Financial advisors &Â accountants
Financial advisors
A financial advisor works with you to understand your financial goals and gives you advice on how to achieve them. They can work with people at different stages of their life and they can provide a range of advice regarding budgeting, investing, superannuation, retirement, income protection insurance and life insurance.
​
All financial advisors or financial planners must have an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence. You can check this on the ASIC Professional Registers website. Advisors can also join the Profession of Independent Financial Advisers (PIFA), if they meet certain criteria such as practicing without incentives and without conflict of interests.
You might find a financial advisor by asking friends and family for recommendations or via your home loan lender, superannuation company or financial advisor associations. Alternatively you can search for a licensed financial advisor in your local area using the Financial Advisor Register which is on the Australian Government Moneysmart website.
Accountants
An accountant can help you lodge your tax return, particularly if you have more complicated investments or multiple jobs. Alternatively, if your tax is relatively straightforward you can use myTax which is a free online tool from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) which you can access through your myGov account.
​
Accountants can also help you with the running of your business, including Pay As You Go (PAYG) instalments, Business Activity Statements (BAS), employee wages, superannuation payments and maintaining financial records.
​
You can find an accountant by asking friends and family for recommendations or searching professional accounting associations such as the following.
​
You can search for a registered accountant, tax agent and/or financial adviser on the Australian Government Tax Professionals Board (TPB) register.
