The ATO is beginning to deploy a program it piloted last year aimed at getting a better insight into the operations of firms it classifies as conducting a high volume of SMSF audits.
“Under this program we are engaging auditors that regularly undertake in excess of 1000 audits per year or those [practitioners] who we’ve seen that have had rapid growth in their audit numbers in recent times,” ATO acting SMSF assistant commissioner Paul Delahunty revealed.
“This is going to be a little different in terms of the nature of the work we do here. It is going to be specific review work that we undertake and that’s for the purpose of building a level of understanding of the operations of these firms so we can get a level of assurance that the largest audit firms in our population have the right controls, processes and procedures in place so we [have some comfort] they are operating effectively,” Delahunty explained to SMSF Association members during a Q&A session held recently.
“Among other things as part of the work we do look at for these firms is assuring they are maintaining their audit independence and probably performing a little bit of a drill-down into their internal operations, in particular for their staff and understanding whether their staff have the necessary competence to identify and address compliance risks in the SMSFs they audit.”
He stressed the activity is currently only in its early stages, but confirmed it will become a strong feature of the regulator’s program in the future.
In other news, Delahunty himself has taken on a new role as ATO acting SMSF assistant commissioner as a result of Justin Micale’s new responsibilities.
“After more than five years in his role as assistant commissioner SMSF, Justin Micale has moved to a new role in the ATO. Justin is still within the superannuation and employer obligations business,” he noted.
“As a consequence of Justin’s move, I’ve temporarily moved into the vacant assistant commissioner SMSF role until a permanent replacement is announced.
“The consequential vacancy that exists in my normal SMSF auditor role is one that has been filled by Mark Webberly, who is acting in that position.”
