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Self-Managed Super Funds

A self-managed fund gives you control and hands you the compliance obligations that come with it. We take the second part off your desk.

Enquire about this 0450 243 033

Overview

An SMSF can have up to six members, and in almost every case each member is also a trustee or a director of the corporate trustee. That means the people who benefit from the fund are also the people the regulator holds responsible for it — for the investment strategy, the record keeping, the annual return and the audit.

We establish funds, run the annual compliance cycle, and act as independent auditor for funds whose accounts are prepared elsewhere.

Scope

What we do

Fund establishment: Trust deed, corporate trustee company, ABN and TFN registration, ATO elections and the initial investment strategy documentation.
Annual administration: Financial statements, member statements, the SMSF annual return and the minutes that support the year’s decisions.
Tax and regulatory advice: Contribution caps, pension commencement and minimum drawdowns, in-house asset and related party rules, and the consequences before you act rather than after.
Independent audit: Financial and compliance audits by an ASIC-approved SMSF auditor for funds administered by another firm.
Investment performance review: An annual look at what the fund actually returned, against a relevant benchmark rather than against nothing.

On independence

Where we prepare your fund’s accounts we do not audit it, and where we act as auditor we do not prepare the accounts. That separation is required under the professional independence standards, and it is not something we blur to save a client a fee.

Process

The annual cycle

Records in

Bank, broker, property and contribution records for the year — most of it now feeds through automatically.

Accounts and statements

Financial statements, member balances and the trustee minutes for the year’s decisions.

Audit

An approved SMSF auditor must be appointed at least 45 days before the annual return is due, so we book this early rather than at the deadline.

Lodgement

The SMSF annual return, including the levy and any regulatory reporting.

Questions

Common questions

Does every SMSF have to be audited?

Yes. Every self-managed super fund must have both a financial and a compliance audit each year, conducted by an approved SMSF auditor registered with ASIC, before the fund’s annual return is lodged — even if the fund held no assets and made no payments.

Is an SMSF worth it for our balance?

It depends on the balance, what you intend to hold and how much of the administration you want to be responsible for. The running costs are largely fixed, so they weigh far more heavily on a small fund. We’ll model it against your actual numbers before you commit.

Can the fund buy a property?

It can, subject to the sole purpose test, the related party and in-house asset rules, and — if borrowing is involved — a compliant limited recourse borrowing arrangement. This is an area where getting the structure right beforehand is far cheaper than unwinding it.

Also

Talk it through before you commit to anything.

Tell us the situation and the deadline. We'll tell you what's involved, what it costs and whether it's us you need.

Send an enquiry 0450 243 033