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Business

Professional indemnity insurance for accountants

Protect your accounting practice and satisfy your insurance requirements with our specialised accountancy brokers.

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Are you a CPA Australia member? Visit our Insurance solution for CPA Australia members page.

Why do I need indemnity insurance as an accountant?

As an accountant, your advice is central to your business. But if it leads one of your clients to suffer a financial loss, they could hold you responsible. That’s why professional indemnity insurance – which provides cover for losses caused by incorrect or misleading advice – is foundational for any accountant.

Marsh can arrange professional indemnity cover that meets your business needs and your insurance requirements (if you belong to an association such as Certified Professional Accountants (CPA) or Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia (ICAA). For association members and non-members alike, we can help you protect yourself against claims arising from:

  • Failing to correctly carry out an audit function
  • Missing deadlines or not lodging documents
  • Breaching confidentiality.

What insurance should I consider as an accountant?

Professional indemnity insurance is integral for accountants. You may be required by your governing body (such as Chartered Accountants ANZ) to have it before you can provide your services.

Public liability insurance is also invaluable for accountants. With Marsh, you can add up to $20 million in public liability cover to your accountants insurance policy as an optional extension.

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What’s covered?*

  • Up to $10 million professional indemnity cover

    The limit of liability is the maximum amount that can be provided under the insurance policy.

  • Breach of duty

    Cover for claims from alleged breaches of fiduciary duty in the performance of professional services.

  • Defamation

    Cover for claims for defamation, libel and slander committed in the performance of professional services.

  • Breach of privacy or confidentiality and intellectual property infringement

    Cover for claims alleging breaches of privacy law or confidentiality, and cover for breaches of intellectual property rights in relation to trade secrets and patents.

  • Lost or damaged documents

    $500,000 sub limit for claims arising from loss or damage to third party documents.

  • 7 years automatic run-off cover

    Applicable to IT consultants, management consultants, miscellaneous professions, multimedia consultants, recruitment consultants and travel agents (subject to policy wording terms and conditions).

  • Public liability (optional extension of up to $20 million)

    Help protect your business against third-party claims resulting from accidents or injuries that occur as a result of your business activities with public liability insurance.

What’s not covered by accountants insurance?

No insurance policy contract can cover every risk an accountant will face. An accountants insurance policy arranged by Marsh typically cannot cover:

  • Bankruptcy
  • Disputes regarding fees
  • Known breaches and/or known circumstances
  • Intentional acts.

We also cannot arrange insurance for:

  • Audits of publicly listed companies
  • Full Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) holders. 

Cover options and pricing examples

When calculating insurance prices for Professional Indemnity (PI) coverage for accountants, several factors are typically taken into consideration. Some of the examples what can be taken to considerations are below:

  • Level of cover. Higher coverage limits typically result in higher premiums
  • Business turnover and size, including the number of employees and annual revenue
  • Claims history
  • Services provided and their geographical location.

Pricing examples

Selected activities

Selected business annual turnover

Selected cover limit of liability

Cost starting from*

Accounts preparation and bookkeeping

$100,000

$1,000,000

$635 annually

Accounts preparation and bookkeeping; Taxation / GST

$100,000

$2,000,000

$1,037 annually

Accounts preparation and bookkeeping; Taxation / GST

$300,000

$3,000,000

$1,138 annually

 

* The price indicated is for policy premium only and is exclusive of GST, stamp duty, levies, service/broker fees, and credit card surcharge where such additional fees apply. Premium prices may start at this price and are subject to fluctuate depending on the level of risk/cover chosen when applying for cover as determined by the relevant insurer.

We leverage our strong market relationships to help deliver competitive insurance policies. Choose from limits of liability (up to $10 million), activities and other business attributes.

What activities can Marsh’s accountants insurance cover?

We can help keep you protected against financial loss from errors and omissions you make while performing everyday accounting services – including:

  • Accounts preparation and bookkeeping
  • Company secretarial
  • Accounting software
  • Management accounting
  • Audit (non-profit/SMSF, private companies)
  • Business Valuation Taxation/GST
  • And more …

What else should my bookkeeper insurance cover?

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Management liability cover

Help protect your business – and your team – against management and operational risks with management liability cover.

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Why Marsh?

Why should you choose Marsh to arrange your accountants insurance?

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Association compliant

Need to arrange professional indemnity insurance before you can provide financial services?

We’ll arrange a policy that may meet the requirements set by your governing body or association.

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Tailored solutions

Help protect your firm against: 

  • Inaccurate data entry or omissions 
  • Incorrect reporting 
  • Late filing of returns
  • Negligence in giving advice or providing services.
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Industry knowledge

Our team has been supporting Australian accountants for more than 15 years.

We leverage our strong market relationships and source multiple quotes – to help deliver you competitive insurance policies.

Frequently asked questions

If a claim (and or a circumstance which may give rise to a claim) is made against you, you must notify your broker as soon as reasonably practicable.  The first step is typically the release of a claim form for completion.  It will also be necessary to provide a copy of any third-party correspondence and or demands received.  Other pertinent information, dependant on matter/allegations being made may also be required. For example, a copy of the Service Agreement / Contract held with the claimant. 

We want you to get the best possible outcome, so we will advocate for you throughout the entire claims process. Claims can be stressful, but we strive to make the process straightforward.

Accountants insurance is not a legal requirement in Australia. However, it is often a compulsory requirement imposed by a chartered body – such as CPA, ICAA and CAANZ.

Yes. Without the proper cover, your accounting practice or freelance accounting business is exposed to a plethora of risks. If a claim is made against you, you’ll need to self-fund the damages and expenses – including the legal costs of defending the claim.

Insurance is just as important for freelance accountants as it is for those in accounting practice.

The risk exposures for a freelance accountant and an accounting practice are largely similar. However, where a firm-based accountant would require management liability insurance, a freelance accountant would not.

A certificate of currency is proof that you hold a current insurance policy. Once you’ve paid for your accountants insurance policy, we’ll email your certificate of currency to you immediately.

Forms and documents

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This website contains general information, does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs and may not suit your personal circumstances.

Marsh Pty Ltd (ABN 86 004 651 512, AFSL 238 983) (“Marsh”) and Marsh Advantage Insurance Pty Ltd (ABN 31 081 358 303, AFSL 238 369) (“MAI”) arrange the general insurance (i.e. not the Discretionary Trust Arrangement) and are not the insurer.

Discretionary Trust Arrangements are issued by the Trustee, JLT Group Services Pty Ltd (ABN 26 004 485 214, AFSL 417 964) (“JGS”). Any advice or dealing in relation to a Discretionary Trust Arrangement is provided by JLT Risk Solutions Pty Ltd (ABN 69 009 098 864, AFSL 226 827) (“JLT”). The cover provided by a Discretionary Trust Arrangement is subject to the Trustee’s discretion and/or the relevant policy terms, conditions and exclusions.

For full details of the terms, conditions and limitations of the covers and before making any decision about whether to acquire a product, refer to the specific policy wordings and/or Product Disclosure Statements (PDSs) available from the relevant product issuer. Target Market Determinations (TMDs) are available here.

Marsh, MAI, JGS and JLT are all businesses of the Marsh group.

*Subject to terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy.

LCPA 24/332

This is a general overview of the policy. Please call us and ask for a copy of the insurer’s policy wording. We recommend you read the policy wording, so you have an understanding of the policy terms, conditions and exclusions before you decide whether this policy suits your needs.