Sharesight has identified the drawbacks of Australian accountants relying primarily on manual processes when preparing tax returns for clients with complex investment portfolios.

New research by the global fintech platform, which is based in Australia and New Zealand, uncovers how manual effort is costing accounting firms precious hours when dealing with disparate data sources such as CSV spreadsheets, app screenshots and PDF statements. 

“Investor behaviour has evolved, with investors now dabbling in everything from ETFs to crypto,” Doug Morris, CEO of Sharesight said. 

“At tax time, clients are handing their accountants increasingly complex and global investment portfolios, often in the messiest formats imaginable,” he added. 

According to the research, 65% of premium Sharesight users trade via two or more brokers, and the average user holds 34 individual assets across three portfolios. With 75% of accounting processes still being manual, this complexity presents challenges.  

“Trying to cope with complexity manually is very difficult at scale when you’re chasing dozens of dividend statements and contract notes for trades, and that’s just for one client,” Morris said. 

The research makes the case for a better way, enabled by technology, to save time, reduce errors, and offer clients a seamless, digital and cybersecure experience.

“One firm reported saving over 300 hours annually after switching to automated investment tracking via Sharesight. That’s a significant cost saving. Moreover, it’s error-free and live in real-time, so it eliminates lost hours from rework,” Morris said.

“An FCA-qualified practitioner said Sharesight enables three hours of Excel work to be done in 20 minutes, delivering a 90% time saving,” he added. 

Morris notes the advantages for accountants of using financial technology at tax time go further than time savings because the profession’s role is expected to become significantly more analytical and advisory in the future.

“It’s about unlocking capacity to deliver higher-value services such as helping Baby Boomers plan for tax-effective generational wealth transfer while enjoying their golden years. In the next decade, accountants will win by being a trusted advisor rather than a tax administrator,” he emphasised.

Sharesight’s research presents the case for embracing secure, cloud-based portfolio tools that offer instant data updates for real-time visibility, automated taxable income reporting, and streamlined integrations with platforms like Xero.

In addition to eliminating “shoebox syndrome,” specific benefits available to accountants from the Sharesight platform include being able to pull dividend and trade data automatically from major brokers, identifying foreign currency impacts on investment performance, and providing clients a simple way to connect accounts and share data securely.

“Investment technology elevates the quality of service provided to the client in a way that spreadsheets can’t,” Morris concluded.

The 11-page report is called “Simplifying tax complexity for investors” and it is free to download by visiting the “For Business - Accountants” tab on the company’s website.

Sharesight is trusted by more than 400,000 users in 150 countries and its software is also available for business use by accountants, financial advisors and family offices.