“It’s great to have Colonial First State as part of the BGL Ecosystem,” said Ron Lesh, BGL’s Managing Director. “FirstWrap is a full service wrap platform, providing comprehensive investment choice, convenience and great flexibility. This new integration means FirstWrap now has a seamless integration with Simple Fund 360 with bank, investment and income transactions automatically loaded”.
Published by SMSF Adviser, powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
Written by Tony Zhang on 2 November 2021
Click here to read on SMSF Adviser website
BGL has made new updates for its CAS 360 platform, including the inclusion of the new upgrades to facilitate the recently introduced director ID.
In a recent update, BGL said that it had made new changes in its CAS 360 Product in October 2021.
With the introduction of director IDs being one of the biggest changes to corporate compliance work this year, BGL noted it has successfully built new features to easily facilitate the new process.
“In CAS 360, we have built a great set of features to help you through this new requirement,” CAS 360 head of product Warren Renden said.
“Each company now has a new alert, the director ID alert. This alert will show how many company directors have completed that director ID requirement when you hover over.”
Mr Renden said the director ID modal contains a number of important features.
“Firstly, you can email all company directors about the new director ID requirements; we have included an ‘introduction to Director ID’ email template, which you can customise, to let your clients know about this new requirement,” he said.
“You can see which directors have and have not completed their director ID requirements.
“You can also see if the director is also a director in any other company. If the director ID deadline date is fast approaching, you can send a reminder email to the director.
“If you do not have a director’s email address, you can add the email address via this screen. Also, once the director has completed their director ID requirements, you can add the ID number, and it will be saved against the director’s records.”
Digital signing improvements
BGL has also added some new features for clients who have CAS 360 integrated with its Digital Signing partners.
“Now, when preparing any set of documents in CAS 360, you can set that all signatories receive the signed document pack once it has been signed by all signatories. This is an option that is controlled by you as the preparer,” Mr Renden explained.
“If you are preparing an Annual Review and send it out for digital signing, you can now have the Annual Review automatically set as ‘Annual Review Complete’ when the document has been signed by all signatories.”
Also, for those that have an account with more than one digital signing provider or are in the process of transitioning from one provider to another, BGL has now added support for multiple signing providers connected to CAS 360 at the same time.
BGL also noted it had updated new ways to prepare Company Shareholder and Trust unitholder registers.
“We have built a beautiful MS Excel export of these registers,” Mr Renden added.
“We know how much you all love a good spreadsheet. CAS 360 now allows you to export these holdings and filter, sort or organise to your heart’s content.
“BGL has also added version 2 of its document management APIs for those that have documents integrated easier.
“We have a new trust relationship position in Alternate Appointer, improved the company screen hovers so they are less sensitive, and added new merge fields for addresses and capital.”
“I am incredibly proud of the team” said Ron Lesh, BGL’s Managing Director. “With the help of Joel Clapham, Founder and Chief Mental Health Champ at Hearten Up, all 25 members of the BGL leadership team are now accredited Mental Health First Aiders. This equates to 1 trained Mental Health First Aider for every 7 BGL team members.”
Published by SMSF Adviser, powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
Written by Emma Ryan on 22 October 2021
Click here to read on SMSF Adviser website
BGL’s Simple Fund 360 software has successfully become SuperStream Rollover compliant since 1 October 2021.
Since the start of October, SuperStream became mandatory for all member balance rollovers to SMSFs. The ATO advised all SMSF SuperStream must now be completed with SuperStream.
On 28 September 2021, BGL released a major update to its cloud-based SMSF administration software solution, Simple Fund 360, and successfully implemented the SuperStream changes.
“I am incredibly proud of the team,” Ron Lesh, BGL’s managing director, said.
“This was a huge task for BGL as not only did we need to develop the convoluted SuperStream rollover process with a new data provider, but we also needed to create a new BGL Electronic Service Address (ESA) for clients.”
Since 28 September 2021, BGL Simple Fund 360 clients have had access to a major software update that includes the SuperStream changes.
This was the fourth Simple Fund 360 update since 30 June 2021. The new software allows clients to initiate and receive member balance rollovers and process release authorities with the new BGL ESA.
BGL has also developed a number of SuperStream resources for BGL clients.
As previously advised, BGL reminded that SuperStream rollovers are not supported in Simple Fund Desktop.
“Simple Fund Desktop clients can continue their relationship with Australia Post to collect contribution and rollover data, but this data CANNOT be imported into Simple Fund Desktop,” BGL said.
“You may still receive an email from Australia Post with details of contributions and from November rollovers, or you can log in to your Australia Post account where these details are displayed.
“The new BGL ESA will support SuperStream contribution, rollovers and release authorities, but only if you are a BGL Simple Fund 360 client.
“To register with the new BGLSF360 ESA, the fund will need to be in Simple Fund 360. You can only register directly through the software.”
BGL Corporate Solutions, Australia’s leading supplier of SMSF administration and ASIC corporate compliance solutions, announces their Simple Fund 360 software was SuperStream Rollover compliant on 1 October 2021. On this date, SuperStream became mandatory for all member balance rollovers to SMSFs. The ATO advised all SMSF SuperStream must now be completed with SuperStream.
“I am incredibly proud of the Team,” said Ron Lesh, BGL’s Managing Director. This was a huge task for BGL as not only did we need to develop the convoluted SuperStream rollover process with a new data provider, but we also needed to create a new BGL Electronic Service Address (ESA) for clients”.
Since 28 September 2021, BGL Simple Fund 360 clients have had access to a major software update that includes the SuperStream changes.
This was the fourth Simple Fund 360 update since 30 June 2021. The new software allows clients to initiate and receive member balance
rollovers and process release authorities with the new BGL ESA.
BGL has also developed a number of SuperStream resources for BGL clients.
Simple Fund 360 Online Help: SuperStream FAQs
https://sf360.zendesk.com/hc/en-au/sections/360002499571-SuperStream
Webinar Recording: SuperStream changes in Simple Fund 360
https://youtu.be/M8x5yXQFHUY
BGL Website: Are You SuperStream Ready?
https://www.bglcorp.com/marketplace/superstream/
BGL clients who need help with these SuperStream changes can check out the links above or contact their BGL Account Manager on 1300 654 401 or by email at [email protected]
Picture a world where you receive a message every morning from your robots that have already done most of the procedural work for you and have even gone as far as letting clients know the status of their work. Seems fanciful? Well, it’s coming faster than you think.
Never before has there been such a perfect storm leading to potentially either a goldmine or a nightmare for accountants. In this post, I will attempt to explain why accountants need to be prepared, how we got here and how you can turn a possible disaster into a goldmine for your firm.
It has been written and talked about ad nauseam – the world has changed. Ever since March 2020 we were told to go home: it’ll only be a few weeks and then we can all go back to normal. As weeks turned into months and the months into years and the situation spiralled out of control, many of us struggled with what to do with all this extra time we had on our hands. We were no longer distracted by social activities, ferrying kids around to various sports or being forced to go on holidays.
It was finally here. This was our chance. We were home when not eyeing people off suspiciously at the supermarket, or trying to hold in a cough at the chemist (just a dry throat, I swear). And then the storm hit. The formula looked something like this:
Increased time at home + technology at our fingertips + low brokerage fees = we could all be the Wolf of Wall Street.
Finally living the dream. Sitting around in pyjamas, a bowl of corn chips resting on our enlarged bellies, phone in one hand while keeping an eye on whatever it was Netflix told me everyone else was watching so why aren’t you. And within the phone the power to trade across time zones, across markets, derivatives, options, CFDs, crypto… Endless opportunities to make your millions, or quietly realise a loss that would never be spoken about.
This scenario may sound familiar or chances are you know someone that went down this path. Some people were just passing the time with a flutter, others legitimately trying to build wealth. Either way, we know that a lot of Australians did this.
According to SelfWealth’s (a flat fee retail share trading platform) Annual Report, active traders on their books increased by 105% during FY21 and the total number of trades increased by 147% for the same period¹. The reduced costs associated with working from home and lack of alternatives meant people had a surplus of cash and now that cash became seed capital for their own private hedge fund.
While the popularity of ETFs is growing, only 15% of investors choose this investment type compared to 58% of investors directly holding Australian shares (ASX, 2020)². A key area to watch is the number of investors dipping their toes (and sometimes up to their neck) in the ever-expanding galaxy of cryptocurrencies. According to the AFR, 1 in 5 Australians is likely to buy cryptocurrency in the next 12 months³.
We are now seeing investors using multiple brokers and exchanges to take advantage of sign up offers and referral programs. This may make sense for the investor looking to capture the highest return possible, but it does mean that they may end up with poor records and difficulty in tracking their investments.
Throw into the mix buybacks, stock splits, DRPs, demergers as well as the even more complex world of crypto yield farming and come tax time there will be either underreporting (non-compliance) or a heap of work for someone to reconcile the data and make sense of all the transactions.
While excel has been one of the greatest fintech solutions since Lotus 1-2-3, it does have limitations. Excel formulas can be error-prone, time must be invested for compliance changes and reconciliation back to any data source is limited or non-existent.
Luckily for today’s accountants there exists a whole new world of automation: an ecosystem of data feeds, AI and automated processing that will drastically reduce the amount of time required to keep track of CGT records, produce financials and arrive at a reliable tax optimised position.
The perfect storm has enabled trading and wealth creation for a whole new generation and now this generation needs your help to make sure they do not give it all back with poor tax planning and compliance issues.
References:
CX has been around for decades however, it has commonly been mistaken for customer service and pumping valuable dollars into the latest and greatest technology. Although these are contributors to CX, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. The expectations from our clients to deliver on CX is growing day by day.
CXPA refers to Client Experience as “the perception that customers have of an organisation – one that is formed based on interactions across all touchpoints, people and technology over time”.
I interpret this as an emotional connection you form with a business based on your experiences with them on all levels. It’s that heart-fluttering nostalgia you get when Mr Whippy drives by playing music, in the middle of summer – Doesn’t that take you back to some fun memories? And Mr Whippy generally drove a beat-up old van and his ice cream machine was probably older than your parents, but the experiences and memories that it gave you evoke a fuzzy feeling every time.
The first question to ask yourself is this: How do our clients perceive our business?
Many of us have been guilty of drawing off assumptions however, the key to CX is facing the hard facts of what clients really do perceive or feel when they think of your business. The biggest mistake business owners make is assuming their business is perceived a certain way and implementing changes based on this. This is self-sabotage!
Hearing and seeing hard facts or data on this matter can be a hard pill to swallow for some but if you have a genuine understanding of your client’s perception, you’re already on the path to CX success and can start implementing meaningful change.
I could go on about CX for hours and hours and don’t worry, I will! But before I flood you with what I have learnt about the six competencies of Client Experience (and work to convert you into a CX superstar!), I’d like you to think about the following points:
Let’s make a start on this journey together and pick one point from this post that you can apply in your everyday life. It will make a world of difference and allow you to get a feel for what it is to live CX.
selfmanagedsuper and research house CoreData have announced the winners of the SMSF Service Provider Awards for 2021, which were presented during an online event today.
Published by SMSF Adviser, powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
Written by Tony Zhang on 16 August 2021
Click here to read on SMSF Adviser website
BGL Corporate Solutions, supplier of SMSF administration and ASIC corporate compliance and investment portfolio solutions, has announced that CAS 360, Simple Fund 360 and Simple Invest 360 are now integrated with digital signing tool FuseSign by FuseWorks.
“It’s great to add FuseSign to the BGL ecosystem,” Ron Lesh, BGL’s managing director, said.
“FuseSign creates a seamless workflow for BGL clients so that all company, trust, individual and SMSF documents can be digitally signed, speeding up the compliance process and reducing signing times to minutes rather than days for the price of a stamp.”
Melissa Voss, co-founder and head of clients and partners at FuseWorks, said that the firm is thrilled with this partnership and to be able to offer BGL clients with the digital signing tool straight from their platform.
“I am passionate about automation and helping accountants to simplify the day-to-day, removing inefficiencies through the power of automation so they can focus on more human tasks, and that is exactly what FuseSign does — it gives your clients a better experience with your brand, saves your business time and money, and it empowers your team to focus on tasks they really enjoy,” Ms Voss said.
Made for accountants by accountants, FuseSign is an affordable, intuitive and easy-to-use digital signing tool and can be used for all company, trust, individual and SMSF documents prepared by CAS 360, Simple Fund 360 and Simple Invest 360. Recent legislative changes have now made it possible to sign more document types digitally than ever before.
The FuseSign process in BGL applications provides a seamless workflow for clients, with the firm noting that recent evaluations of digital signing solutions have proven documents are signed quicker, easier and with much less friction when digital signing solutions are used.
© 2024 BGL Corporate Solutions Pty Ltd.
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