3 ways to build out a finance offering for your clients and expand your business
Finding the right finance professional to partner with can be a frustrating process. Fortunately, there are more options available than simply cold-calling mortgage brokers, writes National Lending Group (NLG) director of partnerships, Steve Lake.
Every accountant will have clients who require finance at some stage, whether it’s as simple as a car loan, or a more complex facility, like a residential mortgage or commercial facility.
Whatever your client requires, accessing reliable finance professionals can help bolster your practice’s growth and provide a holistic service to deliver greater client outcomes – but finding the right broker to work with can be a challenging process. As a result, many accountants have tried and failed to build out a successful finance offering.
That’s why we’ve launched the NLG Accountant-Broker Collaboration Program, which enables accountants to provide funding, receive a revenue share in all transactions, and retain full control without the headaches of doing it all yourself.
Facilitating residential and commercial finance can be tremendously beneficial for practices looking to extend advisory services.
If you’ve been considering a finance offering, the Accountant-Broker Collaboration Program could be your next step. We’ve developed three options, all of which have a shared revenue structure:
Option 1: Broker partnership
You may have tried to partner with a broker before, with mixed results. Or you may currently have a referral arrangement with a broker that just isn’t working for you.
However, by engaging NLG, accounting practices can save time by letting us source an appropriate broker for your business, manage the communications, and ensure accountability.
Option 2: Write loans directly
Accountants can also explore upskilling to become finance brokers themselves.
The obvious benefits come in the form of full control in providing a “whole of wallet” solution that substantially increases your firm’s service proposition and diversifies revenue.
This option is also labour intensive, though, and requires a diploma in mortgage broking.
A mentor will also be required to assist with the loan writing process and compliance regime. In addition, the firm will require an Australian Credit Licence (ACL) or be part of a group with a credit representative.
The NLG program can facilitate a diploma in mortgage broking with various learning institutions at a discounted price. The accredited accountant will come under the NLG ACL as a credit representative. Under this model, we provide you with mentoring and loan processing support.
Option 3: In-house broker
The final option is to appoint an in-house commission-only contractor or PAYG finance broker. This is often the preferred model as it is a cost-effective and flexible strategy to extend your firm’s service proposition.
It’s also a way of diversifying revenue without resource or accreditation constraints.
The NLG program vets finance brokers based on your specific requirements, recommends aligned candidates, and then trains and manages the new recruit. This process bypasses the time, stress, hassle, and expense of hiring a loan writer directly.
Find the right partnership
Accountants have strong relationships with clients and tend to be key influencers when it comes to client funding. Despite this, accountants can also miss opportunities to source finance on their clients’ behalf.
Our Accountant-Broker Collaboration Program has been developed to meet the increasing demand of clients who require funding for personal and business purposes.
Schedule a discovery session to review your business requirements and find out how an NLG broker may help your practice build out a thriving finance offering.
By Steve Lake, director of partnerships, National Lending Group
