The need to meet new auditor independence standards has led to an increase in interest around third-party audit services.

Pooling arrangements established among several accounting firms may not provide a solution facilitating compliance with the amended auditor independence standards, an SMSF specialist practitioner has said.

A specialist practitioner has identified valuing SMSF holdings in private companies and unlisted unit trust as being a problematic area for auditors with regard to the annual returns of funds.

Specific senior executives from accounting firms should be wary if their organisation breaches the new auditor independence standards, a specialist practitioner has said.