SMSF auditors will have no excuse for not having complied with new independence standards by mid-2021 despite the volume of work that will be required, an SMSF lawyer has claimed.

The restructured APES 110 Code of Ethics will help reinforce the important role auditors play in protecting trustees’ retirement savings, a major accounting body says.

SMSF clients need to be informed of the changes to the auditor independence standards and how their funds may be be impacted as a result, an SMSF technical expert says.

Proving the administration and accounting functions for an SMSF are being performed in a routine and mechanical fashion will be very difficult given the evidential standard the ATO has imposed on the sector.

Newly established audit firms will not be considered as a legitimate vehicle facilitating compliance with the new auditing independence standards if they are formed only to service SMSF clients of the accounting practice for which the founders previously worked, the regulator has warned.