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BGL appoints executive team

By Accountants Daily, In the Media, NewsNo Comments

Written by Josh Needs
Published by Accountants Daily on 17 July 2023
Click here to read on Accountants Daily website

The selections will help drive the firm’s strategic growth and innovation, says BGL.

Australian company compliance and SMSF software provider BGL Corporate Solutions has appointed a seven-person executive team to help drive the strategic growth and innovation of the firm.

BGL’s managing director Ron Lesh said he is excited by the high calibre of individuals that the executive and the combined knowledge will bring to the positions.

“I’m so proud of each member of the BGL executive team,” said Mr Lesh.

“Comprised of seven individuals with a combined total of 123 years of service at BGL, these leaders bring extensive experience and unwavering dedication to driving BGL’s strategic growth and innovation.”

“Our products, clients and team could not be in better hands.”

The firm said the appointed executive team will have a strong emphasis on driving growth and development to retain, educate and grow their staff, clients, partners and the industries it works in.

The appointed members of the BGL Executive team are:

  • Ashley Avileli – chief technology officer – Mr Avileli joined BGL in 2006 as an IT manager and has worked within the company ever since. BGL said his focus and effort help keep BGL’s cloud software running every day.
  • Adriana Cavallo – head of customer experience (APAC) – Ms Cavallo joined the firm in 2012 and BGL said she’s been focused on ensuring BGL clients have positive experiences ever since.
  • Nadine Freitag – people and culture manager – Despite only joining BGL two years ago, the firm said Ms Freitag is crucial to its commitment to developing its team and providing a beneficial workplace environment.
  • Ron Lesh – founder and managing director – Mr Lesh started BGL in 1989 and has maintained his commitment to create and innovate products important for the industry.
  • Warren Renden – head of CAS 360 – With over 16 years of experience at the firm, it said Mr Renden has a relentless focus on product, team and client experience within CAS 360.
  • Jeevan Tokhi – head of Simple Fund 360 – After joining BGL in 2005 as a support consultant, the firm said Mr Tokhi is a critical strategic thinker who has provided crucial outcomes for the firm and its clients.
  • Daniel Tramontana – chief executive officer – With 26 years of experience at BGL, it said Mr Tramontana has driven the company forward with his passion for leadership and his dedication to the BGL team, its clients and the community.

Mr Tramontana said the appointment of the executive team has been a positive next step as the firm looks to continue to build and grow.

“As we venture into the next season of BGL, we are super excited about the opportunities ahead,” said Mr Tramontana.

“We will continue to build great products. We will deliver exceptional client experiences and moments.”

“And we will do this with the highest level of gratitude and respect for the countless clients (some across four decades) who continue to support us with an unwavering belief that inspires us to be the best version of ourselves.”

July 17, 2023
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Contemporary products to provide advanced capabilities for accountants

By Accountants Daily, In the Media, IndustryNo Comments

Written by Phillip King and Josh Needs
Published by Accountants Daily on 30 May 2023
Click here to read on the Accountants Daily website

The SMSF and personal finance platforms will allow accountants to supply greater analysis to their clients.

Melbourne fintech start-up Fiduciary Financial Services has launched two digital advice platforms aimed at accountants who lack an AFSL.

Both accountantsGPS, which targets SMSFs, and sister product moneyGPS, which tackles personal finance, allow accountants to supply advice for a subscription fee.

Fiduciary co-founder George Haramis said accountantsGPS was the first digital platform of its kind.

“The digital SMSF check-up report provides a comprehensive analysis of a fund’s compliance and financial situation to evaluate how a fund is progressing in many key areas,” he said.

“The report includes SMSF documentation, investment performance, investment policy development, contribution strategies, investment property performance and debt position, insurance and estate planning.”

“Importantly, it helps trustees and members meet their compliance obligations, as well as their longer-term investment and retirement goals – with access to specialist providers for assistance, if required.”

AccountantsGPS will be joined in July by moneyGPS, which combines AI and human expertise to deliver personal financial advice via an online portal for between $50 to $180 per topic.

“We know that accountants are passionate about the welfare of their clients and now they can offer them accessible and affordable financial advice at a price point that is much more affordable than traditional methods,” Mr Haramis said.

“The moneyGPS service also works alongside any in-house advice service, offering additional support to advisers.”

Mr Haramis said both products operate without commission and provide the ability to share platform insights with clients without a need to be licensed to offer any services within them, the firm also said it rebated the majority of referral fees to the accountant or a charity.

The firm said partnerships for the platforms were in progress as accountantsGPS and its SMSF Check-Up Reports had partnered with BGL Corporate Solutions to make it available as part of their SimpleFund 360 service, and also with Melbourne firm Smarter SMSF.

May 31, 2023
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BGL supplies simple SMSF reporting with accountantsGPS integration

By Accountants Daily, In the Media, NewsNo Comments

Written by Josh Needs
Published by Accountants Daily on 06 April 2023
Click here to read on Accountants Daily website

The collaboration will provide clients with a comprehensive analysis of a fund’s compliance and financial situation, says the firm.

BGL customers will be able to simplify their SMSF reporting thanks to the firm’s latest integration with Melbourne-based fintech accountantsGPS.

BGL managing director Ron Lesh said he was excited to bring the collaboration with accountantsGPS to his clients.

“This integration allows Simple Fund 360 clients to produce a new SMSF check-up report using accountantsGPS’s proprietary technology — a first for the SMSF market and available exclusively to BGL clients,” said Mr Lesh.

“The digital SMSF check-up report provides a comprehensive analysis of a fund’s compliance and financial situation to evaluate how a fund is progressing in many key areas.

“The report includes SMSF documentation, investment performance, investment policy development, contribution strategies, investment property performance (including debt position), insurance and estate planning.”

Mr Lesh said the report would also help Simple Fund 360 clients determine whether the trustees and members of a fund would meet their compliance obligations and longer-term investment and retirement goals.

Chief executive and co-founder of the Fiduciary Group and accountantsGPS, George Haramis, said the firm was thrilled by the capabilities it had provided in the SMSF check-up report and integrating with BGL.

“It is particularly exciting for our business to partner exclusively with BGL and offer this unique and valuable service to their accounting clients,” said Mr Haramis.

“Accountants can now undertake a comprehensive analysis of their clients’ SMSF across a number of key areas adding additional value to trustees and members and eliminating the time, cost and angst of trying to create a report manually, if achievable at all.

“It is a long-awaited development for the SMSF sector that has finally arrived.”

Head of Simple Fund 360 at BGL, Jeevan Tokhi, said the integration would streamline the creation of an SMSF report.

“The integration allows BGL clients to log in to the accountantsGPS platform using their Simple Fund 360 credentials,” said Mr Tokhi.

“Clients can then authorise Simple Fund 360 to pass information relating to all or a select number of their SMSFs to the accountantsGPS platform.

“BGL’s API will pre-fill 95 per cent of the information required to complete the SMSF check-up report, making this a simple streamlined process that takes just a few minutes per fund.”

Founded in 1983, BGL Corporate Solutions has grown to become one of the largest developers of compliance software in the world, with more than 180 employees globally.

April 6, 2023
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BGL provides automated crypto data with Syla

By Accountants Daily, In the Media, NewsNo Comments

Written by Josh Needs
Published by Accountants Daily on 04 April 2023
Click here to read on Accountants Daily website

The integration will make it easier for accountants facing increased crypto compliance measures as digital currency increases in popularity, says the firm.

BGL customers can now automatically sync cryptocurrency data to their accounts thanks to integration with Australian cryptocurrency tax software Syla.

BGL’s managing director Ron Lesh said he was pleased to bring the Syla integration to the firm’s customers.

“We are excited to add Syla to the BGL ecosystem,” said Mr Lesh.

“The integration allows BGL clients to easily sync their clients’ crypto transaction data from any digital currency exchange connected to their Syla account directly into their Simple Fund 360 and Simple Invest 360 software.”

Mr Lesh said software needed to accommodate greater tracking of cryptocurrency data as accountants tried to meet its compliance demands.

“With one in four Australians investing in crypto, it’s becoming more challenging for accountants to get the compliance work done, particularly when investors could be using any crypto exchange,” he said.

“A single portfolio could have hundreds or even thousands of crypto trades.”

“Integrating Syla will automate the journal entry process for every crypto purchase and sale, saving BGL’s Simple Fund 360 and Simple Invest 360 clients significant time and effort.”

Syla co-founder Nick Christie agreed with Mr Lesh and said the integration would make meeting compliance obligations easier when it came to cryptocurrency.

“A portfolio with crypto investments could be a bit of a trauma-inducing experience in the past, particularly when it came to compliance work,” said Mr Christie.

“The tedious entry of manual journals for every crypto purchase and sale surely sent many accountants close to madness. With the launch of this integration between Syla and BGL, we’ve really flipped the experience entirely around.”

“Manual journals are out, and instant sync is in. BGL clients can now sync all crypto trades, income and other transaction data from any crypto exchange into their Simple Fund 360 and Simple Invest 360 software, ensuring the compliance work can be easily sorted.”

Founded in 2018, Syla was developed by Australian accountants to make it simpler to deal with crypto and blockchain tax compliance. The firm says its automation software equips investors, traders and businesses with certainty and accuracy when dealing with their crypto investments.

Founded in 1983, BGL Corporate Solutions has grown to become one of the largest developers of compliance software in the world, with more than 180 employees globally.

April 4, 2023
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BGL releases AI-powered document-to-data feature

By Accountants Daily, In the Media, NewsNo Comments

Written by Josh Needs
Published by Accountants Daily on 15 March 2023
Click here to read on Accountants Daily website

The SmartDocs Email to Fund software will automatically search and match transactions and attach the source document, says BGL.

BGL Corporate Solutions has added a feature to its SmartDocs software, Email to Fund, that uses AI to send documents and their data to corresponding BGL software.

Managing director Ron Lesh said the product was a result of hard work and dedication from the firm’s software development team.

“This release is a unique achievement by our big data and Simple Fund 360 product teams, who have dedicated more than two years to the project,” said Mr Lesh.

“Clients can now email documents directly into their Simple Fund 360 and Simple Invest 360 software where BGL SmartDocs will extract the data, automatically code and attach the source document to the transaction.

“No other SMSF administration or accounting software offers this exceptional technology.”

The firm said its SmartDocs document reader used AI technology with optical character recognition to extract information from bank statements, contract notes, dividend and distribution notices, rental statements and invoices.

Head of Simple Fund 360 Jeevan Tokhi said the added SmartDocs features would make it much easier for those running portfolios through the software.

“With the new BGL SmartDocs features each SMSF, trust, company and individual portfolio in Simple Fund 360 and Simple Invest 360 will have a unique email address for accountants, advisers, administrators or trustees to send documents,” said Mr Tokhi.

“When BGL SmartDocs extracts the document data, it will automatically search for the corresponding transaction within the entity (SMSF, trust, company or individual) and attach the source document to it.”

“The most exciting feature, however, is that the data auto-fills transaction details in the smart matching screen for uncoded bank transactions, eliminating the need for clients to create data rules.”

Mr Lesh said the release was the next step in the firm’s goal of developing zero-touch technology.

“It will eliminate the administrative burden of analysing, checking and storing hundreds of documents annually for SMSFs and investment portfolios,” he said.

“It also bolsters the existing transaction matching and AI-powered smart matching in Simple Fund 360 and Simple Invest 360.”

The firm will demonstrate the feature at Accountex in Sydney this week.

BGL provides services to over 9,500 businesses across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the UK with clients ranging from major accounting firms to individual trustees.

March 15, 2023
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BGL promotes Daniel Tramontana to CEO

By Accountants Daily, In the Media, NewsNo Comments

Written by Miranda Brownlee
Published by Accountants Daily on 23 December 2022
Click here to read on Accountants Daily website

Software firm BGL Corporate Solutions has promoted its chief operating officer to the role of chief executive, effective 1 January 2023.

BGL has announced that Daniel Tramontana will be promoted to chief executive officer from next year, with Ron Lesh to continue in his role as managing director.

Mr Lesh said he was incredibly proud and excited to see Mr Tramontana step into the chief executive role.

“This is a momentous moment for BGL, the team, our clients and our community,” said Mr Lesh.

“Daniel’s contribution over his almost 26-year tenure at BGL has been incredible. Starting in software support to helping BGL grow from 10 to over 200 people, Daniel has had his hand in every pie. BGL would not be where it is today without him.”

Mr Tramontana first joined BGL in 1997 as a member of its support team.

With a Bachelor of Computer Science & Accounting, BGL said that Mr Tramontana has added a new area of competency to BGL’s support and training teams.

Through his time at BGL, he obtained a Master’s in Business Administration and a Six Sigma Black Belt while performing in roles including general manager and, most recently, chief operating officer, the software company said.

After almost 26 years at BGL, Mr Tramontana said it was an honour to have been promoted as chief executive.

“Software is at the core of what we do. It’s the reason thousands of firms choose to transact with us,” he said.

“Our market-leading solutions will continue to evolve from strength to strength as we grow our presence in Australia and overseas. But clients stay at BGL because of our people, community and culture.

“My desire is for clients, prospects and the community to engage with us because of who we are, what we stand for, and the memorable moments we deliver. Our people are our greatest point of differentiation, and I am truly blessed with the best.”

December 23, 2022
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BGL adds company tax return to 360 suite

By Accountants Daily, In the Media, NewsNo Comments

Written by Josh Needs
Published by Accountants Daily on 15 December 2022
Click here to read on Accountants Daily website

The feature will allow clients to electronically prepare and lodge the return, the firm says.

BGL Corporate Solutions has added electronic lodgment of company tax returns to its Simple Invest 360 software.

BGL managing director Ron Lesh said it was an industry-first and the feature supported the 2022 annual tax return and associated schedules, which were populated automatically by Simple Invest 360’s CGT engine.

“With the ATO’s approval, BGL clients can now prepare and electronically lodge the 2022 company tax return in Simple Invest 360, streamlining their compliance workflow,” he said.

The update also provided automatically generated reports such as a declaration of dividends, dividends paid minute report, a director’s report, and a dividend statement. BGL said clients previously had to manually create these supporting documents in Microsoft Excel or Word.

Simple Invest 360 product manager Andrew Paszko said: “Simple Invest 360 is in a class of its own, offering investment reporting, CGT tracking, shareholder register, dividend payment, full set of financials, accounting workpapers and now electronic lodgement of the company tax return all in one user-friendly software.”

The Simple Invest 360 product aimed to provide an end-to-end investment portfolio management system for companies, individuals and trusts, BGL said, with this release adding to its capability.

The software also integrates with BGL’s CAS 360 and Simple Fund 360 systems.

Founded in 1983, BGL Corporate Solutions started with only two employees and has grown to become one of the largest developers of compliance software in the world, with more than 180 employees globally.

BGL provides cloud-based company compliance management, SMSF, and portfolio administration software to over 8,000 businesses in 15 countries, with clients ranging from major accounting and law firms to financial planners and individual SMSF trustees.

December 15, 2022
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BGL offers company secretary induction course

By Accountants Daily, In the Media, NewsNo Comments

Written by Josh Needs
Published by Accountants Daily on 27 September 2022
Click here to read on Accountants Daily website

The free training supplies participants with an understanding of core duties and legal responsibilities, said the firm.

BGL Corporate Solutions is offering a free online company secretary course for accountants and others unfamiliar with the role.

Managing director of BGL, Ron Lesh, said he was pleased the firm was able to supply the education tool.

“We’re excited to offer this free live training course to help those new to a company secretary role find their feet in a complex and ever-changing compliance landscape,” said Mr Lesh.

“BGL has over 30 years of experience in the corporate compliance space and has developed this course to share its knowledge and expertise with the community and help pave the way for the next generation of company secretaries and administrators.”

The firm said that the course — Company Secretary 101: A Beginner’s Guide — would be useful for new ASIC registered agents, accountants, and administrators or those wanting to refresh their skills.

The course aimed to provide participants with an understanding of the core duties, legal responsibilities, tasks and activities of a company secretary and will provide attendees with two CPD hours.

Head of CAS 360 at BGL, Warren Renden, said the course could also help participants better understand the software.

“We developed CAS 360 to be the complete tool for managing company compliance requirements,” he said.

“This new training course will give participants an overview of company secretary duties, so they may better grasp their roles and responsibilities.”

BGL said the role of a company secretary was essential in monitoring and governing how a business operated and ensuring it remained compliant with corporate law.

The position involves maintaining a registered office and reporting any changes for the company to ASIC and because of its critical nature a company’s secretary could be subject to several legal obligations and duties.

Founded in 1983, BGL Corporate Solutions started with only two employees and has grown to become one of the largest developers of compliance software in the world, with more than 180 employees globally.

BGL provides cloud-based company compliance management, SMSF and portfolio administration software to over 8,000 businesses in 15 countries.

BGL’s clients range from major accounting and law firms to financial planners, as well as individual SMSF trustees.

September 27, 2022
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