SMSF Adviser, together with principal partner SuperConcepts, is pleased to announce the South Australian winners for the SMSF and Accounting Awards.

The SMSF and Accounting Awards is a new initiative which has been launched to recognise those SMSF and accounting professionals in their home state.

“We recognise that national awards programs aren’t always the right fit for professionals who are concentrated on their locale, and we are pleased that we can acknowledge their contribution to the industry,” said SMSF Adviser’s head of partnerships, Terry Braithwaite.

The South Australian winners were announced at a gala dinner in Adelaide last night. A full list of the winners can be accessed here.

Although not yet the most profitable demographic, millennial business owners are one sector advisers need to target now. Failure to do so could become a costly mistake later.

Many accounting firms say they need to attract young talent, but there hasn’t been the same focus on how to appeal to young business owners.

A number of millennials – Gen Y, those born between 1980 and the early 2000s – have already founded successful businesses, often harnessing social media and technology.

A study by Bentley University shows millennials believe that to be successful they need to be more nimble, independent and entrepreneurial than previous generations. Only 13 per cent aimed to scale the corporate ladder, and 67 per cent wanted to start their own business.

Business Services Merit Winner

For Digital B-2-B solutions that drive and deliver businesses with high levels of productivity and competitiveness.

The business services market is truly global and needs Digital solutions to ensure they can compete in real time across international boundaries and regulatory systems.

Disgruntled accountants have created a successful business for Michael Macolino.

"We call them the angry, young accountants," Macolino says.

The age of accountants going out on their own has dropped.  Photo: Belinda Pratten

"They are typically aged between 28 and 40. They are in mid-tier and larger firms. They feel they are crunching numbers [and] they can't support their clients properly. They are bound by old technology and the old 'this is how we do things'. Really what they want to do is take a new approach and develop long lasting relationships with businesses." 

Jurlique is one of the world’s most recognised skincare brands. From small beginnings on a farm in Adelaide to 16 stores across Australia and hundreds more around the world, Jurlique aims to produce the purest skin care on earth, still from its Adelaide home.

In mid-2015, Jurlique embarked on ‘Project Asteroid’ – a mission to take out its ‘dinosaur’ point of sale system, and revolutionise its store design and IT systems with Vend. Each of its stores were transformed in just 12 hours.

Accodex has merged with Clear Business Dynamics in a move designed to build on the firm’s already strong presence in the cloud accounting space.

Chris Hooper, Accodex CEO, said the merger will allow the firm to continue to deliver innovative services to clients.

“I believe that the accounting firm of the future will be forced to adopt a multifaceted approach to the delivery of business services. This merger is just another step for us in simply pre-empting that,” he said.

“Accodex is already renowned nationally and internationally for its innovation in the accounting sector. This deal will further bolster our internal capabilities and expand the range of services that we will offer our clients.”

Australian cloud integrator Clear Business Dynamics has merged with Xero Gold partner Accodex, in the latest example of the increasing ties between the IT and accounting channels.

The resulting hybrid firm will combine a full service accounting firm with Clear Business Dynamics implementation and support services, which covers products from Xero as well as Google Apps, Vend, Geo-op and Zendesk, among others.

Both are Adelaide firms, with Accodex run by 27-year-old Chris Hooper and Clear Business Dynamics by 32-year-old Michael Macolino – an entrepreneur with a gym among his previous ventures.

WHY don't you join me in a crusade against the industry?

This was Chris Hooper's question to Michael Macolino almost six months ago, when their prominent Adelaide companies were still testing the waters of a merger.

Now the duo have announced their businesses, accounting powerhouse Accodex Partners and cloud-tech specialist Clear Business Dynamics (CBD), have finally joined forces in the pursuit of disruption.

Michael is known for his work within the real estate industry rolling out the popular CRM system “Agent Box”.
But what you may not know him for is his successful Accounting Tech startup Accodex Partners, recognized as one of KPMG’s top startup companies, and awarded them with a 10 day trip to the US to learn more about industry disruption and expanding your business into the US. (They were also recognized as “Innovator of the Year” at the world’s most boring industry awards ceremony, the Australian Accounting Awards).

We spoke with Michael about what the future holds for real estate, having seen what is happening overseas with startups/disruptors changing the face of entire industries.