taxation to budgeting and tax preparations, as well as, audits and other financial matters. Financial Advisors are goal oriented and help to assess your current financial situation and provide you with short-term and long-term strategies to achieve the lifestyle you want. They can provide advice on a number of topics including investment advice & pension planning.
With all that accountants are responsible for already, it may seem a bit overwhelming and unnecessary for an accountant to complete a QFA qualification as well.
What is QFA Qualification?
In case there is confusion about what a QFA is, let me shed some light. QFA stands for a qualified financial advisor. For Irish banking and financial services, it is considered to be the minimum standard of a professional designation in financial advice. In order to complete the qualification, one has to put in a lot of time and hard effort. A QFA certification is only completed after successful results in a range of modules.
QFA is an excellent qualification to have however Accountants have to complete a number of CPD hours already each year to stay abreast of current trends and laws.
For those accounting professionals that hold other financial planning qualifications, but may still be apprehensive in providing financial and investment advice to their clients, there is a solution to this problem. If you are an Accountant and are asking yourself how you can better serve your clients, the next best step is to look for which financial and investment advisors to work with.
Affiliation with Investment Advisors
As long as you don’t have the QFA qualification, you can affiliate yourself with investment advisors. This way you can protect your clients from potentially harmful advice as well as your own reputation. By partnering with an investment advisor, you are bringing in professional expertise to your own service. It allows you to solidify your trust with the clients as they know that you are going the extra mile for them.
Baggot Investment Partners
We are used to working with clients that have a high net worth. At Baggot Investment Partners, we have an expert team of advisors that helps clients to utilise world-class investment advice and strategies in order to secure better opportunities for their financial future.
QFA does not have to be the only solution to bring the best financial advice to your clients. Partner with some of the best investment advisors in the industry to provide the best advice to your clients.