Financial advisory group Omniwealth has decided it will acquire an existing accounting business, rather than organically grow a division.
"We've decided that we will buy and we're in the process of talking to a firm at the moment," Omniwealth managing director Matthew Kidd told InvestorDaily.
"We'll sit down and have some serious chats over the next couple of weeks to see if they're a fit, but we're open to looking at others."
It was economically viable for Omniwealth to buy an established business rather than organically growing its accountants in-house, Kidd said.
"Fundamentally, we've made the decision that we'd like to get the scale by buying a firm that is a good fit and where the [employees] who move will want to be with us for a long time.
"But it's not just the [scale]. You get the opportunity to bring new sets of eyes and ideas into the business, opportunities to market to their clients and for them to learn more about our business," he said.
Accountants are showing greater interest in aligning themselves with financial planning practices, following the government's proposal to remove the accountants' exemption, which requires new conditional licensing.
"There's no doubt accountants are moving into the financial planning space; they're either training or aligning themselves with good quality financial planners," Kidd said.
"It has to be the other way around too, as the days of financial planners just referring out are numbered.
"From a business perspective, it's a smart move but clients are also demanding it."
Omniwealth is looking to acquire its new accounting firm before the end of the year, Kidd said.
"I'd like it done before Christmas to be honest because you've got to identify the firm, do your due diligence, come to an agreement and start the process so it is lengthy, but you should be able to get it done in a six month period."
