smsf audit related tips

  The majority of SMSF trustees rely too much on tax professionals in order to meet their obligations as trustees. The majority of SMSF trustees rely too much on tax professionals in order to meet their obligations as trustees. Trustees of self-managed super funds differ greatly in their understanding of their roles, with many depend too heavily on professional advisors to fill the gaps, according to ATO-commissioned research. The study identified distinct groups of SMSF trustees, revealing an array of different levels of understanding, confidence and involvement. Read more: The SMSF Auditor's Role in Self-Managed Superannuation Funds "Clusters vary from one extreme to the other," explained The ATO's SMSF regulator branch's assistant commissioner Justin Micale, speaking at an upcoming Tax Institute event. "There are some who are extremely confident and financially knowledgeable, are interested in finance and investing and are regularly attending webinars and...

  There are those who believe SMSF services are costly and hard to manage.   But, for an owner of a small business, the advantages are far greater than the drawbacks.   An effective SMSF allows you to invest in commercial properties inside your own super fund, that not only offers regular benefits but also enhances the value of your fund.   Learn more about the top six advantages of having a fund as a small-business owner. Reduction In Capital Gains Tax The ability to include commercial properties in their fund is just one of the many advantages that small business owners can enjoy from SMSF AUDITOR .   The law that governs superannuation prevents anyone from transferring his or her home to a fund, however, this is not the case for commercial properties.   Office buildings and office spaces are able to be easily transferred into an SMSF and can help lower the taxes on capital gains. In the same way, if you have to dispose of a commercial asset within ...

  It really depends on the size and structure of the business. Some of the important things to consider are: - Number of transactions: Retail businesses or franchises can often have hundreds of transactions (sales and invoices) to process which can take up a lot of man hours as compared to  service-based businesses   which wouldn't need as many customers to be sustainable. - Number of employees: The more the employees in the business, the longer the bookkeeper will have to spend processing their payroll according to their individual circumstances. - Revenue: If the revenue crosses the GST threshold ($75,000 in AU), the business will have to submit a  Business Activity Statement  (Quarterly) as well. - Expertise of the bookkeeper: As you get more experienced and skilled, obviously the time taken to do the work would be reduced as well. There are other factors as well and you may have noticed that they are all related to each other. So really, the answer to this q...

A new penalty regime has been released that will penalize SMSF auditors. This is a significant shift in the responsibility of SMSF gatekeepers.  Practice Statement Law Administration0/3 (PSLA). The PSLA guides ATO staff about how to apply administrative sanctions. This new SMSF penalty era will make it difficult for SMSF auditors to do their jobs effectively. The PSLA's primary focus is on s166 SIS, which outlines the rules for administrative penalties. A trustee who breaches s166 SIS is subject to an administrative penalty. The new PSLA provides the ATO with a clear path for determining whether remission is possible. Administrative Penalties Introduced administrative penalties in 2014. The ATO took a softly-softly approach to this issue by issuing educational directives and remitting SMSF penalties. The number of auditor contraventions reports has remained relatively stable at 2% of SMSFs since then, and trustee behaviour has not changed. Let's be very clear: The legislation h...

  The long-awaited guidance from the ATO to ensure the independence of SMSF auditors has been released. This confirms the requirements set forth in  APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards). The revised Code stipulates that SMSF auditors must use the conceptual framework to identify, evaluate, and address independence threats. SMSF auditors must use professional judgment and be alert for any new information or changes in facts and conditions. SMSF auditors need to apply a litmus test. They should ask themselves if they would hesitate in writing an adverse finding or preparing an audit report. For example, an SMSF auditor could identify a compliance violation for a client and deal with it in a management letter. This would compromise independence. SMSF Auditor Independence  The ATO has provided the following information  in several scenarios these  situations will continue to pose independence threats and canno...