October 13, 2015 by Publicaccountant
As he looks around the different workstations of Sydney FinTech hub Stone & Chalk (S&C), Mr Condell notes that his start-up was actually designed specifically with the accounting profession in mind, but has also been built on the back of accountants’
advice.
Through a robo-advice platform, Mafematica offers accountants the ability to match securities to an income projection in retirement.
“There’s been a few tools that will tell you how much you’ve got in the bank before retirement, and you might want to guess how much income you receive from that, but a tool that actually marries the individual’s securities holdings had never been built. That is the basis upon which Mathematica has been built,” Mr Condell says.
The fight for fintech funding
Like many new businesses, Mr Condell says a lot of start-ups are struggling for funding. A minefield of legal and licensing issues, he says, makes finding investors a nightmare, hindering businesses already struggling to get off the ground.
“It’s extremely difficult to get that first $500,000,” he notes.
Mr Condell blames the strict regulator environment under which businesses and their advisers must operate for many of his troubles in obtaining finance. Gone are the days of investments being spurred by an acquaintance made by an accountant, he says.
Frustrated by his battle to find funding, Mr Condell lauds the platform that S&C has provided the start-up industry, saying it has given companies such as Mafematica a voice to highlight the funding issues that plague the current marketplace.
“I want to talk to the team here at S& about these structural issues, and to find out what S&C can do; to go to ASIC alongside bodies such as the IPA and professional indemnity insurers and ask how we can overcome this problem,” he says.
Enticing venture capital (VC) from overseas markets is paramount, according to Mr Condell.
“How do we get the Chinese VCs that are picking up half a million from all over the place to invest in start-ups? It’s a very contentious issue.” He argues that it is incumbent on all parties to encourage VCs to enter the Australian marketplace, and to portray Australia as the ideal avenue for any investor.
Although the current situation is far from ideal, the future looks bright, Mr Condell notes. “The good news is that with ASIC recognising that startups do need funding, and with bodies like S&C also stating the need for start-up funding, I’m sure something’s going to happen now and that’s a very positive development.
“The two bodies are talking at the top levels and mixing in with each other’s committees and systems, and that probably wouldn’t have happened, or it wouldn’t have happened as quickly, if S&C didn’t exist.”
Help required
Aside from funding, start-ups face many issues that Mr Condell says often require external advice to solve.
“I definitely rely heavily on external advice. I’m currently working with three accounting firms to help me with putting this business in place,” he adds.
At the moment, those three accounting firms are helping to guide Mr Condell through the phases of a fintech start-up, but he already has plans for more. “I’ve got one firm that’s providing me with high-level advice on where to go with a roboadvice business. I’ve got another one that’s doing independent valuations of our business, while another gives me streamlining advice on how to do the cash
book and financial reports.”
He says an auditor will also come on board with Mafematica as the business expands, in order to navigate any licensing issues that rear their heads within the SMSF industry.
Navigating the new world
There is no doubt that the burgeoning fintech space offers accountants a fantastic opportunity to help build up an exciting new business, and a loyal new customer in the process – but many practitioners don’t know how they can be the ones to win this type of work. Well, Mr Condell is more than happy to offer some words of wisdom.
“Any professional business that seeks change to help their business should surely do well,” he says, while also noting that although fintech companies will seek some advice regarding compliance matters, there is now a plethora of opportunities that span far beyond compliance.
In order to take full advantage of a new industry ushered in via technology, Mr Condell says that accountants need to keep their ear to the ground and establish an open cultural mindset, as there are a multitude of advisory avenues amongst this new frontier of fintech.
“They need to be exploring, to be innovative, and to always ask themselves if something will make them look good in front of the client. Will it give them a better result for the client? Will it create a cheaper result for the client?
“I use the accounting profession outside the word ‘accounting’; to gather management and consultancy advice, audit advice, business structuring advice as well as market entry advice. I use accountants significantly in many ways that have got nothing to do with accounting,” he explains.
Mr Condell stresses that partners particularly “the average 55- to 60-year-old owner”, must be willing to have a conversation regarding new technology.
“They need to make sure that staff, particularly the younger kids in the firm, can come to him all the time and say, ‘hey boss, have you seen this latest data payments system?’ they keep ahead of the game by using that latest change.”
Adding to this willingness to learn, Mr Condell notes that one such firm that he associates with already specialises in the robo-advice sector, allowing them to charge prospective companies to help implement their software and assist in business development. It is decisions like this, Mr Condell explains, that will keep some accounting firms at the forefront of fintech.
As well as developing an understanding of technology, firms are now able to provide services to startup companies that simply weren’t available a decade ago, according to Mr Condell.
“It’s highly likely that I’ll be getting one of those firms to be heavily involved in my web design, even creating the user experience,” he says.
Mr Condell notes that he no longer thinks of accounting firms solely as accountants.
“They’re very broad spread business advisory professionals,” he says.