Audit the Self-Managed Superannuation Fund is imperative if you are residing in a nation like Australia. If you want impeccable results with your SMSF audit, then, hiring one of the top SMSF auditors Perth must be your choice. Make sure that your auditor is registered with the ASIC. The fuller form of ASIC is Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Besides, your auditor should not possess any clandestine relation with the trustees or fund members of your Self-Managed Super Fund.
Frequency of SMSF auditing in Australia
At present, any SMSF in Australia has to be audited every year. The trustees of the SMSF are responsible for hiring a qualified auditor. They need to do so at least forty five days prior to the annual return of their SMSF is due to the Taxation Office of Australia. Even if there aren’t any contributions made to the fund, an audit still needs to be done indispensably. An audit is mandatory too even if zero benefits are being paid during a particular financial year.
The approximate costs of an audit of an SMSF in Australia
There is an approximate range of costs which apply to both median and average SMSF costs in Australia. These are figures which the Australian Taxation Office have calculated based on audit expenses and fees reported on certain SMSF annual returns. These include the following:
Fees of a Median Auditor
This amount has remained confined to AUD550 for the past few years and still hasn’t changed yet.
Fees of an Average Auditor
A couple of years back the fees of an average auditor was limited to AU$737. This amount has altered many times as per the strategies executed by the Australia Taxation Office. Say for instance, once it became AU$726, sometimes AU$703 and at other times AU$760 etc. Currently, the fees of an average is AU$688 which hasn’t changed yet till now.
The proposed three year audit cycle
The Australian government proposed that from July 1, 2019, the criteria for an annual auditing of an SMSF should be changed. The changes should be made for once every three years. SMSFs with a sound compliance and recordkeeping history will only qualify to access these alterations. The government of Australia made this announcement in the Federal Budget of 2018-2019.
Eligibility criteria for the three yearly audit
There are certain requirements which every SMSF should meet to become eligible for the three yearly audit. According to these criteria, eligible SMSFs need to submit their potential annual return to the Australian Taxation Office. These annual returns should be lodged based on the financial records of the last three years. Aside, qualified auditor should be appointed to evaluate the conformity to the various superannuation laws during that time-frame.
An audit in the year in which some key situations arose will be required no matter what. It means an audit has to be done even if your self-managed superannuation fund shifts to the three year audit cycle comprising the new legislation. Prominent examples of a few of these key situations include the following:
- The eradication of a fund member
- Transfer of any in-specie asset made to the pertinent members of the SMSF
- The beginning of a limited recourse borrowing arrangement made by the SMSF itself
- The addition of a new member to the self-managed super fund
- The sudden demise of one of the fund members and
- A fund member accessing a super income pension stream for the first time
Do you wish to get furthermore pieces of information based on the three yearly audit? If yes, then it’s always advisable to visit the official site of the Australian Taxation Office.
The procedure of Self-Managed Super Fund audit
A qualified SMSF auditor will carry out both compliance and financial audit comprising the operations of any particular SMSF. The compliance audit includes the comprehensive evaluation and analysis of the SMSF and its compliance with the imperative superannuation laws. On the contrary, the process of financial SMSF audit is different. It includes the comprehensive evaluation and analysis of all the financial statements of your self-managed super fund. These include the following:
- The income statement of your SMSF
- The balance sheet of your SMSF and
- The member statement of your SMSF
Both these forms of audit are conducted as per the Auditing Standards of Australia. After the auditor completes these two audits back to back, the auditor needs to complete another document provided by the Australian Taxation Office. This document includes an independent auditor’s report which should be given to the trustees of the self-managed super fund. The said document should be submitted to the SMSF trustees within twenty eight days of the auditor being provided with all the relevant documents.
Subsequently, the trustees must submit their audited SMSF returns to the ATO followed by the compliance of any potential tax obligations. Contact SMSF advisers Perth to get matchless assistance with the auditing of your SMSF.