How to change SMSF accountants
Most trustees stay with an accountant longer than they meant to, because switching feels like a bigger job than it is. A transfer of records between accountants is routine, and most of it happens without you.
- Chartered Accountants
- Registered tax agent
- Independent audit included
Three things that stop most people
You do not have to ring your current accountant
With your authority, the new accountant sends the professional clearance letter and requests the records. That conversation is the part most trustees dread, and it is not one you have to have.
You can switch at any time of year
The fund is picked up from the last completed financial year, so moving in February does not put a lodgement at risk. There is no window you have to wait for.
Your records belong to the fund
Not to the accountant holding them. The financial statements, the annual returns and the member records are the fund's, and they are yours to move.
What a switch actually involves
1. A short call
Fifteen minutes. Send the fund's last financial statements beforehand and you will have a fixed fee on the call itself rather than a quote a week later.
2. We handle the transfer
The clearance letter goes to your current accountant, the records come across, and the fund is set up in Simple Fund 360 with data feeds connected. You are not in the middle of it.
3. The fund is lodged on time
Accounts prepared, the independent audit arranged with a registered SMSF auditor, and the annual return lodged with the ATO.
What to gather
You do not need all of this to start. The first two are enough for a fixed fee to be quoted.
- The last financial statements for the fund
- The last SMSF annual return
- The last independent audit report
- The trust deed, plus any amendments
- Member records, including any pension documentation
- The fund's ABN and TFN
- Corporate trustee details, if the fund has one
If something has gone missing over the years, say so early. Most of it can be reconstructed or requested, and it is better known at the start than found at audit.
What to ask any SMSF accountant before you commit
Including us. The answers tell you more than the fee does.
- What is the total fee, and what does it include?
- Does that fee include the independent audit? Ours does, and here is everything else a year costs.
- Who will actually do the work, and will I deal with them?
- How quickly do you reply, and is that a commitment or a hope?
- When in the year will my fund be lodged?
- What happens if the fund is behind?
If your fund is behind on lodgements
Overdue funds are common and they are fixable. A fund more than two weeks overdue has its status on Super Fund Lookup changed, which stops rollovers and employer contributions until it is resolved, so it is worth dealing with rather than waiting. Catch-up work is quoted separately from the annual fee. Tell us how far behind the fund is and we will tell you what it takes.
Thinking about changing SMSF accountants?
Get the SMSF Switch Checklist. It sets out the steps, the documents and the timing, so you can change accountants without missing a lodgement.
Your fund should never be an afterthought.
Book a 15-minute call. We'll tell you what your fund costs to run with us, before you commit to anything.