The Self-managed Independent Superannuation Funds Association (SISFA) has responded to the federal budget proposal for three-year SMSF audits by creating an entirely new class of membership to represent the interests of specialist SMSF auditors.
SISFA managing director Michael Lorimer said the body’s policy on the proposal will be released in the coming weeks as consultation continues.
“Our new membership offering will enable SMSF auditors to have a collective voice to ensure that the regulatory framework for SMSFs is safe, practical and workable, and that it will enable a secure platform for the benefit of more than 1 million Australians who own an SMSF,” Lorimer revealed.
“As a not-for-profit association advocating the interests of the entire SMSF segment for the past two decades, SISFA has always been a voice for SMSF trustees and their professional advisers, including SMSF auditors.”
In the May budget, the government flagged its intention to reduce the frequency of audits for SMSFs with a good compliance and record-keeping history to once every three years, he noted.
“As a result of SISFA’s subsequent interactions with the SMSF community, we determined that the audit function and the interests of auditors were not being adequately analysed and represented,” he said.
“This led us to formulate a formal position on the three-year-cycle proposal and to also create the new class of membership to represent specialist SMSF auditors and their interests.”
