Transfer balance account report (TBAR) requirements will force accountants to refocus on how they will use technology in their practices to service their SMSF clients, a technical expert has said.
SuperConcepts SMSF technical services executive manager Mark Ellem told selfmanagedsuper he is seeing accountants continuously transition towards progressive processing using technology, platforms and data feeds to process data quickly without manual input.
This not only assists accountants in meeting reporting compliance deadlines, particularly TBAR if it is a quarterly fund, but can also aid them with strategies for SMSF members.
Ellem said total super balances (TSB) are determined on various concessions, such as non-concessional contribution caps, while other entitlements are based on the TSB. Therefore it is vital to know a member’s TSB at 30 June as quickly as possible, he noted.
“If someone wants to make a non-concessional contribution this financial year, they really need to know what their total super balance is at 30 June 2018,” he said.
“They can’t wait until the accounts are done, whenever that may be. They night already be done, they may not be done.
“I think this challenge to accountants and administrators is getting this data in and having it current, up to date and accurate rather than relying on annual accounts.”
He said he is seeing accountants struggle with the TBAR requirements, as evidenced by the number of queries he has received in the past couple of weeks about managing TBAR.
“The traditional annual approach to SMSF compliance and administration goes by the wayside because it just simply won’t meet compliance requirements and it won’t meet client demand,” he warned.
