For Bronny Speed, a career in accounting represents an enormous opportunity to help communities through difficult or turbulent times. She has dedicated the bulk of her career to helping accountants seize this opportunity.
A financial planner and accountant with over 30 years of experience in both, she is the founder of AccountantsIQ, which offers support for accountants in meeting regulatory requirements for financial advice as well as specialised training programs.
Having started her career as a high school teacher, she has held on to many of the learnings and skills from her educational background.
“I’ve gone through the accountancy mode,” she says.
“I’ve gone through running dealer groups, now I’m in my own business working with accountants, doing mentoring programs, back in education.”
A career shaped by mentorship
Speed’s career began in the classrooms of South Australia, where her passion for numbers initially led her to become a maths and physical education teacher.
After deciding to pursue an MBA in accounting, her journey took an unexpected turn when she secured a position at South Australian accounting firm Giles and Giles (now William Buck).
Her background in teaching, coupled with a natural ability to speak in front of groups, positioned her well within a team where public speaking was an asset. The firm was among the first in South Australia to offer financial advice under the Count Financial Group, leading Speed into the realm of financial advice within accounting.
These early years at Giles and Giles underscored the significance of mentorship for Speed. She credits her mentors for imparting not only technical expertise but also valuable lessons in mentoring. This lesson became ingrained in her professional philosophy, shaping her approach to education and mentorship throughout her career.
After a stint at another firm, Speed’s journey led her to Mercer, where she not only served as a mentor but also established the Mercer mentoring program. Her keen observation of the industry led her to believe that financial advice needed better mentorship, and she took it upon herself to address this gap.
This mission led to the founding of AccountantsIQ, which Speed started specifically to help accountants who wanted to specialise in super under a licence, she explains. This initiative marked a significant turning point in her career as she responded to the changing dynamics of the accounting market.
Since then, the business has grown and diversified alongside the legislative landscape. Speed says this has brought her “full circle” in her passion for changing lives through education.
Helping accountants navigate a complex aged care system
Having observed the difficulties faced by many accountants in helping to guide their clients through Australia’s shifting aged care landscape, Speed turned her attention to addressing this important challenge.
Speaking at the Institute of Public Accountants National Congress, she posed a question to the audience: How many of you have dealt with issues related to aged care, either in a personal or professional capacity?
She estimates that around 60 per cent of delegates raised their hands.
“The need for aged care is getting bigger and bigger,” says Speed. “I’m in that age group that has parents who need help. I’ve been through it myself – my father died nine years ago, and I’ve been [helping] my mother for seven years with, firstly, getting a little bit of help at home, then getting a lot of help at home, and then having to put her into residential aged care.
“The government has already announced that it’s looking at making changes in this sector that will be announced in the May budget. So that’s why we say to accountants, ‘Don’t think that you’re not going to be involved, because you will’.”
Speed has recently launched AgedCareIQ, which seeks to simplify the complexities of the aged care system for consumers while offering educational resources for accountants to better assist their clients entering aged care.
Australia’s population aged 85 and above is set to increase dramatically over the next 20 years – and the cost of aged care as a proportion of GDP projected to more than double over the next 40 years.
But, according to Speed, the imperative for accountants to master the intricacies of the aged care system is not merely a response to demographic shifts; it is a strategic investment in a sustainable and client-centric future.
“The whole goal is really helping people. I know we have to be commercial. But if you help people and do things properly, the money comes.”
