More SMEs are turning to their accountants for help with HR & ER compliance

Workforce Guardian

The issue of finding, managing and retaining skilled employees is always a major concern for most business owners. It seems however that Business Managers are realising that the burden of employment relations management and compliance is just as onerous for smaller businesses as it is for their larger counterparts.

Owing to the importance of your role as a trusted advisor - SMEs are reaching out to their accountant for help and advice beyond the traditional realm of accounting compliance services. These days, your clients expect help from you in all areas of their business including cash flow planning, business structuring, strategic planning as well as HR and employment relations management and compliance.

Indeed your role in accounting compliance work often provides the foundation upon which to build additional services.  Naturally, taking time out to understand your clients' business needs and the importance of genuinely caring about your clients' interests are the basis upon which successful client relationships will develop.

Of course, with the introduction of the Fair Work Act 2009 and the considerable compliance burdens placed on SMEs, it's not surprising that more and more of your clients would be turning to you for help in this area.

But how do you respond to your clients who are seeking advice on contractual obligations for hiring and firing? How do you provide sound advice on employer obligations for annual leave, Paid Parental Leave, the minimum wage, super obligations and much, much more?

How do you answer questions from clients that are typically related to their need for help in deciding whether to take someone on, how to deal with someone who is being difficult or how to decide whether a redundancy is genuine?

You see, it doesn't matter whether your clients have two employees or a staff of two hundred - their employees would be entitled to significant compensation - up to half the High Income Threshold(HIT) of $118,100 - if their dismissal is found to be unfair by Fair Work Australia.

That's why it's critical to provide only expert advice on all areas of employment relations compliance.

Changing Role of the Accountant

In the same way that a business turns to you - their accountant - rather than the Australian Tax Office for help with business advice and tax minimisation strategies, you need to help those same businesses use an expert service for help with HR and employment relations issues - and not go alone with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

As specialists in the Fair Work Act, Workforce Guardian provides accounting firms with the opportunity to play a wider support role and move beyond traditional accounting compliance work with your small and medium-sized business clients.

By taking advantage of new technology and expert services, you provide a holistic service as external CFO.

With Workforce Guardian your move into expert employment relations compliance can be as  simple as recommending our service to your clients or managing the set up of our service in your clients' businesses. You can even take steps to become fully accredited so you can conduct employment relations compliance audits on behalf of your clients to identify any shortfalls in their compliance undertaking.

Either way, with Workforce Guardian, you can help provide assurance to your clients that their everyday employment relations' decisions are compliant.

Simplifying HR in business 24x7, Workforce Guardian provides a comprehensive range of practical HR tools including dynamically generated employment agreements, online employment files, HR processes, policies and documents.

Find out more about our referral partner program.

 

 

 

Disclaimer

This article is intended to provide commentary and general information. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. Formal legal advice may be necessary in particular transactions or on matters of interest arising from this article. Workforce Guardian Pty Ltd (www.workforceguardian.com.au) is not responsible for the results of any actions taken on the basis of information in this article, nor for any error or omission in this article.