SMSF Outsource Services for Accountants

Back Office Solutions for Accountants

SMSFs are becoming increasingly onerous for accountants to maintain. The ability to advise on matters pertaining to SMSFs has been significantly curtailed in the absence of an AFS License from ASIC. Penalties for non compliance and erroneous advice can be large and the ATO is beginning to move from an educative mode to a punitive mode. Legislative complexity is increasing and requires significant ongoing education and resources. The ATO is moving towards a more proactive position with administrative penalties of up to 25% of outstanding tax being levied on late lodged Funds. Many accounting firms are running at losses with the superannuation segments of their practice after write-offs are accounted for but are not confident to outsource as they wish to maintain control. Further, with the introduction of the new SMSF Auditor Competency Rules, as from 1 July 2008, Accountants who wish to sign off on SMSF Audits have been subject to greater scrutiny and PD costs. The new SMSF Auditor Competency Rules, which apply to members of:

CPA Australia;
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia; and
National Institute of Accountants

have the following minimum requirements:

Initial requirement – all members must complete, or have previously completed, a course in the audit of SMSFs that complies with the regulations relating to training and development of their professional accounting body, prior to commencing in the area of SMSF audits.

Ongoing requirements – all members who audit SMSFs must complete at least 30 hours of relevant professional development activity in each rolling three-year period, comprising the following as a minimum for each category, with the balance made up from any of these categories as necessary:

8 hours of superannuation training – which need not deal only with the audits of SMSFs
8 hours of financial statement or compliance audit training
4 hours of financial accounting training.

A maximum of one third of the minimum 30 hours required may be unstructured.

The ongoing training in financial / compliance auditing and financial accounting training will not necessarily need to focus specifically on audits of SMSFs. A combination of courses will meet the required obligations.

In addition to formal education auditors are expected to monitor the relevant SMSF information updates provided by their associations and the regulator to improve / maintain their current knowledge (for example the SMSF newsletter issued by the ATO).

Auditor Independence - Auditors of SMSFs who are members of the three professional accounting bodies need to comply with the standards issued by the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board. Section 290 of APES 110 – Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants; ‘Independence – Assurance Engagements’ is particularly significant and is a focus of the Regulator and the Professional Bodies.

It is becoming difficult for Sole Practitioners and firms with 2 or 3 partners to be able to demonstrate that they comply with the independence requirement, as well as the SMSF Auditor Competency Requirements. We are aware of increased scrutiny of the Auditor Independence issue by the Professional Bodies of their members as part of Quality Assurance Reviews.

We at Tranzact Super believe that we represent the most favourable solution to the problems accountants face in offering SMSF services to their trustee and financial adviser clients for the following reasons..

Business Focus

We are a dedicated SMSF compliance and administration bureau. We do not have any conflict of interest with accountants as a visit to our website clearly illustrates. We do not offer any general tax or accounting services to trustee visitors as we confine our operations to small superannuation funds. We rarely deal with the public direct. Our clients are the advisers and accountants who introduce trustees to us – not the individual trustees. We do not correspond with trustees directly unless requested by the accountant.

Our goal is to assist you to:

Reduce your work load
Improve your efficiency
Meet your lodgement deadlines
Satisfy your client needs
Grow your business

Make us part of your team. Your business growth will not be constrained by the need for a full compliment of specialist SMSF technical or administrative staff.

We process daily, unless you require one of our Annual Services a yearly service, and place all data to the web on an ongoing basis. We prepare all minutes, ETPs, pension establishments etc and report to you – not the trustee (unless you direct otherwise).

Tranzact Consulting Limited, an associated body corporate of Tranzact Super, holds an AFS License to advise on superannuation.

SMSF Administration Options

We provide three options to Accountants to deliver our SMSF Administration service. These options are listed below and you can find out more information about them by simply clicking on each one:

Web based 24/7 SMSF Administration service
Annual ‘White Label’ service
Bureau service

Audit

We are able to offer a full service including audit or you may wish to perform the audit. The audit files we will produce for you will be of the highest quality.

Deed Services

It is easy to assume that all SMSF Deeds are much the same so the decision on which to use is often based on price. Our Deed is competitively priced but certainly not the cheapest. We provide a quality product that has not only been designed to cater for the needs of today’s SMSF members but is continually tested and revised to ensure that it is always at the leading edge.

We can:

Establish a new SMSF
Upgrade a SMSF’s existing Trust Deed
Incorporate a Special Purpose SMSF Trustee Company to act as trustee of a SMSF
Change the name of a SMSF
Change the trustee of the SMSF

For more information please click here.

Pension Services

Starting a pension involves a process that needs to be adhered to so that the details are properly calculated and recorded, correct minutes and letters are produced, completed and lodged. We are one of the largest administrators of SMSF pensions in Australia. You will benefit from our experience.

Please click here to find out more about our Pension Services

Super Borrowing

While the general prohibition against borrowings will remain in force there is now an express exception where the moneys borrowed are applied towards the acquisition of an asset, and the asset is held on trust for the fund’s trustee until the loan has been repaid.

To see how an SMSF can utilise these borrowing rules please click here.

SMSF Compliance Advice

Our Senior staff have been accredited as SMSF Specialists by Australia’s peak SMSF Adviser Association, the Superannuation Professionals Association of Australia (SPAA). This accreditation recognises Tranzact Super’s commitment to providing the best SMSF services.

We can provide technical support and opinions specific to your client’s circumstances in relation to superannuation matters concerning SIS or ITAA, including:

Review of the fund’s current Trust Deed;
Whether a Fund Investment complies with the SIS Act;
Whether a proposed SMSF transaction complies with the SIS Act;
Structuring of a SMSF and Pensions issues;
Transition to Retirement Strategy comparisons;
A complete fund compliance review;
Estate Planning matters.

Further, in relation to very complex matters, we can have one of our consulting lawyers, who specialise in Superannuation and Estate Law, review the client scenario and advise.

For such consulting assignments our fee is based upon the time dedicated to your client’s matter. Our hourly consulting fee ranges from $330 to $440, including GST, depending on the complexity of the assignment. If external consultants are used in the assignment then their fees will be in addition. However, we always endeavour to provide you with an estimate of fees in relation to a specific assignment prior to commencement.

Electronic Filing

We scan all documents received and file all documents electronically. All data is held on our servers in Brisbane.

Scalability

With our off site processing methodologies we are capable of taking on large fund numbers without sacrificing service standards.

Accuracy

Our internal ongoing audit team is critical when providing a daily service as we do not have the luxury of being able to carry mistakes until the fund goes to formal audit.

Cost

Our ongoing fee ranks amongst the most competitive in the industry. We have costed our service based on the staffing requirements we need to produce a “Rolls Royce” service. The maxim “you get what you pay for” is not true in our case. Our service offering is significantly above those of our competitors even though some of them charge more than twice as much as we do. In addition we offer a significant discount to any fund utilising the services of any master trust or wrap capable of providing us with the appropriate reports.

Our standard administration service includes BAS therefore each fund receives a 75% refund of the GST on ongoing fees paid by the fund. To gain a comparison between what we charge and what an alternative provider that does not register the fund for GST charges you should reduce our fee by the GST refund. Our fee calculator is available by clicking here.

Client Ownership

Funds belong to the accountant not to us. If trustees wish to leave the accountant and deal direct with us we report the contact to the accountant. We will only continue providing services if trustees transfer to another accountant or adviser who utilises our system.

Web Reporting

We update fund information to the web each day (where the 24/7 web based administration service is selected).

Badging

Our web site reports include a cover page with your name and logo if you wish. Our reporting modules can be linked to your site and be badged with your logo and details. Tranzact Super will then be invisible to your clients.

Information

Our website has the most comprehensive collection of specific SMSF relevant information available on any web site including calculators relevant to SMSFs.

Documentation

We do not currently provide documentation that can be completed on line though all of our documentation is available to be downloaded from the web site. It has been arranged in packages so that, for a given client situation, all documents required are printable together.

Strategic Advice

We provide a sounding board for strategies.

Education & Client Seminars

We can attend to your offices to provide staff training or to present a client seminar on a specific SMSF topic. Please contact our office for more information in relation to this service.

Accountant Fees

We are able to directly deduct our fees from the Accountant’s bank account on a monthly basis.