ASF Audits head of technical Shelly Banton will leave the firm at the end of the month after more than eight years, but will continue to work in the SMSF auditing space as a consultant.
Banton’s departure was announced by ASF Audits strategic development director Richard Smith at the firm’s Technical Seminar 2025 held in Melbourne late last week, where he noted she started with the company in August 2017 and since that time held the roles of technical services executive general manager, head of education and most recently head of technical.
Smith highlighted the contribution she had made to ASF Audits and the wider SMSF sector in his closing remarks at the event.
“Shelley has been leading education for us as a business over that time and, in my view, is definitely the leading educator in the SMSF audit space,” he said.
“She really owns that space and is a highly sought-after speaker for all the major conferences and has presented at all of them and been a regular contributor to those.
“We have quite a bit of content online – the articles, the blogs, the podcasts, the webinars – that’s all of Shelley’s doing and she’s done an amazing job.
“She is highly respected by our clients and is always open to answering questions so will be missed by us as a business.
“ASF has grown a lot over many years and certainly Shelley’s played a massive part in helping the business get to where it’s at today. So thank you from myself, from [chief executive] Casey [McGrath], from the directors, from everyone at the business, for your contribution to ASF.”
Speaking to selfmanagedsuper, Banton shared that she will soon be opening her own consulting firm.
“Building on a career dedicated to the SMSF sector, I plan to draw on my extensive expertise to help professionals navigate risk through compliance strategies, technical education and practical solutions to complex challenges,” she said.
“I will continue with ASF Audits until the end of September before embarking on this next chapter.”
Banton recently joined the SMSF Innovation Council, which aims to help the sector use digital assets in a responsible and compliant way.
