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.

Routine and mechanical in the context of the new auditor independence standards is unlikely to be used as a get-out-of-jail-free card by auditors, an SMSF audit expert says.

The SMSF Association would like a proper transition period to be granted by the ATO to allow mid-tier accounting firms to adapt to the new auditor independence standards.