The SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) has repaid 13 founding members a total of $26,000 in start-up subscriptions after changing its constitution to allow the funds to be released.
SPAA chief executive Andrea Slattery said the association had always intended to repay the contributions, which were made in 2003 when the association was formed, but had been delayed in doing so because of the way the funds had been allocated to its balance sheet.
“They were a capital contribution, [so] our constitution required change [to repay the amounts] … We had intended to do it much earlier but then we had to wait for [annual general meetings] so it was a process that took a couple of years when we decided to do it,” Slattery said.
The 13 payments of $2000 were not the only contribution made to get SPAA up and running as a not-for-profit organisation.
The association’s five founding directors – Slattery, Peter Fry, Nick Aston, Peter Nicholson and Brian Williams – each contributed a further $5000 to the association’s start up.
Three “valued founding members” contributed an additional $1000 each, it said.
Slattery said the $5000 and $1000 sums were repaid within 12 months of the association’s establishment, but the $2000 amounts had been allocated differently in the accounts and could not be returned without a change to the constitution.
“We decided on the tenth anniversary we would change the constitution so we could pay back those amounts,” she said.
The constitution was changed by a special resolution passed at the SPAA AGM in November. Shortly afterwards, the funds were returned to the 13 founding members, all of whom are still members of SPAA, along with letters of thanks.
“SPAA is of a size now where it was able to acknowledge and thank those who made a contribution,” Slattery said.
The association now has a staff of 19 people and more than 2800 members, representing over two-thirds of Australian SMSF trustees.